Since the program began, more than 1,500 quilt squares adorn buildings in 27 Kentucky counties and more than 15 other states.
The projects are all similar but are shaped to highlight each community's values, vision, heritage and culture.
Artist Eddie Clements, who helped spearhead the project, said the it was a good way to showcase the county's farming history.
"I think it is a wonderful addition for the county and it will help to bring the county, together through the quilts," Clements said. "We are an agrarian county, and we need to celebrate our barns and the history of the people."
The project began early in the year when the group distributed applications soliciting quilt designs, along with their histories, from local residents. Property owners could also submit their barns as possible locations for the quilts.
A special events committee consisting of volunteers and Art Depository board members then selected 14 quilt patterns and barns from the 22 applications, which was a difficult task, according to member Stephanie Rout.
"It was very hard to select the quilts because each one was so beautiful and told a story of that family," Rout said. "We wanted quilts with a history, and I think the ones chosen represent the rich traditions of the county."
The quilt patterns that were not chosen will be kept and used in the second phase of the project which will begin in late September. The group hopes to add as many as 10 quilts each year.
Beginning in April, a group of artists and volunteers began painting the quilt patterns on the aluminum panels, a job that Rout said anybody could enjoy.
"You don't have to be an artist to help paint the quilts. Most of it was done by volunteers as word spread about what we were doing," Rout said. "I'm not an artist, but I painted, and it was very relaxing and really fun, and when you see the finished quilt it is very exciting."
Unlike some counties where property owners paid as much as $300 to have one of the quilts displayed on their barns, the Jessamine County project was funded by Jessamine County Fiscal Court and donations from local businesses, at no cost to the property owners, Clements said.
"Fiscal court gave us some money and the use of a truck, Blue Grass Energy donated a truck and a lineman to help hang the quilts and others like the Hayden Co. and Stratton Lumber made this possible," Clements said. "We didn't want this to cost people anything, and we couldn't have done that without their help."
Clements said there was some interest in the project when it began but nothing like the response from local residents since the quilts began appearing on the barns last week.
"The response has been great. When I come home I have messages galore, and my phone has been ringing off he hook with people saying they have a quilt or a barn they want to submit," Clements said. "They all love the quilts, and the whole idea of being able to share their family's history with everybody."
Maps showing the locations of the quilts as well as audio tapes containing the quilt histories by the owners themselves will be available by the end of September, Clements said.
Brochures and applications are currently available for the next set of quilts and can be picked up at The Art Depository, The Chamber of Commerce and Jessamine County Judge-Executive Wm. Neal Cassity's office, or can be found online at www.kentuckyquilttrail-jessaminecounty.com.
