The barn quilt committee is hoping to hang quilt blocks on historic barns not only to highlight the agricultural heritage of the county but also to call attention to the architectural uniqueness of barns and encourage the preservation of historic barns. Stern is among about a dozen local farmers who are part of an effort in Walworth County to revitalize its rural areas and honor its agriculture heritage by placing colorful painted squares on the sides of barns. The barn quilts are expected to attract visitors, said Walworth County agriculture educator Peg Reedy, who is leading the project. Barn quilts originated in Adams County, Ohio, in 2001, when Donna Sue Groves painted a traditional quilt square on an old barn on her family farm as a tribute to her mother, who loved quilting and farming. Several Wisconsin counties are dotted with barn quilts, including Green County, which boasts about three dozen quilts; Lafayette County, which has almost a dozen; and Racine County, which features about a dozen.

Making a quilt takes material and time, Webb said. Webb has boxes full of blue ribbons she’s won at state fairs and quilt shows over the years. There is no comparison in quality between a hand-sewn quilt and one done on a machine, Webb said. When she started her first quilt, Webb sat down in her small living room with a huge quilt frame and prayed. I’ve seen her sit at that quilt frame, stretch it out across the dining room and sit there and quilt and quilt.

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MONTROSE — The Montrose Pavilion will see a rainbow of colorful designs and patterns as the 14th Annual Black Canyon Quilt Show comes to town July 10-12. Regional judges will evaluate bed-size quilts, lap quilts, baby quilts, challenge quilts (those pieced and quilted solely by the quilter) and wearable art. Hundreds of area residents and quilt connoisseurs pack the Montrose Pavilion for the annual Black Canyon Quilt last year. The Black Canyon Quilt Show is the largest on the Western Slope and will draw attendees from all over the area, including Utah and Arizona.

Each summer, the state becomes a hot spot for quilting innovation as hundreds of artists (Shearrow included) visit shows and attend the Quilt Surface Design Symposium — an international workshop that will begin next week in Columbus. One Quilt National piece by Sue Akerman, African Scarified IV , is constructed of used tea bags covered with organza. Some artists build collages — a days-long process of layering paint, stitches, paper or silk until shapes emerge. For those who must know, Alison Schwabe, a fiber artist from Australia, used a wood-burning tool to singe the organza covering of Timetracks 7 , at Quilt National. Sitting upright in a chair at the Dairy Barn is Susan Else’s Nothing To Fear , a plastic medical skeleton upholstered head-to-toe in colorful quilted material.