a patchwork of love

A love of quilting has transformed the rural countryside in southern Ohio

by Lynn Snyder

Quilts are handmade works of art. Each one is intensely personal, whether sewn to express the quilter’s creativity or to fulfill the simply functional purpose of warmth. The beauty of a quilt is undeniable, and many have a sentimental side to them, especially if they have been passed down through a family.

This love of quilting and its cultural relevance through the generations has led to a new type of handmade quilt, this time created with paint rather than fabric and thread.

Quilt patterns are appearing on rural barns throughout southern Ohio. The idea originated with Donna Sue Groves, who purchased a barn in Adams County that had the “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” slogan painted on it. She wanted to replace the slogan with a painted quilt square, to honor her mother, Nina Maxine Groves, a noted quilter who learned the craft from her mother and grandmother. Through funding from the Ohio Arts Council and community support, Groves accomplished her wish and now her quilt barn idea appears on additional barns in her home county, plus several other Ohio counties and states. The barns are forming a “Clothesline of Quilts in Appalachia,” the name of the regional project.

In addition to Adams County, barns in Ohio have been painted or will soon be painted in Athens, Brown, Harrison, Highland, Monroe, Morgan, Pike, Scioto and Vinton counties as well as counties in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa and Ontario, Canada. Groves said the newest states on board are Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

“Hands down, this is the best community project I have seen in 30 years,” Groves said. “There are close to 100 barns just in Ohio and pushing 200 in other states.”

Counties are going about painting the quilt squares in their own way. In Monroe County, Scott Hagan, who painted Ohio Bicentennial Barns in every Ohio county in 2003, was commissioned in 2004 to paint quilt squares on 20 local barns. The barns are part of a self-driving tour, “Patchwork Jewels of Monroe County”. Of the 20 barns, eight belong to Farm Bureau members. The designs are traditional quilt patterns that have been interpreted, in some cases, to represent some aspect of the county:

(1) Carl and Patricia Wells. The Bowtie. Represents Monroe County’s garment and factory industry; (2) James and Susan Brewster. Flying Geese Var. Represents history of the Underground Railroad; (3) Bob and Allyson Cox. Ohio Star; (4) Paul and Marian Sue Brown. Goose Tracks. Represents many geese found in Monroe County ; (5) Dean and Emma Rufener. Grandmother’s Fan. Painted for all the grandmothers; (6) Bob and Norma Hughes. Nine-Patch Star; (7) Paul and Sandy Dietrich. Grandmothers’ Flower Garden; (8) Frostie and Karen Frank. Maple Leaf. Represents the county’s autumn foliage.

The Monroe County project was made possible through various financial sponsors, including Monroe County Farm Bureau.

County President Dale Dietrich said the county agreed to support the project because it supports tourism and allows people to get out in the country to see agriculture.

Farm Bureau members Paul and Marian Brown own the barn with the Goose Tracks square painting. They first heard about the quilt barn project through the Monroe County tourism director. “… I thought it was a very good project to bring people into the county and help the tourism in the county, and there’s been a lot of tourism here at our barn,” Paul said.

Marian said they chose the Goose Tracks pattern because of the colors. “The color in it, pink, green and white reminded me of (an) antique quilt I have on a guest room bed in my home. The quilt was made by my grandmother. It’s one of my treasured possessions,” she said.

To learn more about the Monroe County tour, visit www.monroecountyohio.net Color brochures are available that outline the driving route and directions to each barn location. Contact the Monroe County Tourism office at 740-472-0169 to obtain a brochure. To learn about the Adams County quilt squares, visit www.adamscountytravel.org

Champaign County also has a quilt barn project going, as do Harrison County, Miami County and Athens County, Clinton County and others.

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Attention teachers and parents: A student activity based on Ohio's academic content standards is available with this story.

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