STONE COUNTY — When driving on the highways and roads of Stone County, one is likely to spot a colorfully painted wooden quilt block hanging on a barn, home or store — and it’s not by chance.
Renee Carr and Glenda Osten of Stone County have spearheaded Arkansas Quilt Trails, which include quiltlike patterns painted onto square wooden surfaces that can be seen on various buildings. Currently, there are 12 quilt blocks in Stone County, and designs include music notes, flags and geometric designs.
Carr said the idea came to her eight years ago when she visited western North Carolina.
“Their economy had been wiped out when the textile industry left, so they had to be very creative to figure out ways to revitalize their part of the state,” she said, adding that those quilt blocks were used to promote tourism. “I thought, ‘Oh, that would be so cool. We could do that back in Arkansas.’”
Through the Rural Community Alliance, Carr, who is the organization’s chief financial officer, hopes that those in other counties will join the Arkansas Quilt Trail to promote state heritage and tourism.
“We’re not charging a fee to join this network, but we would like there to be a chapter of Rural Community Alliance in [other communities] because we have so many things that we can do together,” she said. “We’re stronger when we band together.”
Within the next couple of months, Carr said, there should be 15 quilt blocks included along the trail. Most of the trail’s quilt blocks are on barns, but the blocks can be on any building. Those who are interested in being a part of the trail can visit arkansasquilttrails.com.
“They would submit the design to us because we don’t want to duplicate patterns, so we’d like there to be a variety of patterns,” Carr said. “We also want it to be painted onto wood because there’s a variety of different ways to do quilt blocks, but that is the most beautiful, folk-art look. We want [the blocks] to be consistent in their look.”
On the Arkansas Quilt Trails website, each quilt block is pictured with a story. For example, the Music Warms the Heart block is on the corner of the Courthouse Square as a nod to the area’s folk-music roots. Osten painted Music Warms the Heart.
“I painted a total of four, but only three are actually on the trail because the other one is in a very remote location,” Osten said. “We’re trying to encourage each participant to paint their own quilt block and do their own painting. We also want something that applies to the Ozarks.”
Osten’s first quilt block, titled Front Porch Memories, is at 12585 Arkansas 9 at the location of Stone County’s first post office, which no longer exists, Carr said.
“I think we’re building on our existing tourism base,” she said. “Mountain View is such a cool place. Every weekend, every parking spot on the court square is full. We want to give them something new to look at, something new to do. We want to keep them coming.”
Eventually, the trail’s website will include a map of each quilt-block location for more interactivity. Carr said she’d like to see 10 more counties join the trail in a year’s time.
Osten said the quilt trail is a fabulous idea because it promotes the old-time traditions of the area.
“We are really proud of the Ozark heritage, and I think the quilt-block trail really displays all of that: the art, the history, the industry of quilting,” Osten said.
“Everything just ties together so wonderfully. It doesn’t matter what highway they’re on; they’re going to pass one of those quilts, and they’re going to say, ‘Wow.’”
For more information, visit arkansasquilttrails.com.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.