How Loretto’s barn quilt came to be

Anndavid Naeger SL tells the story behind the quilt:

Of course the design was the log cabin because of our dwelling places in the early 1800s. When Nancy Miles agreed to help us with the project, she set about the task in earnest. She researched quilt patterns, designs and colors on websites and in books for the 1775 to 1825 time period [Loretto was founded in 1812]. She learned about painted cotton material and woven fabrics that were used in quilts and garments. When her husband Donnie fetched the four 8 foot by 8 foot squares of 1/2 inch thick board from the wood shop, Nancy was ready. She painted the log design on the boards, but after much study and thought, she turned the boards over and began again. When the four squares would be fitted together, Nancy needed the colors and designs to complement and blend together into a whole using colors and designs that would have been used in 1812. She and her daughter, Tina Miles Craig, painted most of the logs, which look like painted fabric. When Maria Visse SL and I arrived one Sunday afternoon, along with a neighbor, Martha Potter, there were only five logs left to design and paint. The only similar aspect of each section is the “turkey red” center which symbolizes warmth, love and the center of the home. The final step was to affix the finished project to the south side of the old tobacco barn which can be seen from the entrance drive as well as Highway 152.

When the sides of the barn were replaced in 2022, the four sections of the quilt blocks were taken down and hauled to the art gallery workroom for some serious attention. The plyboards had suffered a thick build-up of “angels’ share,” black staining from the nearby Maker’s Mark Distillery warehouses of aging spirits. I removed the black fungal growth with soap, water and energy to prepare for the new layer of protection provided by Joey Edelen, Motherhouse staff member. He tried to strengthen and correct some of the plyboard’s issues before applying several coats of Minwax water-based Helmsman spar urethane.

Nancy Miles did most of the work. She even has a section depicting the infamous ice storm when she worked on the project by candlelight! She loves the Sisters, and says “… my mom, dad, sisters, uncles and granddad all worked at the Motherhouse through the years. I was one of 15 children. If it hadn’t been for the Sisters, my family would have had a sorry time.”

Photos taken by Peg Jacobs CoL in 2009