Down the street, Marv and Ileen Schmitt have two, one on their garage and another on a small shed. A person driving through Central Minnesota may not find a map listing a barn quilt trail but there are many in the area. Barn quilts began as an art form derived from that ancient practice with the symbolism, “chust for pretty.”Ĭlasses like the one I took with my friends are offered through a number of schools and area adult-education programs. Hex signs began as symbols to ward off evil. A wide variety of people have created them, including quilt guilds, schools, churches, and 4-H clubs. Those following along the trail receive a map with all the locations marked. Many viewers love to drive through the countryside to see the blocks. Quilt trails consist merely of many barn quilts mapped together by location to be visited and photographed. They are being organized across the country. It was the start of the quilt trail mania in America. Instead of just one square on her barn, she began a community project with neighbors and friends and came up with 20 quilts being displayed along a driving trail. She wished to honor her mother by hanging a painted quilt block on her barn. They began as a decorating revival with a woman named Donna Sue Groves from Adams County, Ohio. Just as hex signs and fabric quilts have their own unique history, so do barn quilts. If they are too complicated, the details can be lost. The simplicity in shape and the vibrancy of solid colors makes these blocks easily seen from afar. They usually are painted in solid colors, though every now and then, you’ll come across one that has been painted to look like printed fabric. The majority of barn quilts are comprised of simple geometric shapes, like squares, rectangles and triangles. After they are painted, these blocks are hung on the exterior of a barn, house, garage, or other building. Though the name implies that an entire quilt is painted onto the wood, it generally is only a single square block. Because quilters love their quilts, they like to show them off wherever they can! Although they look lovely on beds, lying on the couch, tossed over the back of a chair, or spread across a wall, on a building, they speak volumes. Their geometric patterns resemble those on the old hex signs.Ī barn quilt is a large piece of wood painted to look like a quilt block. In the early 2000s, a barn decorating revival in the form of “barn quilts,” started showing up. The original meanings may have gone by the wayside in recent years, but a similar fad has evolved - reminiscent of the hex signs - barn quilts. Smith, in “Hex Signs and Other Barn Decorations,” documented a few of what he believes are the ancient markings of hex signs: the four-pointed star signifies good luck, five points protect the barn from lightning, six points signify love and marriage, eight points fertility and a sixteen-pointed star was sure to bring prosperity to a farm. Hex signs typically have bright colors and engaging designs, adding a pleasing visual display to farm buildings. Circles and stars are predominant geometric designs, symbolizing divinity and the circle of life. They might augment fertility of livestock or encourage the right balance of sun and rain for success with crops.Īrchaeological studies reveal hex signs were found in ancient caves carved by prehistoric peoples, and that they, perhaps, depict the sun wheel that early people are said to have worshiped. The markings, colors, and designs on hex signs are believed by many to protect the barns and the animals housed inside from fire, lightning, sickness and the work of evil spirits, demons and witchcraft. History tells us they were brought from the Rhineland to America by Mennonite and other German farmers in the 17th century. They can be seen on a few barns in Central Minnesota, but they originated in Pennsylvania, where they are a symbol of Pennsylvania-Dutch farmers. They looked like giant eyes watching over the farm from a vantage point on the upper front of old wooden barns. They came in a multitude of designs, sizes, shapes, and colors, although most had a circular border. They were usually geometric designs, often featuring some type of star. Hex signs have adorned American countryside barns since the beginning of colonization. They remind me of the ancient and beautiful hex signs on barns. I see them in the area on houses, garages, sheds and other out-buildings. Upon taking a barn quilt class at Rocori Senior Center in Cold Spring this fall, I became interested in the history of these decorative squares of wood on buildings that is gaining popularity in Central Minnesota.
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