The American barn quilt movement started in Adams County, Ohio, when Donna Sue Groves painted a quilt block on her tobacco barn to honor her mother, a master quilter. Sac County embraced the barn quilt idea and quickly became the Iowa leader in the number of barn and community quilts painted and installed around the county. While you can see a barn quilt in almost a third of Iowa's counties now, and in 25 different states, you'll see more quilts in Sac County than just about anywhere else! Growing up in West Virginia, Donna Sue Groves and her family would play a simple game of counting the barn advertising signs, such as Chew Mail Pouch, See Rock City, Seven Caves, Natural Bridge and Drink R C Cola on long road trips. They would use the different styles of barns such as Bank, Round, Crib, Tobacco as part of the automobile game. During vacations, she delighted in watching for the colorful geometric Hex signs scattered throughout Pennsylvania. Her family used barn watching as an opportunity for family discussions, a way to pass the long hours riding in the car, and as a history lesson. Fast forward to 1989. Nina Maxine, now a widow, had retired from her teaching career. Donna Sue had divorced and her son had graduated high school. Both women agreed that it was time for a change, and together they purchased a 28-acre, non-working farm in Adams County, Ohio, located in the southern part of the state. On the farm was a type of barn that Donna Sue had never noticed in all her years of playing the barn game: a tobacco barn. Furthermore, she recalls saying that it was “the ugliest barn I have ever seen!” She promised Nina Maxine that she would paint a quilt square on the barn to spruce it up and honor her mother’s quiltmaking talent.It took twelve years to make good on her promise. She then hit upon the happy idea of expanding the project to other barns in the county, creating a driving trail (the barn game with a twist!) as a means of supporting local artists, generating tourist traffic, and benefiting the economy. On a more personal level, she saw the project as a means of paying homage to both her mother and her Appalachian mountain heritage. The project was a runaway success. Neighboring counties (and eventually other states) asked to join in and create their own quilt barn trails. Donna Sue encouraged them all, asking only that they share any lessons learned with other interested parties and telling them, “If you plan a barn quilt project in your county, please remember my momma, Nina Maxine Groves.” To date, the American Quilt Barn Trail stretches across 26 states, includes 98 dedicated driving trails, and features an estimated 2100-plus quilt squares. And Nina Maxine finally got a quilt square painted on her barn: a Snail’s Trail centered above the barn’s doors. I see these on occasion in my surrounding area, and I always enjoy their artistic look, I hope you do as well as well as this bit of history about them that I have included. Enjoy a wonderful Tuesday~