Cindy Haffner’s Barn Quilts
Popping up like Daisies in the Landscape
Cindy Haffner of rural Rose City is dotting the landscape with hand painted colorful geometric designs on wood called a barn quilt. An exhibit of her work is on display in the Evansville Are Center Gallery during the month of September. There will be an artist’s reception and demonstration on September 23rd.
It started in Ohio in 2001 when a wooden barn quilt was erected to honor someone’s grandmother for her dedication to the art of hand pieced fabric quilting. Since then, barn quilts are popping up like spring daisies all across our rolling landscape. