Barn quilt celebrates life of Bronson woman
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, December 09, 2007
BRONSON, Iowa -- Quilter Kathy Lidgett's favorite color was blue. Seems it was the only thing missing as her family erected Woodbury County's first barn quilt in her honor Tuesday afternoon on the family farm northeast of Bronson.
Kathy was 57 when she died July 13, ending a three-year battle with ovarian cancer.
"She started quilting at a young age," said Kathy's daughter, Amy Ricke. "She got her mom, her aunt and me into it. We all quilted."
Rather than see her passion pass, Ricke said the family conspired to keep it going. It was her father's idea.
"I had seen these barn quilts in Sac County," said Leo Lidgett, who still farms the land here. "I thought they were neat and I decided we wanted one here to help remember Kathy and her love of quilting."
Leo contacted Sara Duncan from Sac County and the idea began to take shape. Using one of Kathy's old patterns, Leo worked with Amy and her aunt, Marguerite Wilson, and they created a pattern of squares and triangles to display on the bright red barn that faces Emmet Avenue running west of their home some 2 1/2 miles south of Lawton.
"The pattern came from a stash of Mom's books," Amy said.
But it doesn't have blue, Mom's favorite color.
"We picked these colors because Dad is color blind," Amy explained. "This quilt is easy for him to distinguish. It'll look really nice from the road."
According to family friend Beth McGrath, the quilt weds Kathy's passions for family life, farm life and quilting.
"As an educator, it was very important to Kathy that children and especially her grandchildren should experience and share in the farm life," wrote McGrath, who noted the family has worked and resided on the farm for eight generations. "Leo and Kathy hosted many school children for farm visits over the years. Even as Kathy grew too weak to attend to the chores herself, you might see 2-year-old Ryan Ricke, a grandson, toting a bucket of eggs from the chicken house, walking very slowly, because you don't want to break the eggs.
"Kathy grew up quilting with her mother and sisters," added McGrath, who learned quilting from Kathy. "She taught that skill to her daughters and friends. During her life, Kathy made over a hundred quilts, hand quilting most of them. Her house is adorned with her many quilts and each grandchild has their own quilt from Grandma. Before Kathy passed away her last two quilts were made for future grandchildren. Knowing how important the century farm was to Kathy and the quilting she had done her entire life, Leo thought one final gift to Kathy would be the barn quilt which incorporated her love of the farm and her quilting. What a tribute!"
As Nate Bauer and Joe Casper of the Woodbury County Rural Electric Cooperative assisted Leo in putting the new barn quilt in place, McGrath predicted more such projects on the horizon. Members of the Bronson Rustlers 4-H club, she added, plan to make barn quilts in the county a service project in the upcoming year.
"We've already have two more (barn quilts) spoken for," said McGrath, who encouraged those interested to call the local Farm Bureau (873-5420) or Katie King of the Bronson Rustlers at 948-3340.
"People are really excited about this," she added. "It should be a wonderful project for our county."
Amy Ricke echoed that sentiment. She smiled as her dad put the finishing touches on the county's first barn quilt.
"Even in chemotherapy when my mom couldn't hand quilt any longer, she still machine-pieced a lot," Amy said. "It was her therapy."
And now, her legacy.
After drilling the final screw into place, Leo stepped back and gazed up at the county's first barn quilt.
"I'm real, real happy with it," he said.
Minutes before, the clouds on an otherwise gray afternoon had split, allowing the sun to shine on a pretty little scene in Woodbury County. This little shift in the weather wasn't lost on Leo who squinted while turning his focus toward a sky turned bright blue.
Kathy's favorite color.
About Sac County quilts
The following information appears at www.barnquilts.com, the official Web site for the popular Sac County (Iowa) Barn Quilts project, which was started by 4-H member Kevin Peyton a few years ago. There are now at least 55 barns in Sac County featuring a barn quilt. The effort has boosted exposure and tourism for the county.
"Sac County, Iowa, is covered with barn quilts! Starting summer of 2005, visitors to Sac County, Iowa began seeing decorative quilt blocks on historic barns and corncribs all around the county. The number of barn quilts has grown to 55, so visitors can easily spot a barn quilt every 5 to 10 miles throughout Sac County. Brochures describing the Barn Quilts of Sac County can be found in Welcome Centers throughout the state, and Barn Quilt Maps are available in convenience stores, museums, city offices and a variety of other locations in Sac County. Maps are also available on this web site.
Barn quilts are large, colorful wooden blocks. Most are 8-foot square. Sac County also features 19 smaller Community Quilts near historic or public sites in the towns around the county. The project was started by Kevin Peyton of Sac City as a 4-H Leadership and Herbert Hoover Uncommon Student Award project.
A group of Sac City area quilters chose the quilt patterns, based on the pattern's agriculture-related name or heritage. School students, 4-H members, and other youth and adult volunteers painted all of the quilt blocks.
The barn quilts are on barns or corncribs that are at least 50 years old. Almost all are on hard-surface roads. The Sac County Barn Quilt Committee, which guided the project from the beginning, planned a tour route that will take visitors through almost every town in the county. The Barn Quilt Maps also mention additional sites of interest for you to enjoy on your trip. Visitors can choose to tour all the barn quilts, or choose a shorter route while passing through northwest Iowa.
You can see more barn quilts in Sac County than anywhere else! Grundy County had the original barn quilt project in Iowa. Green, Pocahontas and Humboldt Counties have also started barn quilt projects. Other barn quilts can be found in Ohio, Tennessee and a few other states.
