This painted quilt square depicting a tobacco leaf hangs on the Munfordville Welcome Center at 113 Main Street, Munfordville Ky. 42765.

The Kentucky Quilt Trails project is a celebration of quilting as well as of historic barns and architecture.  59 out of Kentucky’s 120 counties are currently participating in the project and this week Simpson County joins Hart County as representatives in the south central Kentucky area.

The Kentucky Arts Council has created a section on their website to promote the Kentucky Quilt Trail Project at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/QTrails/QTrails.htm  According to the history section, “The Quilt Trail project began in Adams County, Ohio, when Donna Sue Groves, a field representative for the Ohio Arts Council, decided that she wanted a quilt square painted on her barn to honor her mother, a lifelong quilter. Donna Sue shared her idea with friends in the community, who offered their help. They decided that if they were going to paint one quilt square on a barn, they might as well paint twenty and create a driving tour to attract tourists to their rural community.”

The first quilt square in Kentucky was hung in Carter County.  Volunteer leaders come from a variety of organizations.  In Simpson County, the Franklin-Simpson Arts Council is spearheading the project.  They will host a meeting for The Barn Quilt Project on Thursday, February 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Gallery on the Square.  The arts council hopes to recruit volunteers interested in creating the quilt squares as well as building owners who would like to have one on their property.

In Hart County it is the Cooperative Extension office that organized the project.  Their quilt trail page at http://ces.ca.uky.edu/hart/node/69 lists 26 locations on the trail from private barns to Bonnieville City Hall and the Munfordville Welcome Center.

You can find quilt trails across Kentucky by visiting the Kentucky Arts Council’s page.  Those interested in starting their own quilt trail should contact Judy Sizemore at (606) 364-5831 or circuit@prtcnet.org.

Information on the Simpson county project can be obtained by contacting the Franklin-Simpson Arts Council at 270.586.6799 or artsfkln@bellsouth.net.  The Gallery On The Square is located at 110 N. Main St.

A Kentucky Quilt Trail homepage is currently being created at www.kentuckyquilttrail.org.