Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement

By: Suzi Parron with Donna Sue Groves

free copy paperback 226 pages

Published: 2012

Genre: nonfiction

I'm only on page 80, but I'm heading to a barn quilt painting class and I want to donate this book, so I'll blog this right now.

 

I liked the personal stories, but she interviewed a LOT of people and gathered a LOT of information. I like the "Lemon Star" story.

Page 12: "Those hand-drawn copies led to a humorous incident at Moyer Winery and Restaurant. Donna Sue said, 'The artist who was supposed to paint the quilt square on their barn lost the template, so he just went to the library and got a book and looked up LeMoyne Star. The next Saturday morning a bunch of quilters came to see it, and those women said, "No, that is not a LeMoyne Star!" and they knew - the points weren't directed the right way! The restaurant called me, and I called Mother and we assessed the situation. Mother called it "a variation of the LeMoyne Star, which shall forever be known as the Lemon Star!"' A year later, Donna Sue discovered that the templates could easily be created electronically, using Electric Quilt's BlockBase software, which saved Maxine Groves a lot of time and has since become a staple of barn quilt committees across the country."

It was interesting that the author was trying to find the source of the barn quilt phenomenon . . . but it seems that many communities were doing this and some learned from other groups.

Page 23: "I was reminded of Donna Sue's explanation as to why quilt blocks were mostly painted on boards and then mounted - the less time spent above the ground, the better for all concerned."

Safety is key! Those 4'x8' sheets of plywood can get pretty heavy.

Page 42: "Carole continued, 'We really enjoyed the project, and we tell our grandchildren, "This is all we are leaving you!" Hopefully, we have gotten them interested in doing community projects and art projects, and it'll come to fruition later. You never know.'"

The idea of legacy and what we're leaving for our children and grandchildren fascinates me. I like the focus on doing community projects and art projects, but I don't think that's the legacy I most want to leave.

 

Page 57: "Speaking of her experience as a judge at quilting competitions, Marcella stated with great conviction, 'I do not approve of quilts being machine quilted. I could never put a first blue ribbon on a machined quilt - it's not a quilt.' She is, however, quite fond of her painted quilt and often serves as a hostess when a tour is scheduled."

Wow. Kind of a quilt snob. I'm glad Minnesota Quilters has different categories for hand quilting and machine quilting. For her to say, "it's not a quilt" seems blatantly wrong.

 

Page 176: "'Really,' Kathi said as she slid a buttery Danish Kringle into the backseat of my rental car. 'I'm not sure it's just about the farm or about quilting. It's about community. I have met so many people through this project who are now like family to me.' Her comment echoed a sentiment that by now I had heard many times."

 

I like that observation. (I was looking through the rest of the book at my barn quilt painting class tonight. This quotation just jumped out at me. I love quilting (and painting a quilt block is just not the same as working with fabric!) but the focus on community and connecting with other people . . . I really like that focus.

 

My biggest frustration was that I often wanted to SEE the barn quilts that she was describing. Some of the photos are in the book, but many are not. I'm sure the editor (or perhaps the author herself) wanted to limit the photographs and have fewer larger photos, but this reader wanted to see all the quilts that were talked about. 

 

I gave the book to the instructor to give away as a prize. I was the second person to finish my block, so I left before the evening was done.