Iowa Quilt Blocks on Barns

Iowa Quilt Blocks on Barns
In Iowa, quilt blocks on barns lead travelers off the major
highways and back through once forgotten communities. The
Iowa quilt blocks on barns have become a celebration of the
participating community's heritage while generating tourism
revenue.

These aren't your common quilt blocks. The Iowa quilt
blocks on barns are created with paint instead of fabric
scraps, but they replicate many traditional quilt patterns
- something all quilting enthusiasts can appreciate as true
works of art.

The Iowa quilt blocks on barns are generally 8 foot x 8
foot squares of plywood, painted to look like a traditional
quilt block, then mounted on the sides or fronts of barns.
The colorful quilt blocks are hard to miss and they're
addictive - once you spot your first, you'll want to keep
searching for more of them!

The project began in Grundy County Iowa and spread to other
communities. One very popular area is Sac County, Iowa.
There are 55 barn quilts and 19 community quilts across Sac
County, located in west-central Iowa. The museum honoring
the birthplace of crooner Andy Williams hosts one of Sac
County's community quilts. The quilt block there, "Mother's
Choice," was painted by Jackson's 4-H club.

That's what's so great about the Iowa quilt blocks on barns
and at community locations. It became a project for the
entire community. Started in 2005 by Kevin Peyton as a 4-H
project, he anticipated that the success of the project
would depend on the number of people who got involved. With
the help of his family, Peyton started asking for community
involvement.

Quilting enthusiasts advised to use primary and secondary
colors for the Iowa quilt blocks on barns and to use simple
lines. They selected quilt block patterns that depicted
aspects of their community's heritage - agriculture,
horticulture and family. Some you will see on your Iowa
quilt blocks on barns tour include "Turkey in the Straw,"
"Country Farm," "Blazing Star," and "Hovering Hawks." To
see photos of the Iowa quilt blocks on barns, take a look
at http://www.barnquilts.com/2359.html. You can see actual
photos of the proudly displayed barn quilts. A map of
participating barns and community buildings is also
provided in case you are planning a trip to the area.

Volunteers painted the blocks and the community's rural
electric co-operative volunteered its boom trucks to help
hang the large Iowa quilt blocks on barns.

Volunteers also helped Peyton's Iowa quilt blocks on barns
project by suggesting barn criteria. The volunteers
recommended that the barns or corncribs be at least 50
years old and sit on farms that were active and attractive
to passers-by. The barns were also required to be on hard
surface roads and visible from both directions, making the
tour easy and enjoyable for tourists.

Barns play an important role in Iowan heritage. The Iowa
Barn Foundation (http://www.iowabarnfoundation.org/) makes
grant money available to restore barns to help preserve the
state's agricultural heritage. Quilting is another part of
Iowan heritage, so in Iowa, quilt blocks on barns go hand
in hand.

Peyton says his idea was not an original one. He was
inspired to start the barn quilt project in his own
community after reading a newspaper article about a barn
quilt project in Grundy County, Iowa. The Grundy project
began after an extension agent there brought the idea back
from a conference where she had learned about a similar
project going on in Ohio.

If you are planning a trip to Iowa and want to drive
through barn quilt country, U.S. Highway 20 is a good road
to drive. Sac County starts the big barn quilt display from
the west and Grundy County kicks off the display from the
east.

Quilters (and tourism leaders) in other states have picked
up the idea, too. In addition to Iowa and Ohio, parts of
Kentucky and Tennessee have also jumped on the barn quilt
wagon. If you plan to make a day trip or weekend out of one
of the barn quilt tours, make sure to allow time to stop at
the local quilting and souvenir shops to browse mementos
like barn quilt postcards, stationery and cookbooks
featuring local food favorites. By making a little time to
stop, you'll get to meet the people who made the barn
quilts a reality - and those people are as priceless as the
community art they created.

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Penny Halgren http://www.TheQuiltingCoach.com Penny has
been a quilter for more than 26 years and enjoys exploring
all aspects of quilting sharing her knowledge with all
quilters.