AP — PAINTED QUILT SQUARES POPPING UP ON KENTUCKY BARNS AS PATTERNS

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LEXINGTON, KY. (AP) — Quilt squares painted onto barns — a unique art form in Appalachia for the past two years — are now expanding to central Kentucky as a potential tourist draw.

In Madison County, patterns with such names as “Kentucky Red Bird” and “Postage Stamp” help attract motorists from Interstate 75 to the Kentucky Artisan Center near Berea.

And the trend is not limited to there. Jessamine County recently announced plans for 14 barns adorned to look like part of a quilt. It doesn’t stop there — 28 Kentucky counties either have or are planning to decorate barns similarly.

“I could say with confidence that there are well over 200 quilt squares in Kentucky, and my suspicion would be that there are close to 300,” said Judy Sizemore of Jackson County, regional outreach director for the Kentucky Arts Council.

Sizemore assists county groups to find grants to pay for the materials and paint. The wooden squares are often hung by “bucket truck” crews of rural electric utilities.

The barn of Audrey and Paul Noe in Ottawa — a community in western Rockcastle County — displays an 8-by-8-foot square featuring a multicolored flower basket.

Designs like that are inspiring others to follow suit.

“When I saw what they were doing, I wanted one,” Audrey Noe said. “It adds beauty and it kind of brings out the heritage, which is being lost. ... Back in my day, all women quilted because they had to make them to have bed covers.’’

Since 2005, quilt squares have been noticeable in eastern Kentucky either on barns, or as freestanding works of folk art. Communities across eastern and central Kentucky have plans to make the art even more noticeable than it is now.

“Our goal when we started this thing was to have 100 quilts up” by the time of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, said Carole Landry of Stamping Ground, a member of the Buffalo Gals Homemakers.

The group has hung more than 80 squares.

“We thought that would be a good sightseeing thing for all the tourists,” Landry said.

Several communities have established quilt barn trails, allowing motorists to see the decorative displays through a driving tour.

In Knox County, the patterns are prominent along Wilderness Road, which led early settlers from Cumberland Gap into interior Kentucky. There is even a website, www.kentuckyquilttrail.org, which displays photos, stories and global-positioning system coordinates of various squares across northeastern Kentucky.

Sizemore say they allure is simple — they are a refreshing visual surprise that taps into two symbols of rural life: the barn and the quilt.

“It’s like the outdoors and indoors of farm life,” she said.