Kankakee Kickoff

My visit to Kankakee, IL last fall was in part inspired by a promise of pie at Blue's Cafe--a good old fashioned diner that purportedly serves pies that are well worth the journey. I wasn't disappointed; my slice of butterscotch pie was one of many highlights of the trip!


I was by no means surprised when Clayton and Carolyn Pratt, the members of the the barn quilt committee in Kankakee who lured me with pastry, sent me this photo of the quilt that kicked off their 2010 season--Rhubarb Pie!



This square was mounted on an early 1900s limestone building at the Kankakee County Museum during the annual Rhubarb Festival. Prior to the official ribbon cutting, a family who were looking for the perfect spot for a portrait asked photographer Janet McDowell to use the rhubarb quilt square as the backdrop for their photo--what a great shot!


For more on the Rhubarb Pie quilt: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VU3qXExs9Y


The folks in Kankakee have been busy; three more quilt blocks went up last week:































I have been told that 6 to 10 quilts are planned for this year, but since it's not quite June, I have a feeling that Holly Froning and the other dedicated members of the Kankakee committee will exceed that goal.

To see the rest of the Kankakee project, check out http://web.extension.illinois.edu/kankakee/barn/index.html

Farm and Fiddle

Wednesday night, I will be a guest on "Farm and Fiddle," a radio program co-hosted by Margot McMillen, barn quilter extraordinaire from central Missouri.

I have enjoyed talking with Margot about her farm and her local barn quilting community, and I look forward to tomorrow's talk. I have done quite a few interviews, but this is the first time on the radio! I will be on at about 7:15 PM (8:15 Eastern).

From the station's website:

Farm and Fiddle airs on KOPN Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. with hosts Margot McMillen and Jenny Czyzewski. This is the program that explores and celebrates life on the farm and small towns in mid-Missouri with guests from our rural area and all over the world.

To listen live:
http://www.kopn.org/listen

News from Michigan

Elsie Vredenburg of Osceola County, MI has been busy working with her committee to add some unique quilts to their trail.

I love this one--a combination of the traditional Nine Patch that the woman of the farm creates to give as gifts, and the Airplane for her husband, who is a private pilot.

I had never seen a cloth Airplane quilt before working on this project, but I have found that it is a fairly popular barn quilt! I should say barn and airplane hangar, as I have seen two on buildings at airports!

Elsie blogs both about her cloth quilting and her barn quilts here:

http://quiltsbyelsie.wordpress.com/

There are photos of some of the other most recent creations--check it out!