Washington County has been designated as the Barn Quilt County Capital in Iowa, with nearly 100 quilt designs to be found in the countryside. Some of these quilts, though, need refurbishing, so a fundraiser has been set up to help breathe some life back into the countryside. This last school year, Washington middle schoolers in the Extended Learning Program (ELP) participated in a project that saw them design mini replicas of these quilts, which were eventually displayed at the school.

This project served as the launching point for this new fundraising project, something that Connie Kuhlman, an ELP teacher at Washington Middle School, didn’t expect. “When we started this project, it was just a way to recreate these barn quilts. I don’t think that we expected it to reach the magnitude that it has now.”

Four unique loops can be explored in Washington, and participants can fill out bingo cards for a chance to win $50 in Chamber Bucks and a barn quilts T-Shirt. The bingo cards can be found at the Washington Chamber of Commerce and the Washington Public Library, and there is no entry fee to participate. All filled-out bingo cards should be returned to the Washington Chamber of Commerce by July 11th, with winners being announced on July 18th.