Prairie Pride 4-H Club working on their barn quilt. Photos courtesy of Washington County 4-H.

The Washington County Fairgrounds will be covered in blocks of color during this year’s fair as the 4-H clubs have used a county attraction as the inspiration for a fundraising event.

Washington County 4-H/Youth Coordinator Amy Green has tasked her 4-H clubs with designing and painting a 4’ by 4’ barn quilt to be sold in an online auction fundraiser, “Kind of the initial challenge that I gave to our clubs way back in early spring/late winter was saying, ‘What’s something that you and your club can do together that will teach a little bit about visual arts and design but also different painting techniques?’ And so a lot of them have been learning different things about measuring and painting and how to mix colors or not mix colors, so that’s been a fun process to learn some of that.”

Eighteen barn quilts have been produced featuring a variety of styles and colors to help contribute to the county’s reputation of having one of the largest number of barn quilts in the state. These quilts will be on display throughout the fairgrounds during the county fair and bidding will be open on the county 4-H Facebook page this Sunday through July 29th. Proceeds will go toward 4-H and other extension youth programming, and you can hear more about the project during a two-part Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.