Quilt Barn Craze

I wish I could say that I thought of this. I wish I could show you some murals of quilt patterns that are painted on our fencing. I can't because I haven't done it yet. But it is on The Bucket List. But today Mark and I took the entire day and a tank of gas to drive around Adams County, Ohio to find the 'Clothesline of Quilts. The following is information from the Adams County, Ohio Crossroads Magazine that I picked up years ago at Keim Family Market on Rt 32.

'The Clothesline of Quilts' idea began right here is Adams County. Community organizer, Donna Sue Groves, a native WV, wanted to honor her Mom. So she enlisted family, friends and local artists to paint the murals. The Adams County quilt project took several years to complete, and by the time it was dedicated it had gotten national attention and inspired almost 100 counties in 26 states to join in the mural trail. A great way to see Adam's County is to get off the highways onto scenic back roads and follow Adam's County' clothesline of quilts'. Painted on barns throughout the county, these colorful murals lead you to a path pf discovery along ridge tops and streams, through natural areas, past cozy farms, to historic landmarks and interesting local shops. Fro more information contact; Adams County Welcome Center 1-937-544-5454.'

Most of the information about the quilts was gathered from the Crossroads Magazine I picked up at Keim. I wish I knew that much about these quilts and murals. But I must tell you that we did actual remember some of the names for the quilt patterns.

I have seen this quilt on the side of Rt 32 heading to Huntington for 15 years. I have always wondered what pattern and why it was there. Now I can tell you that it is Clay's Choice. It is documented to between 1895-1897. It is know by several names, all honoring Henry Clay---Henry of the West and Star of the West.
Dutchman's Puzzle...you can find this across the street from Keim Family Market (my all time favorite Amish establishment in the area). Many old quilts using this pattern have been found around Staten and Manhattan Islands in NY, an area of early Dutch settlement. It is based on the windmill pattern.
The Liberty Star. The pattern for this pattern was first published in the Kansas Star newspaper in 1932. I hope we plan to go back to this restaurant for lunch in the near future.
I had never seen or heard of this pattern...Hovering Hawks. We found it on the oldest barn in Peebles, Ohio, a former livery stable. Earliest mention of this was in 1929...the year that my father in law was born.
Nine Patch...Early pioneer women created their own patterns using the Nine Patch. A very early one from Massachusetts is dated at 1808. This is familiar to many as the logo for Purina.
The LeMoyne Star at GoodSeed Farm in Peebles was painted on a rainy weekend just days before it was needed as a backdrop for the quilt trail dedication ceremony. This barn is very special for many reasons. Donna Sue Groves, originator for the 'Clothesline of Quilts' autographed a limited number of Cat's Meow collectibles. Half of the proceeds went to benefit Donna Sue directly. She was fighting a cancer battle and needed help financially.
The Double T in 1895-1897...it was published as the Capital T in the 1920's.
Bow Tie...an early pattern from the late 1880's, that is also known as the Necktie. It is based on four patches and was widely used in everyday quilts. It is still popular today because if its simplicity and versatility.
Friendship Star. The pattern is barely visible. These murals have been hanging for 8-9 years and the sun has done a number on the paint colors. This pattern is know by many names...Simplex Star and in 1939 was published as Lost Goslin'. We about got killed here. Mark was turning around in a driveway and they guy that lives there came barreling down the road to turn into his driveway....gravel went everywhere but no one was hurt and no words were shared.
I like this name...Old Maid's Puzzle. An early pattern dating back to the 1920's. there are many variations according to the color placement. I thought the John Deer was a nice touch.
Monkey Wrench..this is the hardest pattern for me to quilt...have no idea why. This is another of the Nine Patch variations. It has many names, Love Knot, Lincoln's Platform because it was used to show the slaves direction in the Underground Railroad, and Sherman's March.
Windmill...again with the sun. One of the oldest of the four-patch patterns
My favorite...The Ohio Star. This was the first mural to be completed and it hangs at Lewis Mountain Herbs...a place I place to make a return visit to...they have outhouses for sale. This Ohio Star is based on a very old Variable Star pattern.
Another LeMoyne Star...a sixteen-patch design with an eight-pointed star, it is names for the LeMoyne brothers who founded New Orleans.
Sawtooth Star was also called the Nameless Star. The large center square was often used for signatures in album quilts.
Snail's Trail...this is a close relative to the Indiana Puzzle pattern. This is the mural that inspired the entire project. And strangely enough it was one of the last murals to be completed.
Ohio Star...this was ususual becasue it was wrapped around the corned or the barn. We missed it the first time around and really had to look for it.

