sheep and Great Pyrenees dogs, but eventually Christmas trees seemed the most prosperous. Now twelve hundred to two thousand families visit each year. “Seeing my boys interact with customers is priceless,” Dave said. “They learned well, and now the grandkids are set to learn the same values. It’s a dream come true.”
A Double Aster quilt block on the side of a brick building was visible as we approached our next stop. As we got out of the car, Barb pointed out three additional blocks on a barn at the back of the property and introduced me to one of the most ardent supporters of the local effort. Tom Rader welcomed us into the 1870s schoolhouse that he and his wife, Pam, had restored. The exposed wood beams and brick walls of the interior created a wonderful space for antique furnishings and quilts hanging on walls, on racks, and across furniture. Larger pieces in progress stretched out on racks waiting in turn. The studio would have been the envy of many a quilter.
The barn where the three quilt blocks—Star of the East, LeMoyne Star, and an unusual Star Table Runner—hang is a modern building. “When you spend that kind of money on a barn, why not decorate it up?” Tom said. Corn was visible on one side of the property but not in front of those barn quilts. Tom intends to grow only soybeans and wheat so that the quilt blocks that he is so proud of are visible all year. It was no doubt the first time I had heard of a farmer changing his planting scheme to show off his barn quilts.
“Now I look at barns differently,” Tom said. “When I see a barn I tell them it needs a quilt.”
“He gets credit for the whole row in the neighborhood,” Barb added.
Barn quilt trio: (left to right) LeMoyne Star, Star Table Runner, and Star of the East
Barb Gabriel has made lots of new friends through her work and is proud of all that the community has accomplished, both with her help and on their own. Anyone who creates a barn quilt is welcomed to the quilt trail. “I don’t care who paints it,” Barb said. “I want to get them on the trail.”
. . .
Glen and I left the Gabriels and the quilt trail behind and headed to Adams County, where a special event was scheduled for the next evening—a benefit for Donna Sue to help defray her mounting medical expenses. She had survived breast cancer but a host of other health issues remained.
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