When it comes to barn quilts, Shawano County can say, “We’re No. 1.”
That is what prompted the recent visit of author Suzi Parron, who is working on her second book about barn quilts.
“Shawano is the largest single county quilt trail in the country,” said Parron, whose first book, “Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement,” was published in 2012. “It was really important that I come here.”
Parron quit her job teaching high school English last year to focus on her second book and to accept speaking engagements across the country.
“My teaching job was interfering with that,” she said.
Parron and her husband, Glen, a data analyst, along with their dog, Gracie, are traveling to several states gathering material for her next book. From Wisconsin, they were headed to Wyoming, Washington and California. She has speaking engagements lined up through November 2015.
Parron was contacted about the Shawano County barn quilts by Jim Leuenberger, who along with his wife, Irene, has coordinated the project here since it started in 2011. The county is home to 266 quilts, with nine more in the works.
“People are saying we should try to hit 300,” Leuenberger said. “There’s hundreds more barns in Shawano County. There’s not only a lot of barns, but they’re in nice shape.”
Parron said Shawano County will have at least 10 pages in her 200-page second book, which should be available in 2016.
“Shawano will probably have the largest number on barns,” Parron said. “Visiting with the people here was just incredible.”
Her first book tells about the movement that started in Ohio in 2001 when Donna Sue Groves put a quilt on her barn because her mother was a quilter. The idea has grown county by county and state by state; 47 states now have barn quilts.
Parron said there are varying reasons why people want barn quilts, which include giving them a reason to fix up their barns, which are now mainly used as sheds.
“People really want to celebrate their heritage,” Parron said.
Parron said some of the quilts in her books are not on barns, and some are smaller and do not have the impact of the 8-foot by 8-foot ones here.
Shawano has about 40 more quilts than any other county, according to Parron.
“The way the community has accepted this program is just incredible,” Leuenberger said. “People are enamored with these quilts.”
The Leuenbergers are not interested in making it a competition, however. They have been working on the project for four years and plan to slow down a little.
When Parron is finished with her second book, she plans to return for book signings.
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