Barns and Quilts

My mind has been on barns lately. Of course, my mom would say that my mind is always interested in barns. I love the light inside them. Playing in the haymows as a child, and looking into all the dark nooks and crannies was (and is) one of my favorite things to do.

This year, the Batty Binder's Quilt Guild in Troy had a scavenger hunt as part of the activities. Miami County is one of the several counties in Ohio who have promoted the painting of quilt patterns on the barns. For Miami County, this was an effort to connect people with Miami county's rural areas.

Rafael Santoyo, a native of Villa Modera, Mexico has painted over 50 barns throughout Miami County. While other counties in Ohio have done this (in fact, it started in Ohio in the Appalachian foothills in Adams county with the work of Donna Sue Groves), so far, ours are the most spectacularly painted. Rafael actually replicates printed fabrics in his work...even going so far as to make "batiks."

We had to go out and photograph as many of the quilt squares on the barns as we could. Then, last month, we were assembled into "teams." We are now going to individually make quilts with a barn theme. I already was thinking about barns and quilts...so I will probably do a series.

Then, the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge group assigned us the theme of "chiaroscuro." Chiaroscuro is an art term which referes to painting (or drawing) in a moody way, with extreme lights and darks. Carravagio was a master at this method, but I am sure you can think of many others who also work(ed) in this way. My thoughts immediately went to this shot I took, as well as many others I did in Montana several years ago.

This lovely double wedding ring pattern is painted on the side of a barn which was raised in 1858.


The barn is kept in good shape by the Zimmerlin's of Piqua, Ohio.


The Wintrow Barn, also in Piqua has the log cabin pattern on it.






and the Shutt Barn has "All Hallows."













While it doesn't have a quilt pattern on it, this is one of my favorite barns, and rather unusual. It is done in the Second Empire (also known as Mansard") style and accompanies a house in the same style. I'm a little worried about this one. Barns are often not kept up. The gutters fall into disrepair dumping water onto the foundations which then freeze and thaw and sometimes break down. The roofs are not maintained and water gets in, rotting the floors and sills. Then they start to fall. Vandals, lighting strikes, and basic neglect (which then causes insurance liabilities) . Pole barns (barns made from telephone poles and metal siding) just don't have the same character that these wonderful wooden structures have.

Now I have to get back to trying to finish my last 2 FFFC quilts done...I REALLY want to get them finished before I start on the new one...I'm very close to being done!