This seems so crazy to me...they call this a Lemon Star. Don't you think it should be yellow? This is a nine patch pattern similar to the Ohio Star but with the star points reaching the center.

There are two murals we have yet to find...another day, another journey to Adams County.

I took some extra shots of any and all other quilt murals I could find. They have inspired me to start thinking about how we will do our murals for the fence this summer.

Snowman Table Runner

I made this for my Mom for Christmas a few years ago. Then a few years after she passed my Dad gave it back to me. I love it! I loved it when I made it and thought that someday I might make me one just like it. Mr. Snowman is hanging in the living room on the outhouse door guarding the Christmas tree.

October Sky

To date I have to say this was the most nerve wracking, nail biting, most 'serious' quilt I have made. I made it for Bryce while we were in WI. It has a combination of courthouse stairs and log cabin squares. I wish you could see how many seams there were to press! Just last month I had to do some minor repairs on the binding. Still looks good and like it was been loved.

Square On Point

After going to Amish country I got an idea to use some scraps I had to make one of these Squares on Point quilts for Cassie to have for Alaire. I love it. The colors make me happy. The fact that I figured out how to do it is amazing. And then there is the quilting. About 1/4 inch apart there are squares that were started as stitch in the ditch...the entire quilt 1/4 inch quilting in the 'on point' design.

Creative Juices

I have a wonderful blogging friend in California named Jan. She does more than I could ever do. Had creative juices running thru her fingers all the time. Well, she gives away books all the time. But now she is giving away the cutest camera strap...and a tutorial on how you can make on on your own. Check her blogs out...she has a million of them....and be ready for some amazing photos, lots of good food, interesting book, and......the list goes on and on. You can find them on the right side of her blog...just click and be amazed.

Thanks Jan for always wanting to share with your blogging friends.

Drunkard's Path

I love reading about the Underground Railroad and all the quilts and the meanings of each. Cassie loved the Drunkard's Path. Let me just say that this will probably be the one and only one that will come from my sewing machine. What a labor of love. It is the only appliqued quilt I have even done. Sewn with invisible thread. I added two extra borders to make it fit thier bed.

Baby Cobblestones

This was the first quilt I made for my first grand child. Ellis Miles Oakes. Getting to Charlottesville was a feat in itself. We lived in WI. Mark drove me to Chicago in a horrible thunderstorm after many tears to the ticket agent in Milwaukee. I ended up flying into Roanoke and n the Marshall's picked me up. I think I finally made it to the hospital around 3AM.

Nine Patch

I made this quilt and curtains to match for Alaire's new room in Colorado. I used every bit of the scraps for pillows and anything else I could think of. She is a big girl now and I think it might be time to make her a new quilt for her big girl bed. She still has the curtains...so I'm thinking maybe a nine patch in cranberry to match her walls and pink because she LOVES anything pink.

Framed Squares

I started this quilt for my Mom in February of 2003. I so wanted to give it to her on Mother's Day that year but seems that life and my quilting abilities got in the way. But things worked out in the end, she and my Dad rode the train to WI that summer and I was able to give it to her then. It has always been folded neatly at the bottom of her bed. I think it might be the warmest quilt I have ever made. It is long enough (74" x 94")to tuck under your lend and around your toes...and in our family that in a 'feet'. About a year or so ago, my Dad gave the quilt back to me and I am so glad that he did. During the summer I use it as a table cloth but in the winter it is in the copper kettle ready to warm someones tootsies. And my Mom is still around. It is a specail quilt.

Ride 'Em Cowboys

These three quilts are special for so many reasons. I started making these cowboy themed quilts in the spring of 2003. Michael was just a little buck-a-roo then. He loved his quilt. I even made a pillowcase to match.
Then along came Christapher...he was three months old when he came to live with us. He had to have a quilt so I made the Ride 'Em Cowboy in brown for him because they shared a room. By this time, their room was turned into a cowboy room.
Trevor came a few weeks after Christapher becuase he had been in Children's hospital with a TBI. Trevor needed a quilt too, but I had to make his just a little different so we could tell them all apart. I used the same fabrics that I had used in Michael and Christapher's quilts but I decided to use the framed square pattern.

I have written about the twins before, if you want to hear part of their story, check out this blog entry. I just couldn't bear to lose all of my boys, so I kept their quilts to remind us of all the smiles,, laughter and tears that they brought into our lives.(They were a part of our family for three years) I get the quilts out ever so often and remember those day when they came to us and all the fun times we had...and there were tons...NEVER a dull moment that is for sure.

