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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Indiana barn quilt displayed at courthouse

Cheryl Munson, who is involved with the County Council, looks at the Indiana Bicentennial Barn Quilt Monday at the Monroe County Courthouse. The quilt depicts Indiana's 92 counties and will be auctioned off to support barn preservation in 2017.

A hand-knit quilt depicting historic barns from the 92 counties in Indiana is on display in the Monroe County Courthouse until March 26.

The quilt was presented by Indiana Barn Foundation, Indiana Landmarks and Indiana State Quilt Guild as part of the celebrations of the Indiana bicentennial. This year is a celebration of 200 years of Indiana’s statehood.

The Indiana Barn Foundation accepted small, stitched, square submissions from quilters from all counties of Indiana as part of a Legacy Project endorsed by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission, said Joy William, coordinator of the Indiana Barn Quilt project.

“We decided to do this Bicentennial Legacy 
Project to commemorate all the different barns by picking a representative barn from the 92 counties in Indiana,” William said.

This project is one of many Bicentennial Legacy Projects, which are approved by the Bicentennial Legacy Commission. William said there are at least 100 other projects.

Some other projects include a tree of hope, a paper quilt, a monarch garden and an “Along the Wabash” documentary, among many others, according to the Indiana state website.

This is the first time the Indiana Barn Foundation has done a project like this, William said.

After the submissions were chosen, the top of the quilt was constructed before being sent to northern Indiana for Ruby Borkholder, who is Amish, to complete, William said. Some counties had multiple submissions, which prompted a competition for inclusion in the final project. The Indiana State Quilt Guild picked winners.

The quilt is expected to visit every region of the state, if not every county, William said. The goal is to raise awareness of the foundation, she said.

Williams said the foundation will have a fundraiser in January.

“What we hope will happen is that we could get a donor or a collection of donors to make a significant contribution to the Indiana Barn Foundation endowment,” William said.

The quilt resides in the Monroe County Courthouse, but on Friday it will move to the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead for one day before leaving Monroe County.

The Monroe County 
Bicentennial will take place in 2018, while the University will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2020, Monroe County Commissioner Iris Kiesling said.

William marketed the quilt project on social media, primarily Facebook, to seek contributions for the project, she said.

This is the only project the Indiana Barn Foundation is doing for the state bicentennial, William said. However, she said they do barn tours through the state during the fall and have an annual membership 
meeting.

“Because of the bicentennial, we have a unique opportunity,” William said. “Everyone is looking back at the history of Indiana, and since our foundation is specifically around preservation, that was a very good synergy of ideas.”

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