Alabama Barn Quilt Trail

What started as an art of necessity has become art on the country roads of Alabama

BY JESSIE SHOOK

Do you have a beautiful, old quilt in the back of your closet? The kind that has a quilt pattern unique and special to your family? When you think of a quilt that has been passed down from generation to generation, you may not realize the history behind it and patchwork itself. “Patchwork can be traced as far back as medieval times. It was brought to this country by immigrants and popularized out of necessity,” said Dale Robinson, Alabama Barn Quilt Trail President. “They fulfilled the need to stay warm on cold winter nights. It wasn’t until late in the 20th century that quilting began to be recognized as an art form.”

The Alabama Barn Quilt Trail is bringing this art form to the country roads of Alabama to give new life to historic barns. These classic, old barns have unique and colorful quilt squares painted and displayed on them for the public to enjoy. “The purpose of the Trail is to promote agriculture and agritourism, as well as preserving the history and architecture of the old barns,” said Regina Painter, Founder of the Alabama Barn Quilt Trail. “We want to promote the art and history of the old quilts.”

The idea originated in Adams County, Ohio by Donna Sue Groves in 2001 and spread to other states. “The first time I saw these blocks was in Tennessee around 2013 when I visited a quilt show and saw them on some barns,” Painter added. “As a fabric quilter, I loved them and wanted to see them in Alabama.”

The first block of the Alabama Quilt Trail was hung in December 2015 on the barn of Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Balch in Killen, Alabama. “It beautifies the countryside even more,” Painter said. “It creates a scavenger hunt of sorts for men and women, young and old, to participate in and enjoy together. It maps a path across less-traveled areas to give visitors an opportunity to see the countryside.”

The goal is to bring tourists into the state of Alabama to tour the trail with the hopes of patronizing restaurants, gas stations and other local businesses and benefit the economy. “It’s hard to quantify the benefit of the trail but we can attest to the number of emails, Facebook messages and comments we receive every day,” Robinson said. “In that respect, we know that the trail is indeed bringing visitors from all over the U.S.”

Anyone can qualify to have a barn quilt block on the trail. “The main criteria are that the prospective applicant’s barn must be clearly visible from a public road and offer a safe place for the public to pull off and take pictures,” Robinson said. “Other than that, we like for the barn to be in good repair and the area around the barn to be neat. We prefer the old wooden barns, but we have many metal barns and sheds on the trail too.”

The quilt patterns must be taken from traditional quilt designs. “We encourage applicants to look for an old family quilt that we can replicate for their pattern,” Robinson added. “That makes their barn quilt more special to the family.”

The quilt blocks are hand painted for each individual barn and if you don’t have a barn to participate, the Barn Quilt Trail offers a barn quilt painting class for anyone interested in painting their own block. Participants choose a pattern and the size block they want. “The classes are extremely popular and sell out quickly,” Robinson said.

Historic, wood barns are disappearing from America’s landscape and most are being replaced by steel buildings. “By placing hand painted replicas of traditional quilt blocks, the Barn Quilt Trail hopes to bring attention to these old barns, as well as the old family quilt,” Robinson added. “And by doing so, we might spark interest in preserving these historical structures and quilts.”

For more information on the Alabama Barn Quilt Trail visit www.alabamabarnquilttrail.org or find them on Facebook.

Charles Rose Barn - Moulton, Alabama

Don Wade Barn Killen, Alabama “Glory Star”