Teen takes an interest in quilting

You wouldn’t expect a teenage boy to be a big fan of quilting. But the stitchery kind isn’t exactly what Sac City High School junior Kevin Peyton has in mind when he talks about a “barn quilt” project. He says almost two years ago, Grundy had its own project, to get quilt-design blocks painted on the sides of local barns. Peyton explains the 8-foot by 8-foot squares are painted on plywood frames with bright colors on a white background. Peyton got the idea while looking for a 4-H project. He says it’s an opportunity to develop agri-tourism.The teen says people living on farms like to get folks interested in agriculture, but realize the need some sort of attraction to pull them in, and the barn quilt project seemed like the perfect project to do that with. Peyton hopes to have 10 quilt blocks in place by August, with as many as fifteen more added next year. He is planning a scenic route covering all of the quilted barns.He hopes some sort of dialogue will go along with this tour that can help teach people about agriculture in Sac County and in Iowa, and hopefully something about quilts. To see how Grundy County’s barn quilt project turned out, visit www.grundycountyia.com.