June 16, 2025
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‘Barn quilt’ trail unfolding

The first barn quilt in Ogle County is displayed on Lloyd and Carol Bellows’ corn crib on Henry Road southwest of Oregon. Carol used a pattern called “anvil,” because her husband is a blacksmith. The quilt was hoisted in September 2009.

OREGON – An Oregon woman's dream of brightening the rural Ogle County landscape is starting to take shape.

Two more "barn quilts" have been installed in what Carol Bellows hopes will become a full-blown tourist attraction.

"We want to have a quilt trail. It would be something more to see in the county to go along with the art trail," Bellows said.

In September 2009, Bellows and her husband, Lloyd, hoisted the county's first barn quilt into place above the double doors of their corn crib at 4412 Henry Road, southwest of Oregon.

Two more barn quilts went up on outbuildings this summer – one at the home of Irwin and Donna Immel, 6468 N. Leaf River Road, and the other at the home of Pete and Laurie Raum,  6182 W. Lightsville Road.

Bellows painted her barn quilt in brilliant red, blue and yellow on two 4-by-8-foot pieces of plywood after she saw similar quilts on farm buildings in Iowa.

She used a pattern called "anvil," because her husband is a blacksmith.

Donna Immel, a quilter, used the pattern "granny's fan," which she and her husband painted in rainbow shades.

The painting, which resembles a sunrise, stands out against their traditional red barn, which is west of their house.

"It's kind of neat – we can see a sunrise and a sunset at the same time," Irwin Immel said.

The Raums' barn quilt looks like a flower, with each petal painted a different color.

"I think it's pretty cool," Pete Raum said. The painting is displayed on the side of a large white machine shed.

Raum's sister, Laurie Raum, painted it for him for Christmas to represent his role in the play "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat."

"I played the same brother twice in the play," said Pete, who regularly takes part in Byron Civic Theater productions.

Barn quilts originated in Sac County, Iowa, and Bellows hopes they will catch on here, as well.

"They go very well with the art and agriculture theme of the Fields Project, and I want to get Forward Oregon involved, too," she said.

The Fields Project is an annual workshop in which a handful of artists from all over the country come to Oregon to create art with an agricultural theme. Each year a sculpture is commissioned for Oregon, along with several other sculptures already installed.

Forward Oregon promotes tourism in Ogle County.