Tuesday, December 15, 2009

BARN QUILTS...







Barn quilts....Have you heard of them?  Do they have the where you live?  I don't know much about them.   They certainly brighten up the countryside.  I don't go anywhere without my camera...getting my husband to stop every time I want to stop is a whole different story.

Do you have a barn quilt or a special memory involving your family hanging one on the family farm?

10 comments:

  1. When I first started teaching, I bid on a farm quilt during the school fundraiser.

    I "won" it. For a small fortune.

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  2. I didn't know that was what that particular quilt design was called!

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  3. I don't think we do barn quilts here, but I do love my cozy fleece blanket!

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  4. I have never seen or heard about a barn quilt until your post. Interesting the things that are "local" to certain parts of the country. I do have some beautiful quilts my mother-in-law made many years ago before she died. My favorite is the Wedding Ring quilt she made. It's amazing work. To combine the beautiful fabrics with the tiny stiches and to know that everything was done by hand. It's like all of the love she had for us was sewn into that beautiful quilt. Writing is much the same way, eh? We create tapestries, combining dialogue and plot points and narrative in just the right way, using just the right words, and hope that our readers will enjoy the fruits of our labor. Your post makes me want to pull out all of my quilts to look at them. Thanks for reminding me that love is often found in the things we put away.

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  5. It is beautiful! It seems I must have seen them somewhere in my frequent travels to Iowa!

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  6. I don't, but like you I carry a camera wherever I go. When we go to Michigan to visit friends, I'm prepared to snap shots of unique farm houses. Some are kept in pristine state while others haven't been inhabited for decades. Both make for terrific pictures.

    Stephen Tremp

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  7. I was raised more in the city. But I love visiting friends in the country who have lovely quilts like this. Very cozy!

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  8. Are you talking about real quilts of a certain pattern? Or that thing in the photo, on the side of that building?

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  9. I thought no one was reading my post...turns out I forgot to subscribe to it. (Oops...a blond momment.)

    Jennie--You bought a barn quilt? A wooden one, that hangs on a barn???? What did you do with it? Speakking of strange teacher things. I made my husband and my daughter's Godfather build a castle (8' x 8') for my classroom. I put my book shelves and bean bags in it and it was our reading room. :)

    Kelly--I know I need to do some research, but I think they're specific patterns, just like on bed quilts.

    Susan--SUSAN WANTS A SNUGGIE FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

    Buffy--This is why I read your blog. You have a great voice that always touches my heart. :) We get out Granny's Quilt when one of us is sick or feeling insecure. :)


    Kelly--I'm hoping to see many more. They all seem a bit different. I don't know if there is a cultural reason behind making and hanging them. Time to do a little research.

    Stephen--Do you take your pics in black and white sometimes? I took one of my husband and daughter walking ahead of me on a trail, this fall. It is great. It's like a momment you can never capture again.

    Ellie--I think the more I write the more I notice the details in life. Stop and look at the bark on different trees. It amazes me how something that seems so normal is ( up close)a work of art...

    Amy--These barn quilts are made from wood and hang on the sides of barns here. I don't know if they are everywhere in the northern U.S. They all seem to be different. Some have been up for years and are worn, but others look brand new. It's amazing the details you see when you move to a new area. Perhaps you guys should move to Iowa. LOL

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  10. Sharon, thanks as always for your kind words. I looked at my quilts last night. The last one my mother-in-law made was all white. The stitching is beautiful. We covered her with it during her viewing and I remember people commenting about its beauty. Unfortunately some of the makeup the funeral director used got on the white quilt, so now there is a big patch of brown. But I'm OK with that. Not everything is perfect in life. It's full of blemishes that show growth and character. Years from now, long after I'm gone, I can hear my sons tell their children about the quilt and how their great-grandmother made it by hand and how she was covered with it as she laid in her coffin and that's where the brown spot came from. There was a time when it probably would have been difficult for me to embrace the blemishes, but not anymore. Blessings, Buffy

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