We're home after spending the day in the West Union, Iowa area. We had the great fortune of meeting the Fayette County Barn Quilt Project committee in the morning. What terrific marketers. Beautiful barn quilts are blanketing the entire county. We met at Moonlight Stitching Studio - Sisters Retreat. If you're thinking of going on a quilting retreat, this is THE place to go! Give Deb Thies (owner) a call at 563-422-8212.

Diane and I met with more very gracious barn owners and snapped lots more photos. We can't wait to start writing their stories so we can share them with you in Every Barn Tells a Story. We had a wonderful trip, but as always, it's great to be home.

Bob & Trudy Campbell, Hawkeye, IA, shared the story of a ball of string, wound by Bob's father, which holds special contents inside. Over the past 5 years, the Campbell family has used these special balls as a means to share family stories. We'll share their story in Every Barn Tells a Story. The quilt block on their barn is Ohio Star.

We had 3 fantastic interviews with barn owners in Fayette County, IA today. Bud & Belva Gallagher shared the story of this historic stained glass window which Bud's grandfather donated to a country church. The window was removed before the church was recently torn down.

Diane wears many hats. Here she is taking a photo of rolling farm fields outside of Caledonia, MN for Every Barn Tells a Story.

Here's Diane planning our itinerary for tomorrow when we will interview one more barn quilt owner in Caledonia, then off to West Union, Iowa for a couple more. We hope that you'll tune in again!

We visited with Patty Schulte at her family dairy farm in Caledonia, MN. The Schultes wake at at 3:40 am so that milking may begin at 4:00 am. Some cows are milked 4 times a day. The day usually ends about 7:30 pm. The Schulte barn quilt, Clay's Choice, is proudly displayed on their 99 year old barn.

Our next stop was at the farm of John and Elaine Burg who have the Gentleman's Fancy block on their barn which was built in 1941. John's family's original farm, which may be seen on the nearby ridge, was built in 1864. John showed us a property tax receipt from 1898 when the total real estate taxes were $6.71 on 200 acres. John and Elaine showed us true county hospitality by inviting us to spend the night at their home.

How blessed we are to have had the great fortune to get to know such gracious people today.

Diane and I made it to the Houston, MN exit, a couple of hours from the start of our trip in Blaine, MN, when we decided to search out a restroom. We followed the highway sign directing us to a gas station in Ridgeway. I don't see a restroom. How about you? We opted to go to the bar/restaurant next door.

Diane and I are setting out on another quilt barn adventure tomorrow morning. We can hardly wait to get started. (This photo is from our trip to Grundy Center, Iowa.) Our first stop tomorrow is Caledonia, MN, then Fayette County, IA and LaFayette County, WI later this week. We hope to capture human interest stories of several quilt barn owners along the way. Their stories will be in our book Every Barn Tells a Story along with their barn quilt blocks which are featured in our sampler quilt, also in the book. Stay tuned. If all goes as planned, we'll be blogging the tales of our adventure along the way.

By the way, I neglected to mention that Horace Adams shared his secret to planting corn in straight rows with us. His wisdom will be included in Every Barn Tells a Story!

In mid-April, Diane and I went on a travel adventure to Central Iowa in search of quilt barn owner stories for Every Barn Tells a Story. Our first stop was in Humboldt, Iowa where we visited with Horace and Doris Adams. The Adams, who married in 1947, farmed the land that Horace’s grandfather homesteaded in 1869. Horace,age 96, invited us to write on his Facebook wall! Doris, age 87, said that she leaves the "technology stuff" to Horace who also enjoys his antique cars - - a Woody and a Model A. Horace and Doris' barn quilt, Corn and Beans, was painted for them by a local 4H group. They were thrilled when they saw that that block was painted in John Deere colors.

A couple of weeks ago, Diane and I participated in our first International Quilt Market which was held at Minneapolis Convention Center. Our booth with our patterns (Ann-Crocus Lane Quilts; Diane-Clover Hill Designs; Mary-Mary Deeney Designs), books and quilts was one of about 800+ vendor booths. Talk about 3 days of complete sensory overload. Lots of exciting new products should be available soon in quilt shops around the world. Take a peek at our Barn Quilt (on point with star in center). It's a sneak preview of the of the many projects that we’ll be featuring in our book Every Barn Tells a Story.