Corn Belt Energy linemen attach a quilt panel to the barn at Westminster Village on Lincoln Street in Bloomington. Donna Rae Alsene, a resident at the retirement village, designed the quilt, incorporating the letters “WV” within an 8-pointed star. (Photo courtesy of Barn Quilt Heritage Trail)

“Thus with pen and ink she stitched a moment in June into the quilt of history,” penned poet Kathleen Kirk of the wooden quilt square that graces the Carriage Barn at the David Davis Mansion.

Built in 1872 by Supreme Court Justice David Davis, the Bloomington landmark was first to join the McLean County Barn Quilt Heritage Trail, a project launched in 2012 to pay tribute to the county’s agricultural heritage.

Inspired by Donna Sue Groves’ mission to create a national community of barn quilt trails, Kay Henrichs formed a committee of volunteers with the goal to establish 50 quilt squares in five years. By this year’s end, 54 of the squares will grace the county’s landscape.

“We give the credit completely to the founding committee. It was a five-year contract to get 50 and they were successful,” Reid Young, program coordinator for the McLean County University of Illinois Extension, said.

The U of I Extension joined with the committee in 2014, and assist with funding by leveraging grants that help pay for marketing.

“We’ve been the fiscal agent, and the shepherd of the program,” Young said. “The work really does get done by the committee. We just ensure their success.”

By reaching its goals, the committee, and the participants, have joined ranks with more than 7,000 other participants in the United States, as well as Canada, who have been inspired by Groves’ work.

Groves, of Adams County, Ohio, spurred the movement by creating, in 2001, a barn quilt in honor of her mother, Nina. In her documentary, “Pieced Together”, Groves describes a barn quilt as, “taking a simplistic concept of creating a plywood quilt square, just like one that would go in a quilt, and hanging it on a barn so people driving by could enjoy that sign.”

The quilts are designed by the property owners and are hand painted either by the owners, volunteers or both, on an 8-foot-square panel. A few are painted directly on the structure. They cost $425 each, Young said, with a little extra added on to help the committee with marketing materials.

Jo Morrison of East Road, Towanda, designed a star-pattern barn quilt in memory of her late mother, Leona, and a cherished farm dog, Sammy. The colors represent those of the schools in which her mother taught, and the peony; her mother’s favorite flower. The 85-year-old barn is one of 49 McLean County barns which are part of the county’s Barn Quilt Heritage Trail. (Photo courtesy of U of I Extension)

Each sign, of course, tells a story. Jim and Judy Killian of East Road in Lexington, chose to showcase what was once known as the State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company’s advertisement. The family was one of the first policy holders when the insurance company began selling policies in 1922. The couple have a second square which features a Celtic Knot.

The Killians on North Road in Towanda also celebrate their heritage with a Flag of Ireland quilt.  The Hoeniges family on North Road in Shirley used their quilt as a means to promote Autism awareness.

The barn needn’t be old, and, in some cases, the quilt squares aren’t displayed on barns, Young said. Some are on silos, others, on corncribs. Corn Crib Stadium in Normal showcases a square memorializing Michael Collins, a University of Illinois student who perished in a car accident April 2, 2014.

Heyworth Public Library chose a green and white “Railroad Crossing” pattern, due to the village’s long history with railways. Bill and Janis Thacker of Chenoa placed a square on the Metro Warbirds’ airplane hangar, which resides on their property.

Also, there’s a bit more to the McLean County trail than meets the eye; poetry. Once a quilt is complete, one of eight local poets meets with the owners to hear their tales, then pens prose detailing each story. A compilation of the poems, called “Words on Quilts” is available in the Extension’s Heritage Trail booklet.

Ardis L. Stewart wrote, of the Fitzgerald quilt in Heyworth, “Above this barnyard grows a new patchwork flower of two-toned reds, blues and yellow – an Amish Rubic Center – the garden planting of mother, daughter, children. The past becomes present; the present becomes future. Turn.”

Donna Sue Groves, right, was inspired by her mother, Nina Maxine, left, to create a barn quilt on her Adams County, Ohio farm in 2001. Groves’ idea became a national trend, and more than 7,000 barn quilts are featured in the United States and Canada. Groves’ mother passed away in May 2015. (Photo courtesy of Pieced Together)

The full-color, 60-page production also features photos, vignettes and locations of each quilt. The publication is amended with each addition to the trail, Young said. It is free, though the Heritage Trail committee does accept donations.

Because the goal of 50 quilts in five years has been met, Young said most of the founding committee members have retired from the committee, and volunteers will stop assisting landowners in the production of quilts.

However, landowners may still design and display a barn quilt, and those who do will continue to be added to the McLean County Barn Quilt Heritage Trail. For more information on the trail, including access to poetry and photos, may be found at www.mcleancountybarnquilts.com or on the trail’s Facebook page, “Barn Quilt Heritage Trail – McLean County, Illinois”.

— Heritage Trail Barn Quilt project reaches goal of 50 quilts in 5 years —