Our Barn Quilt

Glory Farm’s Barn Quilt is up!

The process was not simple or quick…

Most good things seem to take a group effort and this was no exception.

The first Barn Quilt Trail in Washington is quite new and we first heard about the project 4 months ago.  It was intriguing, as I remembered seeing barn quilts in Pennsylvania many, many years ago.  However,  putting one up on our barn took a bit more thinking.

Our old barn is very beautiful.

So with that in mind… we should do it… but with that in mind, perhaps we should not…!!

Be asked both of our neighbors what they thought we should do, as we are still ‘new’ here in the valley respect both their opinions and their insight.  Both gave it some consideration before saying that they thought it was a good idea.  We wanted to do what was best for the community and as we have a historical house it seemed we should participate.  I also asked the Quilting ladies, who asked a few questions about how it worked, who picked the quilt (we did) and they too gave their thumbs up.

Next step…picking the quilt square, which took canvasing the cousins.  We wanted a square that meant something to us, so a family quilt was definitely going to be the answer.  My cousins helped by sending us pictures of family quilts.  We’ve been told the quilt pattern’s name is Shoo Fly.  It is from a quilt my grandmother made and I remember my mother only letting us use it a bit as it was very worn.  It seemed a perfect fit for our barn.  My mother gave the quilt to my cousin, as they had lost many family treasures in a house fire.  The cousins knew that this was my grandmother’s very first quilt, so Clara Augusta Pruess Jensen (1895-1977)…this one is for you too.

The barn owners pay for the quilt to be built.  The amount is a reasonable sum, but one for us that was going to be funded after a few other more pressing projects had been completed, so we planned on having a quilt, but not right away.  Except… we started receiving gifts toward the quilt project, and before we knew it, the timing became sooner rather than later.

 We wanted to get a fresh coat of paint on the front side of the barn, before the quilt went up.  The weather did not exactly co-operate.  Number One Son, Number One Wife and I gave it a valiant effort with the wind blowing.  We managed to get the lower third painted.

Then came a calm day, ladders and extension tools and rollers.  There was nothing easy about getting the paint on the barn.  Paint sprayer…yes, it is on the list of necessary tools to buy.

Number Two Son and I needed to get the doors above where the quilt would go painted, which meant standing on a rickety platform 10 feet above the second floor inside the barn and leaning out the doors approximately 20 feet up off the ground.  Neither of us especially enjoy climbing about on high places, so this was challenging to say the least.  With the doors painted, we felt pretty proud of ourselves although I will confess to coveting a bucket lift, cherry picker, scissor lift of any type, as there is a lot more painting still to do here.

The 8×8 foot quilt square is made of wood and weighs 250 pounds.

Volunteers assist in all aspects of the quilt program, building,  painting, mounting….  Volunteers that own a bucket truck to assist in mounting is especially helpful and yes, I sort of want one.

Loved seeing it ‘fly’ thorough the air…

We think it is gorgeous, but still…

why do it?

The Barn Quilt Trail Map says it all…

“A year round, self-guided driving tour that honors our agricultural heritage and industry.  This grass-roots project also celebrates the folk-art of the American quilt and the strong women who made them.”

barnquiltswashington.org