The Great American Barn Quilt Trail has come west to Plumas County. The first barn quilts were installed on some of our most historic barns in the Quincy area. Now, over 100 colorful quilt squares, ranging from the huge 8×8′ size to a manageable 2×2′ size, adorn many of our community structures and are shaped by each participant’s values, visions, heritage, and passion for art.
Following the Barn Quilt Trail will reveal the history and beauty that 1850s settlers found during those crazy gold rush days. It will enrich your sense of wonder at their courage. It will also bring you unexpected delight as you travel throughout the county, taking in meadows filled with wildflowers in the spring, awesome fall colors, and lush fields filled with grazing horses and cows, all on our traffic-free back roads and highways. We hope you will find yourself on the magic of the barn quilt trail soon!
Follow the Barn Quilt Trail map here. (This map is a work in progress. New sites and descriptions are being updated as they are available.)
Here’s the original 4-H Barn Quilt map for the Quincy area.
The barn quilt idea started in 2001 in Ohio by a daughter wanting to honor her mother’s Appalachian heritage by having a painted quilt hung on her barn. Quilt trails have now spread to 48 states and Canada. What started with a few creative women, some of our younger residents, and a sweet little grant from the 4-H program has grown into a heartily embraced “public art” project throughout the county.
For more information on barn quilts throughout the United States and Canada, please visit barn quilt expert and author Suzi Parron’s website. Read about her travels along hundreds of barn quilt trails in her book About Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement.
