The Amazing History of Barn Quilts

Barn quilts are a phenomenon which began in 2001 when Donna Sue Groves hung the first one on her barn in Ohio, my home state.  Listen to Donna Sue talking about how it all began, as well as about her personal struggle with breast cancer in this award-winning, and at times very emotional video, “Pieced Together”.

A barn quilt is a quilt block which is painted on a large piece of wood and hung on the outside of a barn.  The number of quilt block patterns is endless, so it’s not hard to be unique.  The quilt block pattern shown in the above photo is called “Ohio Star”.  Now thousands of  different barn quilts can be seen all across the USA, with Barn Quilt Trails to guide you.

If you are a quilter and live in the USA, or if you are just a lover of quilts or barns and are planning a trip across the USA, the following links can be of help. Even if you aren’t planning a trip, you will still enjoy looking at the many beautiful barns shown on these sites.

This page will guide you along scenic drives in each state where beautiful barn quilts can be discovered.

Here’s another page describing 11 different barn quilt trails to explore (with photos).

Finally, here is a very comprehensive list of quilt trails across the USA pinpointed on a map.