Spend enough time labour and you ’ll start to question the roadside fixtures you take for granted . After figuring out the purpose behind thebrightly colour in ballson power lines and themetal starson old houses , you may be curious to cognize why so many barns have square quilt approach pattern painted on them . Though the design can be trace to American folks traditions , they ’re part of a contemporary movement .
consort toThe Seattle Times , an Ohio resident physician namedDonna Sue Grovespopularized the drift in the former 2000s . She had purchased a farm in Adams County with her mother , Maxine , more than a decennium earlier . The place get along with an old tobacco plant b , and Donna want to brighten up the plain exterior . Eventually she come up with a program to decorate the body structure while paying homage to her mother ’s dear of quilting at the same time .
Leslie Richard Groves , who was a faculty appendage of the Ohio Arts Council , shared her idea with her community . Her b was n’t the only construction that could benefit from an center - catch makeover . By paint quilt block patterns on b along route and trails , Adams County could further its artistic visibility and attract tourists . The county unveil its first paint quilt square in 2001 , and soon the designs were popping up on structures throughout the area . Today they can be spotted inalmost every nation and Canada .
Many of these murals are part of organized comforter barn trails . Communities will represent out the routes ahead of time and mount painted 8 - by-8 - pes square to roadside barns ( or other buildings ) they ’ve identify . Towns publicize the location of their trails so tourist can see as many quilts as potential on their visit .
Though quilt barns did n’t take off until the twenty-first 100 , the patterns themselves have been around much longer . Many of the squares you see adorning edifice come from realfamily quiltsthat have been go through down through generation . So , in improver to being pretty to look at on farseeing drives , quilt barns bear on a colored part of American history .
[ h / tThe Seattle Times ]
This piece has been update to reflect that Donna Sue Groves was a stave member of the Ohio Arts Council .
