Barn quilts, the colorful patchwork designs on barns and other outbuildings in several counties around Iowa, have really caught on in Hancock County. Not officially part of the Iowa Barn Quilt Project, Hancock County's barn quilts are due to individual efforts to brighten the countryside. Pam Kerns, of rural Garner, said she attended a reunion in Plover, Iowa last spring and saw many quilt patterns painted on area barns and it set her to thinking. Perhaps the first barn quilt in the county, a large American flag, can be seen on the County Threads Quilt Shop in rural Garner. The Iowa Barn Quilt Project began in Grundy County in 2003 as a way to invite residents and tourists to &#8220take the road less traveled,” and from there the idea spread to a number of other Iowa counties, including the counties of Pocahontas, Greene, Sac, Fayette and Humboldt. read more

For a few hours one Tuesday each month, several women of many faiths thread themselves together at Copley United Methodist Church making patriotic quilts for critically wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan young men and women they’ve never met. The quilters are further buoyed in their material mission by letters, thank-you notes and photographs they’ve received from the wounded soldiers who are receive their quilts. Also receiving a quilt was Jessica Clements from nearby Coventry Township, an Army Reserve staff sergeant who was critically wounded with a brain injury in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Copley United Methodist Church, where the needle artists meet, had a recent ”Blessing of Hands and Feet” service in which the quilts were placed on the altar and prayers were said for those making them as well as for those receiving them. read more

As member Hilda Jane Milbury-Miller explains, the circle of women have been meeting for the past 80 years, sharing stories, a good laugh, and a love of their craft. This story is about the Quilting Bee, the oldest tradition on the Bay Shore, held in Hillsburn every Tuesday by a group of women living in the community. As some of these gentle souls âAunts and Unclesâ were called home to glory, the next generation of women picked up the cause from the knitting group, and the work they did was later changed from knitting to quilt making. Move ahead now a few years, and youâll find this group of women saying to their sisters, daughters, cousins, nieces, and other young women in the community, âCome join us, learn to quilt. read more

Karen McCrea, left, Karen Van Meveren, kneeling, and Gloria Bromley are all members of the Patchwork Pals quilting group in Lake View that made this quilt at the request of Sen. SAC CITY The Sac County Quilt-a-Fair on Saturday and Sept. This event is an opportunity for people to not only attend the quilt show but also to tour Sac County to see the barn quilts and to check out vintage quilts in the local museum. The Quilt-A-Fair will showcase around 300 quilted items and there will be 13 different quilt vendors, showing the latest fabrics, quilts and supplies. This quilt features all 55 of the quilt blocks found on Sac County barns, as well as the Barn Quilts of Sac County logo. To prepare for this event, organizers have placed six different barn quilts on buildings and barns at the fairgrounds in Sac City. read more