Enjoy Ron Wilson's recent columns. The Wilson's Lazy T Ranch has its own barn quilt trail. You may see them listed on the "quilt trail" tab in Riley County.
Cowboy Up!
By Ron Wilson, Poet Lariat
Barn Quilts - Part 1
The package came in the
mail. After a quick glance at the return
address, we knew just what it was. It
was a book we had been waiting to see.
We tore open the package, opened the book, and were delighted with what
we found inside.
The book is titled Following the Barn Quilt Trail. It is written by Suzi Parron, with a foreword
by Donna Sue Groves. In the foreword,
Donna explains how barn quilts came about.
Donna’s fascination with
barns began at an early age. When she
was a little girl, her mother invented a game of counting barns in order to
keep Donna and her brother entertained on long trips in the family car. (This was long before handheld electronic
devices or video screens in vans.) That kept Donna on the watch for barns. Most of those trips were to visit family,
including two grandmothers who quilted.
In the 1980s, Donna was
living in Ohio when she and her mother bought a farm with a barn on it. Donna commented to her mother that the barn
looked plain and it needed something colorful to brighten it up. Donna wrote, “I halfheartedly said a big
quilt square would look nice and promised her that I’d paint one for her
someday.” That promise took 14 years to
come true.
The idea of a painted quilt
square design to be hung on a barn would become the phenomenon now known as a
barn quilt.
Meanwhile, Donna went to work
for the Ohio Arts Council. One of her projects
was to encourage public murals in communities.
While traveling, she came to realize that most rural communities did not
have large blank store walls on which to put a mural, but they did have nearby
barns. “To me the barn walls looked like
empty palettes waiting to be decorated,” Donna Sue wrote. “Why not make use of those barn walls
specifically for a community project decorating them with barn quilts?”
In 2000, Donna finally got
around to painting a barn quilt for her mother.
In fact, she suggested to her friends that they paint several of these
designs to hang on barns and then invite tourists to come see them. These groupings were called quilt
trails. The idea of barn quilts and
quilt trails for visitors caught on so effectively that it has swept across the
Midwest, as described previously in this column and other articles in Grass & Grain.
As Donna Sue Groves worked
with barn quilt trails across the nation, many people wanted to write a book
about them, but Donna wasn’t comfortable with any of these prospective authors. Then one day she met Suzi Parron. “When Suzi and I first chatted, I immediately
knew she was the right person to tell our story,” Donna wrote. Suzi was a teacher, a traveler, a southern
girl, and an excellent writer with an eye for detail.
In 2012, Suzi published her
book, Barn Quilts and the American Quilt
Trail Movement. After the book was
done, she continued to explore barn quilts across the nation. That led her to publish another book which
came out in 2016. This book includes
several more states – including Kansas.
So we were excited about the
package when it came in the mail, and we opened up the new book with
anticipation. I’ll describe the results
in a future column.
Stalking the Elusive Barn Quilt
By Ron Wilson, Poet Lariat
It’s not exactly hunting, in the sense of bow or gun,
But it does involve a search, and it is a lot of fun.
It’s called a Barn Quilt Trail and they’re found across the nation,
As people seek them out as a tourist destination.
It starts with people choosing a nice quilt square design,
And painting them on panels in colors nice and fine.
Then those panels are hung on the side of barn or shed,
Where they’re available for
viewing by the public, as I said.
And when there’s several in a
region on a route that might entail,
It becomes what people now
refer to as a Barn Quilt Trail.
It started in Ohio and the
concept traveled west,
Where many quilts now stand
as they await the traveler’s quest.
It seems there’s been a lot
of action on the barn quilt front,
As people seek them out for a
tourist barn quilt hunt.
You don’t need a hunting
license in this quest to prevail.
A book, website or friend can
guide you on the Barn Quilt Trail.
Happy Trails!
www.ronscowboypoetry.com
© Copyright 2016
Shared with permission 6-25-16.
Cowboy Up!
