Community Barn Quilt Workshop Weaves Old Traditions Into New Stories
Barn quilts become living canvases as Western North Carolina artists and neighbors gather to revive the beloved folk art and share their own stories.
What story would you tell with just a square of paper and a glue stick? This October, ArtsvilleUSA’s Marks of Our Heritage project invited folks to answer that very question at our first barn quilt workshop.
Painted wooden quilt blocks began appearing on rural barns and main streets throughout Western North Carolina in the mid-2000s, drawing waves of tourists eager to see each block and uncover the stories behind the patterns. Outside Waynesville, for example, travelers might spot a prismatic flower on a black background marking the Howell Barn Quilt Farmhouse—a design that honors quilt patterns passed down through generations—before heading into town for lunch and shopping. Over time, however, and especially after storms like Hurricane Helene, many of these landmarks and their trails have faded or disappeared, along with the economic opportunities and stories they once offered.
Determined to keep these narratives alive, ArtsvilleUSA recently asked the community to design their own paper quilt squares, drawing inspiration from personal mementos, the local landscape, childhood memories, or family heritage. Inspired by the spirit flags crafted by artists Jan Gilbert, Babette Beaullieu, and Margaret Crosby in New Orleans, ArtsvilleUSA will transform these quilt squares into a garland that will carry the stories of participants of all ages from across WNC in a traveling exhibition beginning in fall 2027.
Over the next year, ArtsvilleUSA will keep the barn quilt trail tradition alive by continuing to host community art workshops with our partners across WNC. To learn how you can participate in upcoming workshops or help keep WNC’s barn quilt trails alive, scroll to the end of this story.
What follows are highlights from our first workshop: quilt squares paired with the stories and voices behind them.
Sue Geeslin: Winds of Change
Sue Geeslin, stained glass artist and Lifestyle Director at Biltmore Lake, created a bold yellow-and-blue quilt square to symbolize her move to Western North Carolina “just before Hurricane Helene.”
Louise Glickman: Mardi Gras Costume
Louise Glickman, ArtsvilleUSA Founder and New Orleans native, crafted a spirited design in purple, green, and gold to represent her Mardi Gras tiara at age eight.
Ellie Weyer: Belonging
Traditional quilter Ellie Weyer created a quilt square with an alternating yellow-and-gold border framing a rich purple center. “I am welcome here. I belong here. I can welcome others,” she says of her design.
Bob Ware: Silver and Pink Dusk
Photographer Bob Ware recalls a personal memory:
“My after-school job in high school was for a drugstore in Wisconsin. I delivered medicine to nursing homes and shut-ins. One winter afternoon, as twilight descended, I arrived at a farmhouse with a supply of insulin. An ambulance was in the driveway. The elderly husband had died minutes before I arrived. The wife insisted I take back his unused syringes. I drove back into the silver and pink dusk while Mary Hopkins sang on the radio, ‘Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end.’”
Joshua Wattles: Hope Flames Eternal
Intellectual property lawyer Joshua Wattles describes his design:
“Something about the thousands of immigrants being thrown into concentration camps, lives disrupted, and the shame of my nation that follows. It raises learned memories of the Japanese American camps in WWII and of the Trail of Tears a century earlier. Could a design at least arrest the viewers to trigger empathy? The flame at the center is hope.”
Fran and John Wingard: We Are One
John Wingard forgoes traditional quilt blocks in favor of a contemporary design, describing his piece as “jarring, chaotic, shocking, screaming, crying, horrified.”
Fran Wingard stays with the traditional square motif but uses a similar color palette, saying of her design: “We are one even though we look far apart.”
How to Get Involved
Inspired by the spirit flags designed by Jan Gilbert, Babette Beaullieu, and Margaret Crosby in New Orleans, ArtsvilleUSA will transform workshop quilt squares into a garland that will travel across WNC in fall 2027.
- Preview the stories we’ve preserved so far: Visit our gallery wall at the Ferguson Family YMCA in Candler, NC, through October 31, 2026.
- Help spread the word: Become a Quilt Trail Ambassador and share our story with your friends!
- Prefer to get hands-on? Volunteer to drive historic trails and report on routes and quilts, contribute barn quilt photos to our archive, or contact us about hosting a workshop this year. Email us here.
- Help preserve WNC history by adopting a block with a one-time $15 donation; we'll acknowledge your name in our archival materials as a lasting part of this story.
- Subscribe and watch for details about our traveling exhibition next fall, visiting the NC Arboretum, the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University, and other WNC venues.
This story has been edited for length and clarity. All images published with permission of Max Cooper. Special thanks to our community partners for making this workshop possible: Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, NC Arboretum, Cherokee Heritage Preservation Fund, Haywood County Arts Council, Biltmore Lake, and the Henderson County Quilt Guild.