Ginny’s Traditional Blocks Inspired by Barn Quilts

Quilter’s Name: Ginny Schaum from Rensselaerville, New York

Style of Quilt: Quilt featuring traditional blocks

Quilt Name: “Convergence”

Featured Date: 1-19-23

Hi, I’m Ginny. There is a saying, “Everything Old is New Again.”  People also say, “What Goes Around Comes Around”

I have definitely found both of these sayings to be true. Across the United States and into Canada, quilts have gone from bed cover to barn side, sewing needle to paint brush, fabric to wood, and traditional block design to original art. Quilts have transformed both American architecture and the landscape! 

Quilt blocks took on a new format over 20 years ago, when Donna Sue Groves honored her mother Maxine with the vision of painted quilt blocks on barns. It became known as the American Quilt Trail Movement.

It is safe to say fabric quilts and barn quilts have had an interesting interplay in American Art. As you can see in the following photo, traditional block patterns can inspire a quilt after being displayed on a barn

The “Convergence Quilt” is designed using 12 of the 20 traditional quilt block designs on the Adams County Ohio Quilt Barn Trail.  It is framed with paint brushes to indicate the format is equally beautiful rendered in paint.

Quilt blocks often have multiple names. To simplify the promotion of barn quilts, Maxine Groves used the following traditional names for the first Quilt Barn Trail, Adams County Ohio.

Top row: Windmill, Shoo Fly, Broken Dishes

Second row down: Brown Goose, Snail’s Trail, Double T

Third row down: Dutchman’s Puzzle, Bow Tie, Monkey Wrench

Bottom row: Nine Patch, Old Maid’s Puzzle, Ohio Star

I have sewn as long as I can remember and have attended both the Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC and the Old English Lace School in Tiverton, England. For 10 years, I chaired the Schoharie County Quilt Barn Trail. People are interested in the back story behind the barn quilts and are obsessed with painting them!

I spent the majority of 2022 researching the history and progression of this phenomenon. It has resulted in my book “Barn Quilts Folk Art to Modern Obsession”, available on Amazon.

Sincerely,

Ginny Schaum

Facebook: Barn Quilt Obsession

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