Frames

There is a long story that goes with this baby quilt. Before Carter was born I was going to make him a quilt, just like I had done for his big sister Allyson. Carter came just a little early and I was no way near ready. I got busy...rushed to JoAnn's to find something to match his room. I found a really nice kit type of thing. All the squares are already cut and the strips that frame the squares are in long lengths. Putting it all together didn't take anytime at all. I got some brown minky for the backing, the kind with the little nobs for texture...you know they say that texture good for babies...different textures. What I forgot to get was something for the binding. So after piecing the quilt I went back to JoAnn's to get more of the same strips. Emmy went with me and that means that Grace was with us too. I don't know what I was thinking, but I ended up with the wrong fabric. So what to do...
...make a 'Gee's Bend' type of quilt to be used when we change Carter. I found some black fabric I had left over from another quilt and I used that for a border and binding. So I guess my mistake isn't so much a mistake after all.

Bar None

Way back in the fall of 2003, Cassie cam for a visit...one of few all the way to WI...and she said that she wanted a quilt. So off to our favorite quilt shop in the world we drove. I needed to find something with these colors and something that I could piece together really quick. She found this one and the rest is history.

I remember piecing this while Ms Yvonne pressed the seams. We got this all accomplished in record time. ..one day. I took it back to the quilt shop to be quilted and wa-la, Cassie's quilt was made.

Framed Squares

Sarah decided that she wanted a quilt too. So we took her to the quilt store, you know my favorite in Racine, and she had her mind set on a purple one...her favorite color. But when she went upstairs and found this pink one she fell in love. She uses it daily. I had to sneak in her room and get it while she was at work to photograph it. I am sure that I probably still have the scraps from this one too. This is a fairly easy pattern just a lot of pressing of seams. Funny how it matches her room in WI and the one here in Ohio.

Nine Patch Parade

This is the largest quilt I think I have ever made...well, from 2003-2004. It was for Emmy, when she lived with Katie on Halpin. The original size was 67 1/2 x 82 1/2 but we added and extra 5 inch border to make it big enough to fit her bed...it ended up being 80x100. She had come to WI for a visit and she and Mark choose all the colors...at Calico, my favorite quilt shop. I started it in Feb and didn't finish this monster until June. It really wasn't too challenging but just big and bulky. I splurged and came out of my ordinary box and had it quilted with variegated thread...it matched the colors in the quilt perfectly. I thought it all matched Em's personality too.

Log Cabin Garden

Most every quilt I make use dark bold colors. Pastels just aren't my thing. But Mark's Mom loves mauve, she's a real girlie girl. I love the log cabin quilt block. It has always been my favorite. Little did we know that we would be fostering a set of twin boys that were 3 months old back in 2003...about wthe same time we found this kit. So this quilt took a little longer than most quilts I do. I am possessed. Once I start something I want to finish it, do a good job and have the finished product in front of me is the shortest amount of time possible. I startedthis one in the beginning of September and didn't finish it until late, very late October.

A few months ago, Katherine decided that she was going to fix up the guest room AKA the cold room. Her color scheme now reflects my favorites, cranberry, green and gold. If you were to ask her the colors they would be way more descriptive than what I could ever come up with. So I get the quilt back. Fine by me...but does that mean that she wants me to make her a new one for the new color scheme? HMMMM...have to think on that. But I know just a few people that might say, get in the back of the line little lady, she owes a quilt before she can even think of one for your room. I hear ya all!

Buggy Barn Crazies

Oh, how I remember making this quilt. We were living in WI and I had a little sewing/laundry room in the basement. Every night after the boys went to bed I would hurry to the sewing machine. I would sew until Mark would come home from working late. Or if he was out of town , it was not uncommon for me to sew until 2-3AM...losing track of time. I remember reading the directions to this pattern a million times. I have a fear of cutting the fabric wrong and then not having enough to finish the quilt. You had to cut in all these different angles and then move certain pieces certain new places. Mumbled controlled chaos. And you think sewing all those different angles was a picnic? No way! And then pressing all the seams. I started this quilt the end of October and it wasn't totally finished until March of the next year. But I would do it all again in a heartbeat. It is one of my favorite quilts, no doubt. It seems to impress people the most.

Jan's 'Gee's Bend'

I can not allow myself to throw anything away once I finish a quilt. I have tubs of batting, tubs of pieces of fabric, drawers of thread....sooooo...once when Cassie was visiting us in WI there was s display of quilts made by the women of Gee's Bend at the Milwaukee Art Museum. First the Museum is awesome and second the quilts were just beautiful. Go to Quilts of Gee's Bend and read the stories. Once I saw these quilts I knew just what I would do with all my scraps. I made this little baby size quilt and I gave it to Katherine to wrap her great grand babies (Ellis at the time I think)in when they came to visit her. And like her Log Cabin Garden quilt...I got it back. All the grand babies have used it and now Allyson and Doodles use it. (I am making a more masculine one for Carter)

Big Star

Mark picked out all the flannel for this quilt. It is his. He chose colors of his beloved high school...Huntington High School...Pony Express...red and blue. We used a heavier batting to make the quilt heavier and warmer. We should have added another outer border because it just isn't quite long enough to cover his toes when he is snuggled on the couch watching Sports Center.

