Quilt Barns

That's a falling down stone building next to the barn.  On the property of that pretty grey house below.

This is the front door to a beautiful home

The scrollwork at the top of this window was done by hand

9-22-2010  Southern Wisconsin, heading towards Chicago

This morning I realized that we were in the county of southern WI that is known for its quilt barns.  Quilt barns are barns that have big quilts blocks hung on the sides of a barn.  This particular county has many, many barns with quilts on them.  In fact, a whole brochure is dedicated to the barns and shows a quilting trail throughout the county that one can follow and view the quilts.

Quilt squares are 8' x 8'.  Square is drawn on 2 pieces of plywood, each 4 x 8.  They are hung on the barns and joined together when put up.

We chose a county road that was on the way to Belloit, WI.  We were on the way to Belloit because that is Dave’s hometown.

We saw lots and lots of red barns on BIG farms

"Stay away from my women!"

Milk bags are empty; eating again

Dutch barn at an apple orchard.  Purchased more Honey Crisp apples, white pumpkins, gourds, and sampled best apple cider I've had since a kid

Rocks outside that red barn above

Anywho, we had the most fun hunting for these barns, stopping to take pictures, and then off to the next one.  The countryside was rolling, the fields immense, and the cows plentiful.  We stopped at one place to take pictures and there was a big bull with a ring in his nose.  The bull was on a hill with a bunch of heifers.  He was giving Terry and Martha the evil eye, as if he was saying “these are my bitches and you just move on along”! 

When we got to the end of the road we came upon a cheese store.  Yep……we succumbed.  Each couple got a cooler and stocked up on cheeses.  They are sitting on ice in the car as I type.  Got some cheese curds, too.  Can’t wait for the fam to try them!  And, yes, cheese freezes well.

This home in Belloit was the northernmost site for runaway slaves to use as an escape route.   An underground tunnel ran from the house down to the water, about 50 yards away.

We beebopped on down to Belloit.  At first Dave couldn’t remember anything about the town, but soon it all started coming back.  He showed us an old house where the runaway slaves would hide and then go under the ground to the river either to hide from the law or to get on boats and go towards Canada.  We saw his old house, neighborhood, middle school, college, church, and his first girlfriend’s house.  We ate lunch at the Kline 88 Tavern, and had some of the best chicken fingers we’ve ever eaten. (Soak in milk, shake in flour, dip in milk, roll in panko; fry)  The Tavern is where he and a friend used to imbibe in the spirits occasionally.  The owner was very friendly.  We went to the college bookstore and Dave found a shirt with Belloit College on it.  I think Dave really got a kick out of going to his hometown again.  I’m very glad we took that in as part of our trip.

About an hour or so later, we arrived in Shaumberg, IL.  We are about 1 ½ hours from downtown Chicago, which is our destination for Thursday.