The First Day of Spring brings another First

From my friend Barbara Webster of the Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina--the 150th quilt block on their incredible trail, and the world's first quilt block sundial!

Barbara says, "It was dedicated on March 20, the first day of Spring. It was designed by Bob Hampton and Martin Webster. and tells local solar time--the time everyone used before we had time zones. It is extremely accurate--designed for the spot where it hangs."

This block is also the 150th block in the Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina. The area is very dear to me--my first research trip was in October of 2008, when the 100th block was hung!

Since then I have visited half a dozen times, and despite an unfortunate driving escapade (look back to July 23 of last year for a scary photo!), I have to keep visiting-- a wonderful welcome and new adventures always await.

Visit if you get the chance--a lovely town and beautiful countryside just full of quilts! In the meantime, check out their website: http://www.quilttrailswnc.org/

A Beautiful Find

Mary Winegar of Oswego, Illinois, sent me these two photos of a gorgeous barn quilt in her town. There is no quilt trail there, but that doesn't stop barn owners from creating quilt art!

I love the pattern and also love the closeup shot of the quilt through the trees. Great photo art inspired by barn art.

Thanks, Mary for sharing this.

I can't wait until the weather gets warm so I can head back out into barn quilt world!

I Stand Corrected!

Mary Simpson dropped me a note indicating that there had been quite an extensive trail created in northern Ontario in conjunction with the International Plowing Match in 2009. I couldn't believe that there had been no mention of it anywhere, but sure enough a couple of hours of Googling, (interesting verb usage) and I found it!

The trail is in northeatern Ontario in the Temagami Wilderness. I found a mention of it on a blog created by Caryn Colman, who had a hand in its creation.

I am waiting for details from Caryn and will pass them along as I discover more.

Thanks so much to Mary for making me aware of my misinformation. I am still thrilled about the Wardsville project that has been started and from what I have seen, it's going to be quite a standout.

It will be interesting to find out how in the heck barn quilts popped up all of the way up there!

Vote for Barn Quilts!

The Barn Quilts of Kewaunee, Wisconsin did a wonderful job with their trail. They emphasized education and included high school kids in all aspects of the project.

Even the photographer for the Kewaunee project is a high school student, and one of her photos is slated to appear in the book!

Meanwhile, the group is competing for a grant from Pepsi to improve the community, and their plan includes expansion of the barn quilts.

Friends of barn quilts--please go to the link below and place your vote. Bring some of these funds into the rural community and support their efforts!


http://www.refresheverything.com/barnquiltsandorganicfarming

Border Crossing

The first quilt trail across the border to our north is now a reality!

The blocks along this trail are part of Wardsville's Bicentennial Celebration; the project is now officially underway with the creation of the first quilt in the sampler that will tell the story of community founder George Ward.

Denise Corneil of Wardsville has been one of those hard at work getting the project off the ground.

Denise explains the meaning behind this strikingly beautiful creation. "The Farmer's Wife: Margaret Ward is in honor of all of the women who worked and toiled by their husbands' side to settle this great land. Working with little complaint and never able to tell their story. We honor them."

The spirit of the quilt trail lives in Wardsville; I hope to visit in June when the entire sampler is complete. I can even take Gracie, the quilt trail pup--how cool is that?