Barn quilts have special meaning beyond adding art to buildings

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

As you drive through rural America, there’s a good chance you’ll pass by a variety of barn quilts, which have a long history of dotting barns and now other parts of the home property across the nation.

The history of barn quilts is actually a bit hazy as the modern art form can be traced back to two separate uses of quilt squares as navigation. The common usage today of painted plywood squares is said to have been spread by a barn quilt trail in Ohio in 2001, but its history goes back much further.

One origin story of today’s barn quilts comes from the German and Dutch farmers who settled in this country in the early 1800s and brought with them the practice of adorning their barns with a six-pointed star. This practice had roots in Germany where farmers believed the star would ward off danger and misfortune from their livestock.

Another origin of the barn quilt comes from the time of the Civil War when members of the Underground Railroad would use quilt blocks, often draped over porch railings or clotheslines, as a code for safety and direction. Depending on the quilt block, they would know whether a household was sympathetic to their mission, where food and water could be obtained, or whether they needed to disguise themselves in the area.

Among the countless quilt squares that can be seen across the nation, there are a number of them in the New York Mills area. From flags to flowers, the barn quilts can be seen throughout the city and the surrounding countryside. One NY Mills local tried her hand at creating them recently.

“This was actually my first time,” said Summer Marcell of creating barn quilt squares. “I think I started them at the end of June, just doing them on days off and days that worked for my grandparents. My grandma will ask me to do something and I find a way to do it. She had sent me the idea one day and asked if it was something I would be able to do and I told her I would give it a shot.”

Marcell worked on the barn quilts with both of her grandparents, Lenny and Barb Puckett, also of NY Mills. Barb provided the designs and vision for the project, Lenny purchased the supplies and helped with the woodwork, and Summer put her creativity to the test to create four quilt squares.

“It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone,” she said. “It was a lot more measuring and precision line work that went into making those than I thought there was going to be. Obviously, a quilt looks way different than a painted one, so we had the designs out and I was thinking, ‘How am I going to transfer it over?’ So we had trial and error of marking out different lines and what measurement was going to work for how big the boards were.”

Marcell ended up making two larger barn quilts and two smaller ones to hang outside her grandparent’s home. With two larger 3×3 foot plywood boards and two smaller ones, the Pucketts ended up with an entire side of their home decorated in flower-inspired quilt blocks. Lenny also made pine frames for each block.

“It wasn’t until I started painting them that I noticed all the other ones around here,” said Marcell. “I didn’t even think about it until after I started making them, all the different designs, you can do almost anything with them. We stuck with more of a flower pattern to stay to a theme, but there are just so many routes you could go with.”

Marcell said that she used outdoor paint for each of the blocks so that they would withstand the elements and have a longer lifespan. She enjoyed the process, especially being able to work alongside her grandma and grandpa, between the design and the finishing process.

“My favorite part was my grandma’s response to them,” she said. “She always has me make odd projects for her, she’s very keen on pushing me out of my comfort zone when it comes to stuff like that and just seeing her happy with the after project and the final outcome of all of it is what really does it for me, that’s why I do it, for her. I definitely recommend trying it out if anyone wants to, it was super fun and I think they look awesome.”