Adair County Barn Quilt Block Project Nears Completion

A project that began last fall to enhance the beauty of the countryside and encourage visitors to travel different roads throughout the county by placing large "quilt block" patterns on barns is nearing completion.
Last year, the Columbia-Adair County Tourism Commission received a grant from the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association for the quilt block project. The grant was supposed to pay for six blocks, but Denise Stewart, who coordinated the project for the tourism commission, was able to make an additional three quilt blocks, bringing the total to nine.
Three of the quilt blocks - which are actually eight foot by eight foot plywood squares painted with brightly colored replicas of popular quilt patterns - were put up last November. Then, on Tuesday, a crew from Taylor County RECC volunteered their time to put up five more on barns scattered around the county.
"We've got eight of the nine done now thanks to Taylor County RECC," Stewart noted. "The ninth block is painted, and we're just waiting for the decision to be made on where it will be placed."
The five "quilt blocks" placed Tuesday are:
•A Maple Leaf pattern on the black barn of Barbara and the late Minnick Grider on Highway East 80.
•A Windmill Star pattern on a red barn of James and Hilda Hatcher just off Highway East 80 on Otha Bryant Road.
•A Double Star pattern on a red barn at Jimmy Reliford Drilling Company on Highway 61 South.
•A Pinwheel Daisy pattern on a white barn of Gerald and Cynthia Coomer on Highway 55 South.
•A Crossroads pattern on a red barn of John and Jeana Pike on Highway 55 North just past Cane Valley.
The three barns on which quilt block patterns were placed last fall are: A Indian Arrowhead pattern on a barn owned by Joe Lynn Barbee on Campbellsville Road in the city limits; a Memory Block pattern on a barn owned by Kenneth Scott on Highway 80 West across from the Col. William Casey House; and a Columbia Star pattern on a barn owned by Gertrude Browning off Highway 61 South near the new parkway interchange which is visible from both the parkway and northbound travelers on KY 61.
According to Sue Stivers, Executive Director of the tourism commission, the three quilt block patterns put up last fall have attracted a lot of attention, and she expects to new ones to garner even more notice.
"We've had a tremendous amount of people talk about the barns, both local people and visitors," she said. "With these new ones now up, we expect a lot more interest."
Stivers said the long-range goal of the project is to put the quilt blocks on barns on well-traveled roads throughout the region so that a "quilt trail" can be established.
"Visitors would then be able to drive a route through several counties to check out the quilts, and also see the other tourist attractions we have to offer," she noted. "The quilt trail has proved to be a popular attraction in other states, and its also being done in other parts of the state."
Photo: BARN ART. Taylor County RECC employee Scot Cochran worked to properly place the two sides of the 8'x8' "quilt block" on Barbara Grider's barn on Highway 80 East Tuesday morning. Cochran and co-worker Tim Coffey put up five of the "quilt block" designs on barns around the county for the Columbia-Adair County Tourism Commission.(Photos by Paul B. Hayes)