Barn Quilts of Bureau County A splash of color around every corner
We hope you will get off of the Interstate and take some of the back roads and a little slower trip as you drive across Bureau County. Did you see that flash of color in that barn yard? Pay close attention to the farms that you are passing. You may see one of the over 101 Barn Quilts that have been placed on farm buildings in 88 locations all over the county. “What’s a Barn Quilt?” you wonder. It is a quilt block design painted on a special type of plywood called MDO board. The blocks are usually either 4x4 feet or 8x8 feet. No fabric is used in the design, it all comes from paint. They are painted with exterior paint and each displays a colorful quilt block, either one chosen from a traditional quilt design or from something personal to that farm owner. This nation-wide phenomenon was born in 2001 in Adams County, Ohio, when Donna Sue Groves made a promise to her Mother to paint her a quilt block. Her Mother was an accomplished quilter and she thought this would brighten up their colorless, grey barn. This barn quilt that was painted for her Mother has sparked the Barn Quilt movement throughout the United States and Canada. The book “Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement” by Suzi Parron with Donna Sue Groves tells the story of one of the fastest-growing grassroots public arts movements. A small group of women came together as a group that loves quilts and now the rich tradition of the barn quilts. They started the group, The Barn Quilts of Bureau County, in 2014 with just five quilts which has now grown to Simple Pleasures, Hidden Treasures
Scott & Valerie Jensen Americana Pinwheel 6889 1475E St. Tiskilwa 61368
Richard & Sarijane (Becker) King Rob-Ru-Sari Farm Stained Glass Cross 29086 2750 E. St. LaMoille 61330 Joanne Baker 11911 1575N Ave. Wyanet 61379
Bureau County Fairgrounds Bureau Co. 4-H Federation 4-H Food Stand Princeton 61356
Elaine Newell Land of the Free 21238-3400 E St Arlington 61312
over 90 quilts throughout the county. The committee’s goal is to have barn quilts in all 25 townships in the county. Several of the townships have multiple quilts hanging already. The Quilt Trail was designed to celebrate our rich agricultural heritage, showcase our rural areas and promote agri-tourism, the arts and a sense of community pride in Bureau County. A barn quilt lends a homey feeling to a farm and is just another of the ways our community honors our ag roots. “How do they pick their design” you may wonder. Some of them are 26
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