I first discovered barn quilts on a trip up north in the spring of last year. I had noticed a few here or there before that, but I didn’t really think about it being “a thing” until last spring while passing through Shawano County. I stumbled upon quite a few and when I returned home to write the blog about my trip, I discovered a short video where a gentleman who set out to – and achieved – the status of Barn Quilt Capital of Wisconsin for Shawano County. In the video he explains where he got his inspiration, where some of them are located and how it all came about. I added a few photos of the barn quilts that I saw on that trip in a blog called Wisconsin Embellishments, if you’d like to check them out.

This week I discovered that Door County has quite a number of them as well – not enough to be the Capital or anything… but enough to warrant a map to point them all out and to locate a couple of historic churches. I’d recommend getting that map at any of the places that offer the free flyers about attractions in the area, if you’re interested. You know me – I set out to see them all, but missed a few here and there because I’m sure the map was wrong. It couldn’t be that my map reading skills were insufficient, or anything that ridiculous! I had a great time though. Several were located on pretty major highways and where difficult to photograph, but most were on country roads with lovely landscaping surrounding the barns they adorned.

The picture above left was one of a dozen rusty old farm implements along a county road. I thought they fit in nicely with the weeds that engulfed them and the farm theme of today.

The barn just above with the star and not a quilt, housed the beautiful horses below. They seem to stand at attention as I pulled up and stopped near them. They didn’t seem too annoyed at me and were quite photogenic, unlike my dog who looks the other way when I try to get his picture.

There is also a great book about the history of barn quilts called “Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement“. Click on the link for more information.

What a great day, checking out the barn quilts and the beautiful farms. My next post will take you through several of the great towns of Door County, from Egg Harbor all the way up to Northport Pier, where you’d take the ferry to Washington Island and Rock Island (earlier posts).

Up Next: More of the Door: Part One

Happy trails,
Barb