Boonslick tourism council patches together quilt idea

The Boonslick Area Tourism Council is patching together a “clothesline” of barn quilts that will loop through Saline, Cooper and Howard counties in effort to promote agri-tourism in the
area.

The quilts are actually block patterns painted as patches on an 8-by-8-foot panel and hung on a barn, where they are easily seen from major roadways in the Boonslick region, which is centralized in Howard County between Fayette and Marshall.

“We are trying to get people to come off the interstate to visit and spend some money in our communities,” said Mary Duncan, a founding member of the Boonslick Area Tourism Council.

The Boonslick Area Tourism Council on Friday dedicated the fourth barn quilt of the project at Maple Crest Farms in Saline County. Elaine Osborn, owner of Maple Crest Farms, sponsored the design on her barn and donated funding for additional quilts for the project.

Duncan said the concept came from similar projects in Idaho, Iowa and North Carolina. Duncan said many members of the council are avid quilters, so they jumped at the idea to add the designs on historic barns in the area.

Two years ago, council members began searching for viable barns in the three-county region that were at least 50 years old and remained in good condition.

Participating farmers select the quilt pattern and colors to be painted and affixed to their barns. Duncan said it typically takes about two weeks for the dozen or so members of the tourism council to draw, paint and place the designs.

Duncan said the council hopes to have 20 quilts in each county, forming a “clothesline” that will loop through the three counties by 2011. She said the council also is working on a brochure to provide a brief history on all the barns involved in the project, and map out where each can be found.

“Right now, we have two up in Cooper, three in Saline and two in Howard, and we’re already working on setting up the next four,” Duncan said.

The council recently applied for a grant for the project from the Folk Art Program in the Missouri Arts Council. If approved, the grant could help fund an additional 12 quilts.

Duncan said she would like to see other tourism leaders in rural parts of the state pick up the idea to loop the quilts across Missouri.

“What we’re hoping is that other organizations in counties across the state will jump on the bandwagon,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of barns in Pettis County, too, so I hope somebody there picks up the idea and gets on the bandwagon as well.”