Accuquilt is having a contest to design a barn quilt. There are a lot of them in the midwest.

The idea of Barn Quilts began in with the Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants way back when. Then it kind of peaked and disappeared. In 2001, Donna Groves in WV, bought a farm with her mother and painted one on the side of the barn to honor her mother's love of quilting. That set off a movement to paint them so there would be a trail people could follow. It was an community PR thing. Now there are Barn Quilt Trails all across the United States.
In my home county, our quilt trail was begun last August and we have 15 now hung with contracts signed for another 17. You can see them in Facebook under Daviess County Barn Quilt Trail. Many times an individual will paint one and put them up. Frequently, a local Extension Service through a University will sponsor them, and sometimes a quilt guild will. In our case, the local extension service with some guild members got it started. They order a special metal sign board and special paint through a place in Chicago. The ones that are painted on wood and hung do not last very long. The elements are not kind. The metal ones they are hanging now, should last a long time. I've just loved driving through the state finding the quilt trails. In Kentucky, if you google The Kentucky Barn Quilt Trail, you can find counties maps that tell you exactly where to find them. It's so much fun to see one as a surprise! We charge $300 for an 8' X 8' one. It's sort of become a status symbol in Daviess County, KY.

During the civil war the underground railroad use to hang quilts to show the slave where to find safe haven. Maybe that is the reason the barn block have come fashionable

aahhh so you were up my way, they are called Barn Quilts and is the rage these days. There are several areas across the country where you will find these.
Generally, the block depicts some heritage of the people or the farm.
Joan

I am working on Eleanor Burns' Barn Quilt now. I have several blocks done. It is wonderful.

Tennessee is full of them. They are beautiful and really a nice sight.

Hi
I'm from Ohio and have taken a picture of one on Rt 77

Northern Indiana in Amish country, Napanee and Shipshewana areas have numerous ones. Quite lovely. It was done as a promotion by their local tourist board, I think.

On the way home from Michigan last year, coming through Indiana we spent a half day on their Quilt Trail. We got a map and followed part of it. The map had the location obviously and a little info about the design etc. We tried this in RI, but got to the town to late to get the map and couldn't stay til the next day. I hope my next trail to visit is in Kentucky, got some of their info off the web and it looks like fun. Also a good way to see some areas you might not get to otherwise, (not all in the country on barns either). I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you follow one.

This is the one we went on, only did about half of it though, time constraints and 13 yr old GS with us, he wasn't to interested.