OklahomaHorses Magazine July 2021

8 OklahomaHorses • July/August 2021 The Tillman County Heritage Barn Quilt Trail of Frederick By Heide Brandes I n Tillman County’s town of Freder- ick, history comes alive in colorful, geometric ways. The Tillman County Heritage Barn Quilt Trail lures fans of Americana art to explore the area by combining the traditional art of quilting with creativity to decorate downtown buildings, fences, houses and even the original canvas of barns. With 50 “quilts” and counting, the Tillman County Heritage Barn Quilt Trail began in 2017 when local residents Jeanie Scott and Annette Rowe began making barn quilts as a hobby. One of three barn quilt trails in Oklahoma, the Tillman County trail is a journey through geometry and art, and it’s a pleasant stroll through the countryside of southwestern Oklaho- ma to boot. And while Scott is one of the queens of the barn quilting tradition in Oklahoma, she—like many other Oklahomans— didn’t know anything about them until she stumbled upon one herself. What are barn quilts? “Barn quilts are like regular quilts, but they’re made with either plywood or boards. And they’re hung on fences or houses or barns. In our case, we don’t have any barns yet, but we have about 50 places, probably more, that have these barn quilts,” said Scott. “Some have more than one barn quilt at their place.” A barn quilt is a replica of patterns of quilts, like old quilts your great-grand- mother might have made. “They all made their own quilts. And ARTFUL NOSTALGIA