I just had a wonderful contact form from Terry who is teaching her daughter Trisha about quilts. This happens to be a Brownie project and they are studying barn quilts and making blocks. Have you been traveling in the Mid-West and spotted a quilt block on the side of a barn? I have. Very big idea in the Amish and other farming areas of Indiana, Ohio and beyond. Always fun to test my knowledge of the names of the blocks. I did start out as a traditional quilter. Barn quilts are in over 40 states and Canada!

Here are some links to information about these fabulous barns. (Thank you Terry and Trisha for the information.)

​If you are going to be traveling through any of these areas, check out the maps and see if you are going to be close to a Quilt Trail.

• History of the Barn Quilt
• About Barn Quilts
• Green County Wisconsin
• Kittitas County Washington
• Multiple links to these and other Barn Trails

There is also a documentary that hopefully will come out soon. The website says it is in post production. It is called Pieced Together.  There are some short clips about the film. Check them out.

Have you traveled around and photographed barn quilts? Google barn quilts and there is a wide variety of information and pictures to view. Have fun.....

What a crazy, busy month this has been. David and I took a short vacation over the Prescott, Arizona and got all kinds of crazy inspiration from Jerome, Verde Canyon Railroad train trip and the amazing galleries in Prescott. Lots of photo opportunities and enjoyed some amazing food in the area and gelato at Cuppers Bistro. Check out the Rustic Pie Company if you are in the area.

Friday was a day to get together with a group of artists to discuss titling art, pros and cons of types and necessity of titles. It was a lively discussion. Some of the artists stated that they only read titles if they like the piece. I personally will read a title on a piece I am not fond of just to see if maybe I missed the point of what the piece is about. All the members of the group agreed that titling is important but not to give away too much or box the piece in. The viewer must be able to add their own narrative to the work.

My personal opinion on titling is that it should be the spice or icing of the piece. Maybe not totally necessary, but a nice thing to experience and a view into the artist's intention.

Quilts on the Wall had their meeting on Saturday and it was the turn in for the Roots/Routes exhibit and the election of the new officers. The exhibit is going to be great. All the pieces turned in were amazing and fun to see all the interpretations of the topic.

​Next years board members look great and I am looking forward to the new exhibit topic "Crossings" for the juried show. I actually already have an idea for this one. I have had an idea kicking around for a few years based on a photograph that my brother-in-law took. This might be the perfect exhibit for it.

Lots of inspiration found on our vacation in the Sutter Creek area last month. Detail on buildings, color combinations in both nature and man-made objects. Now to decide how to use some of these in upcoming projects.

We had such an amazing relaxing time and there were so many great things to see and photograph. Did lots of walking and found the best pizza place in Sutter Creek. Ordered a medium pizza and it had so much stuff on it, it took us two days to eat it. Pizza Plus is the name and if you go, don't pass up the local micro brewery offering.

What places have you been to this summer that got you inspired?