YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections

History lessons through quilting

September 19, 2007|Kristy Rainwater

They want to weave color, combined with history, through the county - with quilts. The Art Depository has started a quilting project which will put Jessamine County on both the Kentucky and National Quilt Trails.

The National Quilt Trail originated six years ago in Adams County, Ohio when Donna Sue Groves painted a quilt square for her mother and mounted it on the barn. The idea quickly caught on and can be mapped through several states.

Mary Kuster, gallery director at the Art Depository, is currently coordinating the project here in Jessamine County.

As a quilt has multiple layers, so does the quilt trail project.

There will be the aesthetic contribution when the squares are mounted on barns - as well as fences and even posts that will be set specifically for the project if there are not enough actual barn sides available.

As art and history are often woven together, so it will be for the quilt trail.

The stories behind the quilts will be recorded on CDs that patrons can use in their vehicles along the route. The oral histories, with the help of the Jessamine County Historical Society, will be recorded by the families themselves - their history, their quilt, their voice.

Under the blanket of the quilt trail lies the possibility for it to become a source of revenue for the county. Kuster suggested the prospect of drawing not only patrons interested in art and history, but also the tourists here for other venues, such as the 2010 Equestrian Games as well.

Technically speaking

Micheal Burrell, owner of Flying Armadillo Signs, is working on the material for the signage. He said the material is a solid core plastic laminated with aluminum on both sides and painted with polyester paint and is quite durable.

According to Burrell The material is only about 1/8 inch thick, is lightweight and doesn't rot.

The quilt designs will be put on a transparency, projected onto the squares and traced. Volunteers can then just paint in the lines.

After a slight scuffing which helps the paint adhere to the surface, the 'quilt squares' will be painted with acrylic exterior house paint - no fumes, easy clean up.

The squares will then be bolted onto wooden frames. Burrell is looking into a chemical solution that will prevent crystallization and there-by preserve color.

Volunteers are needed to hem the project in. Families with quilts as well as families with barns and painters, or those who want to paint, are needed.

Those interested can call the Art Depository at (859) 885-0106.

|

|

|