If you have ever taken a drive and noticed a painted quilt block on a barn you may have wondered what it was. The size of the quilt squares vary, most measure 8 feet. These blocks are painted and hung on the exterior of a barn, house, garage or other out building. Barn quilts are comprised of simple geometric shapes, like squares, rectangles and triangles. Solid colors are most often used, though you may notice that some have been panted to look like printed fabric.
Fabric quilts can all tell a story of their unique history. Barn quilts are able to do the same. Barns are not painted back in the day and were decorated with different types of folk art. Quilt blocks were often used. People would choose certain blocks to reflect particular meanings. The early 2000s would bring this fashion back to the barns. A quilt trail exist and was started in Ohio. The trail consists of many barn quilts that are mapped together and visited. A map will direct your path through the country side.
WOW! I have seen quilts like this before but never knew there were messages within. I have learned something new today...Thank you!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I used to see some of these barn quilts in upstate New York, but I never knew that they had a meaning or an actual purpose. That's really cool that people used them as a map/guide. Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteI loved this write up! It would be a fun activity to do with kids at some point. We could do it on a smaller scale and decode each other's messages!
ReplyDeletevery interesting! I've never seen these!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting fact...never seen one but now I want to!
ReplyDeleteWhoaaaa!! So interesting..
ReplyDeleteWe learn something new everyday :)