what can you all tell me about the quilt square decorations on barns

[Don P]

They just had the regular kind at the farm museum today, but it was pretty cool to see that many very nice quilts in one place. 



 



 

[SwampDonkey]

Interesting story. I can imagine some patterns are actually hand woven to. Some of them were named after events, by shape or by fancy. Quilt patterns are 19th and early 20th C, I would think. Weaving goes back much further before the Industrial Revolution provided cloth on bolts for the masses. ;)

[SwampDonkey]

I think the pattern is called turkey tracks.

Wild Goose Chase I believe.
Turkey tracks is a hand woven rug pattern with rags.

[kantuckid]

I sleep every night under a quilt sewn by my MIL. The one my Mom sewed was getting a bit tacky.  I dislike heavy covers unless it's really cold()like we sleep every winter by choice), then I switch to a filled cover.
As I'd mentioned former first lady of KY, Phyllis George was heavily involved with crafts promotion here and nationwide. She knew it was a tradition and a cultural feature of our people. Her hope was that KY folk could cash in on crafts as well. It was well intentioned but less than a huge money maker for many here who had lost that skill set, like hand sewn quilts. Like find someone now who can perform basic alterations on their clothes let alone make thousands of tiny stitches or create a new winter coat from cloth, or who has the time it takes if they could.
NYC has a folk museum with quilts that date way back, the national quilt museum is in Paducah, KY thus the annual quilt pilgrimage there by quilt folks.
Near me the Morehead State U Folk Art Center features quilts- and IMO far too many folk wood carvings as they ignore the carvers that are immensely talented but don't qualify as "folk". The Southern Highland Craft Guild Center in Apex, NC is my idea of the epitome of American crafts from this eastern mtn. region and includes most of the top level crafts of many types.
My wife collected rags some years back and braided several rugs-it's hard work! Wool suits were the better choice and so much polyester cloth made it hard to find the good pieces