For more information, see www.barnquilts.com
Kathy was 57 when she died July 13, ending a three-year battle with ovarian cancer.
"She started quilting at a young age," said Kathy's daughter, Amy Ricke. "She got her mom, her aunt and me into it. We all quilted."
Rather than see her passion pass, Ricke said the family conspired to keep it going. It was her father's idea.
"I had seen these barn quilts in Sac County," said Leo Lidgett, who still farms the land here. "I thought they were neat and I decided we wanted one here to help remember Kathy and her love of quilting."
Leo contacted Sara Duncan from Sac County and the idea began to take shape. Using one of Kathy's old patterns, Leo worked with Amy and her aunt, Marguerite Wilson, and they created a pattern of squares and triangles to display on the bright red barn that faces Emmet Avenue running west of their home some 2 1/2 miles south of Lawton.
"The pattern came from a stash of Mom's books," Amy said.
But it doesn't have blue, Mom's favorite color.
"We picked these colors because Dad is color blind," Amy explained. "This quilt is easy for him to distinguish. It'll look really nice from the road."
According to family friend Beth McGrath, the quilt weds Kathy's passions for family life, farm life and quilting.
"As an educator, it was very important to Kathy that children and especially her grandchildren should experience and share in the farm life," wrote McGrath, who noted the family has worked and resided on the farm for eight generations. "Leo and Kathy hosted many school children for farm visits over the years. Even as Kathy grew too weak to attend to the chores herself, you might see 2-year-old Ryan Ricke, a grandson, toting a bucket of eggs from the chicken house, walking very slowly, because you don't want to break the eggs.
"Kathy grew up quilting with her mother and sisters," added McGrath, who learned quilting from Kathy. "She taught that skill to her daughters and friends. During her life, Kathy made over a hundred quilts, hand quilting most of them. Her house is adorned with her many quilts and each grandchild has their own quilt from Grandma. Before Kathy passed away her last two quilts were made for future grandchildren. Knowing how important the century farm was to Kathy and the quilting she had done her entire life, Leo thought one final gift to Kathy would be the barn quilt which incorporated her love of the farm and her quilting. What a tribute!"
As Nate Bauer and Joe Casper of the Woodbury County Rural Electric Cooperative assisted Leo in putting the new barn quilt in place, McGrath predicted more such projects on the horizon. Members of the Bronson Rustlers 4-H club, she added, plan to make barn quilts in the county a service project in the upcoming year.
"We've already have two more (barn quilts) spoken for," said McGrath, who encouraged those interested to call the local Farm Bureau (873-5420) or Katie King of the Bronson Rustlers at 948-3340.
"People are really excited about this," she added. "It should be a wonderful project for our county."
Amy Ricke echoed that sentiment. She smiled as her dad put the finishing touches on the county's first barn quilt.
"Even in chemotherapy when my mom couldn't hand quilt any longer, she still machine-pieced a lot," Amy said. "It was her therapy."
And now, her legacy.
After drilling the final screw into place, Leo stepped back and gazed up at the county's first barn quilt.
"I'm real, real happy with it," he said.
Minutes before, the clouds on an otherwise gray afternoon had split, allowing the sun to shine on a pretty little scene in Woodbury County. This little shift in the weather wasn't lost on Leo who squinted while turning his focus toward a sky turned bright blue.
Kathy's favorite color.
About Sac County quilts
The following information appears at www.barnquilts.com, the official Web site for the popular Sac County (Iowa) Barn Quilts project, which was started by 4-H member Kevin Peyton a few years ago. There are now at least 55 barns in Sac County featuring a barn quilt. The effort has boosted exposure and tourism for the county.
"Sac County, Iowa, is covered with barn quilts! Starting summer of 2005, visitors to Sac County, Iowa began seeing decorative quilt blocks on historic barns and corncribs all around the county. The number of barn quilts has grown to 55, so visitors can easily spot a barn quilt every 5 to 10 miles throughout Sac County. Brochures describing the Barn Quilts of Sac County can be found in Welcome Centers throughout the state, and Barn Quilt Maps are available in convenience stores, museums, city offices and a variety of other locations in Sac County. Maps are also available on this web site.
Barn quilts are large, colorful wooden blocks. Most are 8-foot square. Sac County also features 19 smaller Community Quilts near historic or public sites in the towns around the county. The project was started by Kevin Peyton of Sac City as a 4-H Leadership and Herbert Hoover Uncommon Student Award project.
A group of Sac City area quilters chose the quilt patterns, based on the pattern's agriculture-related name or heritage. School students, 4-H members, and other youth and adult volunteers painted all of the quilt blocks.
The barn quilts are on barns or corncribs that are at least 50 years old. Almost all are on hard-surface roads. The Sac County Barn Quilt Committee, which guided the project from the beginning, planned a tour route that will take visitors through almost every town in the county. The Barn Quilt Maps also mention additional sites of interest for you to enjoy on your trip. Visitors can choose to tour all the barn quilts, or choose a shorter route while passing through northwest Iowa.
You can see more barn quilts in Sac County than anywhere else! Grundy County had the original barn quilt project in Iowa. Green, Pocahontas and Humboldt Counties have also started barn quilt projects. Other barn quilts can be found in Ohio, Tennessee and a few other states.
For more information, see www.barnquilts.com
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
