Organizers hope visitors will be driven to see quilt blocks along rural routes

Super-sized, multicolored quilt blocks with names like “Jubilee Star” and “Cherokee Sunburst” decorate East Tennessee barns, country stores, even a winery and railroad depot.

The 200 designs painted on plywood by area artists or schoolchildren depict heritage quilt patterns. They make up the Appalachian Quilt Trail, a set of 14 rural driving routes over 17 counties and 300 Tennessee miles from the Virginia border to McMinn County.

The wooden blocks are 8-by-8-foot or 4-by-4-foot squares. . Each is an heirloom quilt pattern selected by property owners; some are copied from quilts passed down in a family.

Many blocks — like the “Star in a Star” pattern on a rural barn near Sneedville — are on private farms in the scenic countryside. Some — like the “Birds of Paradise” at the Knoxville Zoo’s Kids Cove or the “Picnic Basket” at Oakes Farm in Corryton — highlight tourist attractions or businesses.

The 14 routes are listed on the Web site www.vacationaqt.com. Some routes, or loops, on the Web site are more detailed than others; the site is being updated to add more information. Brochures are being developed. Individual blocks aren’t usually identified with signs at their locations.

The Appalachian Quilt Trail, also known as AQT, began as an economic venture. The idea was to attract visitors to East Tennessee’s sometimes less-traveled spots by hanging quilt blocks on barns, buildings and businesses.

“The idea was to have something that would keep the character of the area but not change the landscape,” says Alice Fleenor, the trail’s marketing, communications and development director.

The decorative squares along the routes combine art appreciation, economic support, local history, community pride and even building renovation. Visitors who drive a trail may stop at a restaurant or store, says Fleenor. Artists are paid to paint some designs. Others are created by schoolchildren.

Getting a tulip or star or geometric quilt block installed on a barn can even help update that building. “People have said, ‘If you’ll put a square on my barn, I’ll redo my barn,’ ” says Fleenor.

AQT’s driving loops often have picturesque or historic names. Grainger County’s 310 Tomato Loop includes 19 stops whose quilt patterns include “Feathered Star,” “Tennessee Tulip” and “This and That.” The route’s name highlights 310 square miles of a county famous for its tomatoes.

The Cumberland Gap loop spreads from Tazewell to Harrogate with quilt blocks including those on a historic city hall and a covered bridge. Squares at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, the zoo and on a shed across from the Ijams Nature Center entrance are part of the French Broad & Tennessee River loop.

While many squares decorate rural barns, some are in towns and cities. Downtown Rogersville in Hawkins County displays three blocks as part of the Crockett’s Creek driving route.

The Tennessee quilt trail is a regional nonprofit project coordinated by the Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation & Development Council, a community development organization based in Rutledge. Clinch-Powell employee Cindy Barber heard about a similar project in Adams County, Ohio, in 2003. The first Appalachian block, a primary-colored “Rolling Star” pattern, was installed on a Grainger County family’s barn the next year.

In addition to Ohio and Tennessee, other states have created quilt block trails. Counties in eastern Kentucky have blocks on barns and buildings. Eighty blocks are on buildings in four western North Carolina counties. (The Kentucky and North Carolina projects aren’t part of the AQT Web site.)

In Tennessee, the project spread by word-of-mouth — and by sight. “People noticed a quilt block, and they wanted one, too,” Fleenor says.

Now Fleenor is looking for more barns and buildings to decorate with heritage quilt patterns; interested individuals should call her at 888-775-4278. There is an application process, and property owners must contribute to the cost of creating the quilt art. An 8-by-8-foot block is $500; the 4-by-4-foot blocks are $350.

Fleenor recommends that tourists driving the quilt trail’s routes slow down and look around.

“Get out of the city, take a drive, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the history,” she says. “It’s amazing just how much you can learn.”

Quilt trail tips

• Currently, there aren’t any brochures for the trail. Plans in the future are to have brochures at various businesses and stops along the way. For now, the best — and only — way to have a list and map is by logging on to the www.vacationaqt.com Web site.
• Read over the various routes on the Web site and print out the routes you’re interested in. Make sure you also have a Tennessee road map in your vehicle.
• The trail is designed in loops so travelers can determine how much they want to drive and how many places they want to see. One or two loops can be visited in a day, and some can be the centerpieces of a long weekend, says Alice Fleenor, the Appalachian Quilt Trail’s marketing, communications and development director.
• Be aware many quilt blocks aren’t on commercial property but on the barns of family and private farms. Some locations are rural, and there’s no parking; those wishing to look longer or take photos should look for a safe location to pull off the road.
• Pack a cooler, take a camera. Be sure your car’s spare tire and tire-changing gear are packed, too.
• Schedule bathroom breaks at places with public rest rooms before taking off on a loop’s more-scenic and back-roads locations.

Amy McRary may be reached at 865-342-6437.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.