How were the barn quilts painted?
Some of the barn quilts in other counties or states are actually painted directly on the barns. For the Sac County, Iowa project, the decision was made to paint the barn quilts on two 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood, then eventually mount the plywood on the barn. One of the main reasons for doing this is that the committee wanted a lot of volunteers to be involved, particularly youth. Obviously, they didn’t want to put a lot of kids up on scaffolding and risk injury from falls. Some counties have actually hired artists to paint on the barns, but the painting is pretty easy to do once the pattern is drawn. Children as young as 8 or 9 have helped paint barn quilts in Sac County. Most painting volunteers have been students in art and agriculture classes, 4-H clubs, retirees, families, and other individuals who volunteered. The Sac County Barn Quilts were painted with high quality semi-gloss exterior latex paint. The exterior grade plywood was ¾ inch AA or AC, meaning that it was finished on one
