Wisconsin Life

>> Sometimes a patch of color can tell a story, a story of loss. >> It's a really pretty Christmas quilt pattern, but the sad part of it was that she was quilting it the night that she found out her daughter was killed in a car accident. She wanted that quilt painted on her barn in memory of her daughter. >> Colors can also tell a story of legacy. Patricia and her husband Eldor Erdmann have one of those. >> It's been an Erdmann farm for 126 years. Eldor was the last one, and he farmed for 51 years. He quit at 80. His mother and grandmother, they lived in the farmhouse that was back there. They made quilts for their 13 grandchildren and children. It caught our fancy. I showed it to Eldor and he liked it too. >> Together those patches tell the story of a place, Shawano County. They're called barn quilts. And here, they're just about everywhere. >> We're traveling around other parts of the state, and people ask where we're from and we say we're from Shawano. They'll say, well, that's where all the barn quilts are. And you know, it makes us feel good. We do have quite a few of them that are painted red, white and blue when we first started the project. >> Jim and Irene Leuenberger first brought the idea of quilts on barns to Shawano County. But they got the idea from farther away-- --from a grass-roots group in Ohio who set out to beautify some of their old barns. >> I made the decision to see if I could get a barn quilt project started in Shawano County. The first three of our barn quilts that were done in Shawano County in the fall of 2010 were done by 4H clubs. >> Then he thought, well, maybe I can have some sponsors. And we'll find barns and, you know, we'll paint them. I said, we? Who's we? We became the Barn Quilt Committee, Jim and Irene, and we started painting them. >> They've been painting ever since, working in the basement of the local Chamber of Commerce and leaving one big pile of painter's tape. >> Somebody would actually pay for something like this. >> They've blanketed the county with these painted quilts. >> I had a goal of 25. The project just grew form there. So we're to the point now where we have over 230 barn quilts up throughout Shawano County.

motor whirs

>> On an autumn morning two electricians in a bucket truck-- >> That's good for height, Jim? >> -- added three more. It was enough to bring out a crowd. >> That's beautiful.

drill whines

>> All that extra attention may help save some of these old barns. >> The first objective was to encourage people to preserve their historic old barns. But the fact that people are preserving these barns, putting a new roof on, replacing the foundation and using them for storage or what have you, I think is a beautiful way to preserve the history of our county. >> Still, Jim says bringing people together is what these quilts do best. >> It's one of the most rewarding things I think my wife and I have ever done, because of the impact that it's had on people's lives and the way it's brought the whole Shawano area together as a community. >> We really have enjoyed meeting the people, getting to know the people, and how they feel so much a part of the community. >> I would guess probably 80% of the people we've done quilts for we never knew before. So now we have this whole new circle of friends.