By Ron Wilson, Poet Lariat
Barn Quilts - Part 2
Just as the original white American
settlers migrated west in the 1800s, so came the idea of barn quilts and barn
quilt trails in the 2000s. The concept
of barn quilts - the decorative panels painted with quilt square designs and hung
on the sides of barns - began in Ohio and moved west. Donna Sue Groves of Ohio is considered the
founder of barn quilts and the creator of the first barn quilt trail. In 2012, Suzi Parron wrote a book about barn quilt
trails. As explained in my previous
column, Suzi has now published another book called Following the Barn Quilt Trail.
This book is essentially the journal of her travels visiting barn quilt
trails across the U.S. – including Kansas.
But it wasn’t a covered wagon
which first brought the barn quilt idea to Kansas. In her new book, Suzi explained that such
credit goes to Chris Campbell in Franklin County. According to Suzi, Chris is a farm wife and
mother, avid quilter and quilt shop owner.
One year Chris went to a quilt show in Oregon – for real quilts, the
soft cloth kind – and took a side trip to a nearby barn quilt trail. Chris came back from the trip thinking that
somebody should start such a project in Kansas.
As Suzi Parron wrote, Chris finally decided, “That somebody became me!”
Her first barn quilt was
mounted on Chris’ Corner Quilt Shop near Ottawa. The Franklin County Barn Quilt Trail has
grown to include more than 40 quilt blocks!
So Franklin County was Suzi
Parron’s first stop in Kansas. The book
chronicles her continued visits across Kansas to such families as the
Krambecks, Olberdings, and Sylvesters.
Then came the Flint Hills
Barn Quilt Trail. Leaders like Sue Hageman, Connie Larson, Abby Amick, Lori
Bammerlin, and Marcia Rozell promoted the development of a barn quilt trail for
the Flint Hills region. These women have
done an outstanding job, as described by Suzi Parron.
One of Suzi’s stops in Kansas
was at our ranch. My wife told Suzi the
story of her great-great-grandmother Maggie Thompson Beam, who made a quilt
using the pattern of Lancaster Rose a century ago. That quilt eventually found its way to our
family, and we still have it. We even
have a black-and-white photo of a stern-looking Maggie working on this very quilt,
and the design is prominent in the photo.
That was the design that we used for our first barn quilt.
We were so surprised and
pleased to find that the barn, the quilt, and the photo of Grandma Beam are
featured in Suzi Parron’s new book. The
book covers 17 states plus Canada. Of
the 259 pages describing barn quilts in various states, 15 pages are devoted to
Kansas. This colorful, engaging book is
available from Swallow Press of Ohio (www.ohioswallow.com).
What explains this flurry of
activity around barn quilts? I think it
is an intersection of art, tourism, and rural heritage. As the following poem indicates, people have
deep feelings for their family quilts.
I commend the women of Kansas
who have promoted barn quilts and barn quilt trails in Kansas. As Suzi Parron found, it is not just the
eye-catching designs which make these so interesting. It is the touching, heartwarming stories
behind the quilts which make them especially meaningful.
I’m thankful that this idea
migrated west.
Grandma’s Quilt
By Ron Wilson, Poet Lariat
Grandma’s quilt is soft and warm.
We hang it on a railing,
In tribute to her handiwork
and family love unfailing.
There are surely other
families who might have a family quilt,
Which displays the
craftsmanship that prior generations built.
Perhaps a grandma stitched a
quilt a lot of years ago,
And it’s been passed down
through the years for us to have and show.
Just think about those women
with their skill in decorations,
Who created these warm quilts
for future generations.
To think they chose these
patterns and stitched them with such care,
Not knowing their descendants
would find such value there.
When winter nights are here
and we go lay down our heads,
How comforting to find a
family quilt upon our beds.
It’s not just these blanket
layers which protect us from the cold,
It’s the inner warmth of
reconnecting with these gifts of old.
So what makes these quilts so
special to those who’ve gotten and displayed them?
I think that it’s the memory
of the loving hands who made them.
Happy Trails!
www.ronscowboypoetry.com
© Copyright 2016
Shared with permission 6-25-16
