On the Barn Quilt Trail

February, 2025. Just back from a few days away in Prince Edward County, about 3 hours north-east of Toronto - a beautiful area of small towns and villages, farms and vineyards, and - at this time of the year - a frozen Lake Ontario locked into a thousand small bays and inlets. The goal: to plough through snowy country roads in pursuit of the County’s colourful barn quilts. These, according to the Destination Ontario website, are

‘…painted replicas of fabric quilt designs artwork painted on large durable boards and mounted to barns, fences and other buildings such as museums, churches and cideries.

Both traditional and innovative, the distinctive folk art designs pay homage to the art of fabric quilting and represent the history and farming culture of the local communities.’

The first day out was pretty cold - minus 10 degrees centigrade, with a wind chill of minus 13 or so, so hopping out of the car to take a few photographs was pretty chilly work! But the conditions were just what I wanted - a blanket of snow erasing much of the detail and clutter, simplifying everything, creating a calm and meditative space around the barns and barn quilts that I had come out to photograph.

Of course, not every road has a barn, and not every barn or shed has a quilt, so I spent more than a few happy hours, over a couple of days, exploring down this road and that, keeping one eye on the snow and ice on the tarmac and the other on the lookout for colourful patterns and designs.

So, follow me as I go!