We use this one a lot, as you can tell. I also noticed that it needs a little repair..the binding has started to unravel in places. Also, if I knew then what I know now about quilting, I would have made sure that the large blue checked fabric matched. That part drives me crazy when I look at it. But it is like the Amish...they always makes sure to make an 'on purpose' mistake because nothing or no one is perfect. I like that!

Long Tall Nine Patches

This is the first quilt I bought at my all time favorite quilt store in Racine, WI...Calico, Canvas and Colors...which I just found out has been changed to Calico Printworks. I will have to check into that. Any way...this is the best quilt shop I have ever been to and I have been to many. It is an old house and it is wall to wall quilts, kits, fabrics, and ideas galore. And the ladies could not have been nicer...they even had toys for the boys to play with. I saw this quilt hanging on the wall and fell in love with the colors. I asked Linda if she thought I could do it. She had no clue as to my skill or knowledge about quilting...which was very little. So Mark bought the kit and that night I began my first real quilt. I don't remember how many days it took but I remember reading and reading the directions over and over. Wanting to make sure that I didn't cut the fabric wrong. Just so happened that the foster child we had at this point had their family visits in Racine. Perfect, get them settled with their biological family and spend the next two hours in the quilt shop. I was usually sitting on the steps when the would open the doors. We got to be real buddies. If I had a quilting question I could call or email and they would help. Sometimes when I just couldn't get it...I would take the quilt in for a little lesson. They were always so willing to help. When we found out that Sarah Beth had been diagnosed with breast cancer they helped me find a pink quilt kit and when I finished piecing it they put my quilt in front of the line and got in quilted in about an hour so I would have it finished by the time I would see her at the hospital). So after the long arm quilting was finished Tammy put the binding on (I didn't know how at that time...they taught me for my next quilt.) When I went to get it, when Tammy pulled it out of the bag to show me the finished product I just started crying. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. To think that I had made that was unbelievable to me. And I was hooked...hook, line, and sinker.

Flannel Rag Quilt

I have always loved quilts. They fascinate me. All the different colors, textures, quilting square patterns...and then there is the actual quilting. There is a lot of time, energy, love, expertise and lots of money can be spent on this little hobby. I always promised myself that I would learn to quilt,. Time just got away from me, to many kids, work...life just seemed to get int he way. That was until we moved to WI and I had no life at all. Moving there was a really big change for us. Those six years taught us so many things. I' can't say it was all bad. We had a great church, lots of very caring friends and a wonderful neighborhood. But the winters are long and the nights Mark worked were even longer. Also at this time we were fostering sweet children who just needed a break. I think quilting became my therapy. If I was quilting I wasn't obsessing about what was going on in the court system or what I thought the parents should be doing....One day Mark and I took a little trip to Cedarburg, WI. We were about the only tourists walking the streets. We walked into this little old stone building and I fell in love with everything they had...even down to the quilting pins. We must have stayed in there for a couple of hours...God bless Mark's heart.

There was this little rag quilt hanging on the door. Nice, simple and flannel...I love flannel in quilts! I talked to the lady and she said if I could sew a straight line I could do it. This quilt has no batting and you stitch the seams on the outside, I know it sounds crazy. I really hadn't done much sewing after junior high and then a few things for the girls when they were little. So I jumped right in with both feet. I worked on it seems like forever. I had Ms Yvonne come over to help me figure out how to lay it out...the directions were just a little lacking (today when I look at the direction, I wonder how this quilt ever got made). We couldn't figure it out. Then Mark walked in the front door and we told him of our problem. He looked at it for about a minute and laid it out perfectly...oh how I love to hate that! Them once all the piecing and construction was finished, I had no idea how to put on the binding. My good friend, Joy's, mom quilts beautifully. I asked her to look at the quilt to she how I was supposed to bind it. With her help I was able to finish the entire quilt in less that a week. AWESOME! Now I was on a roll.

We still have this little quilt. We use it for changing babies, a table cloth for the round table when we eat outside and lots of time the little kids just use it to snuggle with. It will always be special because it was the first , the first of many.

If you like this quilt and would like the instructions...I'll share with you...just leave your email in the comment section.