DVDs of “The Story Quilter’s Threads” are available from our BQT co-founder, Kathy McCarty, for a donation of $20 plus $3 shipping. Please send checks to Kathy McCarty, 1551 Ashwood Dr., Ashtabula OH 44004. Make check payable to the Ashtabula Arts Center, the trail’s fiscal agent, with “BQT DVD” in the memo line.
The documentary shares the stories behind the barn quilts and host farms in southern Ashtabula County. Along the way, viewers meet the artists who build and paint the barn quilts.
“The barn quilt trail’s success is largely due to having two very talented artists, Gary Tabor and Artistic Woodworks (Jeff & Rachel Scribben), who have worked with their clients to transform ideas, heritage and stories into barn quilts,” says filmmaker Carl E. Feather. “This film takes the viewer into the artist’s workshop and barns and covered bridges on the trail. These are moving stories told on static sign boards; once the viewer becomes familiar with the owner and stories behind the barn, he will never look at a barn the same way.”
For 2017 the Geneva Community Sampler barn quilt, which was conceived and executed by Amanda White, was selected for the January photo. The barn quilt, Ohio’s largest, is made up of 16 individual blocks, each one sponsored by a Geneva business or organization. The barn quilt is on the side of a Route 20 building, just east of Route 534.
The 2018 calendar features a photo of the Windhorse Star barn quilt, which is installed on the farm of Dale and Meg Toukonen, Simons Road South, Williamsfield Township. The photo was selected for the November 2018 calendar page. The Toukonen’s run a horse farm for retired horses, such as those used in circus acts or racing. Two horses stand in front of the barn for the image, made shortly after the barn quilt was installed. The custom-designed barn quilt was painted and installed by Jeff Scribben and his wife Rachel of