Monday Musings

CHRISTMAS HUGS Y'ALL FROM GEORGIA!

Okay you just know I have some more drive by barns from my Ohio trip.  And some - believe it or not - turned out good - in spite of the drive by situation (taking photos at 80mph - my husband loves to speed). These are some more of the barns and they're not blurry (!), but alas, they are a bit far away.  (They will get better and better on the next few Mondays and I even took some photos of fences.)

These were taken in the pretty state of Kentucky - the skies were pretty - a little overcast - but see the group of barns out there?   Most are not abandoned and they're being used for something functional.  I have to say they're prettier then the Georgia barns I've found here so far - at least in North GA.  Southern GA would have a lot of peanut farms, but I'm not sure if they would have barns or not.   I live in such a populated area that when we do go north the barns are old and abandoned - I think the land will someday be uses for urban growth here.

Going to Ohio is supposed to take around 6 hours without any stops and going the speed limit.  I'm the worst offender - I want to stop as much or more than my GS!!!  I'm a bad on the road.  I would like to take days driving and stopping to see everything I can.  Did I tell you that does not fit with the rest of my gang.  So I don't push it.  But maybe some day they will see what I see.

My dear friend at A La Carte - Linda -  I was telling her about my barns and that I actually saw some barns with quilts on them this time.  I was so excited.  I saw two but I wasn't ready to take the picture.  I mentioned to her I wonder why people put real quilts on their barns.  And she very sweetly explained they were painted quilts.  And sent me this article on it. 

"About barn quilts"

Quilt patterns painted on barns dates back to colonial America.  The colonists would paint small patterns on the ends of their barns as a way to honor their heritage.  The director of the Truman Museum in Truman, Minnesota, Marilyn Carrigan, said "The history of the barn quilt begins about 300 years ago with the arrival of immigrants from the Rhine region of Germany.  They came for religious freedom.  These groups included Amish, Mennonites, Lutherans and other Reform groups.  Many settled in Pennsylvania, especially in Berks, Lancaster and Lehigh counties."

The modern version of the barn quilt was started by a lady named Donna Sue Groves.  In 2001 she made a barn quilt square to honor her mother and also to help attract attention from the nearby highway to help a friend's business.  Since that time interest in barn quilts squares grew and today barn quilts can be seen in approximately 27 states.

Many barn quilt squares are based on traditional quilt blocks, such as, log cabin, lamoyne star, mariner's compass, bear paw and wedding ring.  Barn quilt trail have also appeared in many of the 27 states, to showcase the barn quilts and to also generate tourism in the area.

Modern barn quilts are usually made using two sheets of 4' x 8' plywood and painting a quilt block pattern onto the plywood. Bright colors and bold patterns are used so that the pattern is better to be seen from a distance. "

So tell me where I have I been all my life - under a rock?  How come I didn't know this.  Anyway I learn something all the time here.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - CHRISTMAS GIFT SELECTIONS: