Avery and Watauga Arts Councils announce Quilt Trails project

Date: May 28, 2007

The Avery Arts Council (AAC) and the Watauga Arts Council (WAC) are proud to announce the launch of Quilt Trails in their respective counties! Already underway in Madison, Mitchell, Yancey and Ashe counties, the Quilt Trail project is being expanded into Watauga and Avery counties through a grant from Handmade in America and the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.

Quilts, always a beloved symbol of comfort, family, heritage, and community, will soon be bringing new splashes of color along the roadsides and into the rural countryside. Vibrant quilt patterns will be painted on pre-built eight foot wooden squares. They are to be installed on barns, public buildings, shops, and other appropriate buildings around the community. A series of self-guided trails maps will be developed to direct sight-seers along the highways and byways to view these icons of tradition in their new and significant role as public art.

Often referred to as Barn Quilts (because the concept originated with barns in Midwestern states and still focuses primarily on barns despite the more recent inclusion of other hanging sites), each quilt square will require a team of volunteer painters and a willing property owner to donate hanging space on their building. Making a quilt square together will allow volunteer groups from community centers, churches, school classes, and even families the opportunity to create and paint their own quilt square as a group project. The square which is chosen may represent a family pattern from a beloved quilt or perhaps something new. Grant funds will provide supplies for the first several quilts and, in Watauga County, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation has agreed to sponsor the project by assisting with “hanging” the quilt squares on the barns. In Avery County, community partners include Boone Paint and CS Signs.

These quilt squares are a wonderful way to celebrate our local heritage, as well as a unique regional art project that crosses county lines.

Community members are invited to get involved in several ways:

• Host a quilt square for two years on your barn or building
• Be a part of a painting team
• Help with frame building or installation
• Become a financial sponsor of one or more quilt blocks
• Volunteer to assist with the project

Interested in participating in the Avery Quilt Trail? To submit an application, please download the two forms below, fill in and send to the Avery Arts Council office.

Site Application (a PDF file) ... Updated April 28, 2008
Sponsorship Form (a PDF file)

Left: Odell and Jean Sluder of Newland, NC holding a quilt of Battleship squares in front of their barn with a Battleship Barn Quilt.

The Watauga and Avery Arts Councils will make the final determinations as to the appropriateness of the sites and patterns for the quilt squares. Residents should contact their respective Arts Councils for more information -- the Avery Arts Council (828-898-4292 info@averycountyartscouncil.org or the Watauga Arts Council (828-264-1789 wcac@watauga-arts.org).