Barn quilts adorn museum display barn

AMBOY – Members of the North Clark Historical Museum Quilt Committee – Barbara Rogers, Terry Cook, and Judi Malinowski – were inspired by the Barn Quilt at Mt. Valley Grange and thought the museum display barn should have one.

Each of the three members said they had been thinking of doing just that. The committee brought the idea to the Board of Directors, and the board members approved the idea.

The plywood was purchased and cut to size. The original plans were for a barn quilt that would fit over the door of the loft of the barn. Later, it was decided to add two smaller ones, one for each side of the door and the designs were selected.

The 4-foot by 6-foot design was named “Lone Fir” to represent logging. The two 2-foot by 2-foot designs selected were named “Pioneer Log Cabin” for the pioneers who came to this area and “CathlapootleTrails” for the Native Americans who lived in this area. These designs are representative of the three main focuses of the museum.

The four ladies who worked on this project were Barbara Rogers, Terry Cook, Debbie Bethje, and Marcia Colgate. Over a span of eight days they spent a total of approximately 64 hours on the quilt blocks. They drew the designs on the plywood, taped off the different areas for painting, spent hours painting, did final touch ups, and delivered the quilt blocks to the museum.

Next was the task of hanging them on the display barn. Jim Malinowski coordinated the work party, which consisted of Tom Reichstein, Gerry Adolfson, Jerry Johnson, Pat Knowles, Frank Emerick, Andy Reichstein, and Tim Reichstein. Before the installation was completed, motorists were slowing down to view the barn quilts. The quilt blocks were put up on July 10, in time for Territorial Days in Amboy.

The hope of the museum, and of Mt. Valley Grange, is that other businesses and organizations in Amboy will be inspired to put up a quilt block, perhaps leading to Amboy  becoming a quilt tour destination.