Page 8 - Harnett Life Summer 2020

to the Dunn Tourism office.” the property owner. That would look like a generic marketing
attempt. We had great success at getting letters returned and

Dr. Marshbanks’ artistic career began at the age of 90 when he signed for participation, but not 100%. As for the barn quilts
was looking for a new hobby. His wife, Mary Jane Marshbanks unknown to us, we hope to find them through word-of-mouth.
― a retired educator and fabric quilter ― said she suggested he We will update the trail brochure annually for this reason — we
try barn quilt painting because they enjoyed seeing the art on want to feature as many barn quilts throughout the county as
their travels and because of his ability “to do precise work with we can. People are also posting on the Harnett Barn Quilt/His-
his hands.” Now, seven years later, Dr. Marshbanks is working tory Trail Facebook page — and that is getting the word out.”
on his 200th barn quilt.
Stevens plans to have the trail brochure categorizing the coun-
Stevens also credits a barn quilt painting class at the Central ty’s barn quilts geographically ready midsummer. That, cou-
Carolina Community College Lillington campus taught by lo- pled with an official ribbon cutting at one of the barn quilts
cal instructor and artist Stephen Salmon for getting the ball sites, will serve as the official rollout for the barn quilt trail’s
rolling. Salmon taught the four-night class last July for begin- tourism arm, which Steven leads. It will be a self-guided, go-
ners and an advanced course in August. Students in the class, at-your-own-pace, tour. Only the addresses of the participants
including Stevens herself, painted a 2-foot-by-2-foot barn quilt — and not the names of homeowners — will be in the bro-
painting of one of the “Mariner’s Compass” nautical-themed chure, along with barn quilt photos and short descriptions.
patterns. At the same time, the August participants had the Trail-goers are invited to drive along and see the barn quilts
chance to develop designs of their own. The typical finished from their cars, at no expense. Additionally, the locations of the
size of a barn quilt outside of the classroom is 4-foot-by-4-foot letters to the barn quilt owners to gauge their interest in being history museums and some historical sites found in each of the
square. a part of the new county barn quilt trail, seeking to include as county’s municipalities will be listed on the brochure, hence
many resident barn quilt owners as possible. the “history” part of the trail.
“Though the one being made for the Averasboro Battlefield
Museum will be 8-foot-by-8-foot,” Stevens said. “They come “We addressed the letters to the attention of the barn quilt The Dunn Area Tourism Authority is gleaning ideas for the
in all sizes, patterns and even shapes.” owner at each address turned in our committee members,” Ste- trail from similar tourist attractions in Sampson and Lee coun-
vens explained. “I knew we could not send it to the attention of ties. In modern history, barn quilts first originated in Ohio, but
Another set of local artists fanning the flames of interest is now traverse landscapes across the U.S. — city and country-
side alike. Stevens hopes to find barn quilts hanging on each
of the area’s town halls in the months ahead and knows of one
underway at Campbell University. Not just for barns, the quilts
adorn garages, sheds, utility buildings, city structures and
John and Kim Durick of John & Kim Barn Quilts. Commis- homes, too. One local school even caught the quilting fever.
sioned barn quilt artists, they sell their works seasonally at the
Dunn Farmer’s Market Saturday mornings and via their Face- Cherry DeVane, a high school math teacher at Cape Fear Chris-
book site. tian Academy, crossed curriculums the last four years to put the
art of quilting into her geometry lesson plans. And why not, as
“There has been a big increase of barn quilts popping up around “barn quilts encompass the hands-on applications of measure-
the county since we held our first trail committee interest meet- ment, scale and symmetry,” she said. “Making barn quilts as a
ing back in 2018, largely due to John & Kim’s quilts,” Stevens project made geometry practical for my students. I have been
said. “They have commissioned a lot of paintings and continue amazed at their work.”
to do so.”
DeVane caught the bug, turning the teaching of barn quilts into
The trail committee is chaired by former U.S. Congressman the making of them. At first creating the artwork for herself,
Bob Etheridge and his wife Faye of Lillington. Other members friends and family members, she soon saw the business po-
include Harnett County Arts Council board member Sally Ben- tential and now paints on commission as well as sells at the B
son, retired Coats Elementary School principal and barn quilt Hive on Main gift shop in Lillington.
artist Sandy Howard, Dr. Marshbanks and Stevens. Various
other local painters, community leaders and interested parties Her works vary from classical patterns to popular, recogniz-
round out the committee list. able images mostly of things from nature ― everything from
sunflowers and hummingbird to cats and honeybees. She also
Committee members’ first task was to head out into the county creates patriotic and collegiate-themed barn quilts, using her
to find the location of Harnett County barn quilts. According to own ideas while gaining inspiration online and from other
Stevens, members rode around in their cars searching for the painters, especially, she said, her friend Dr. Marshbanks.
stately art. Dividing the county up in sections, the volunteers
sought to divide and conquer — literally. Next up was to send “As a math person, I have never felt artistic or creative but

Page 7 Harnett Life ~ Summer 2020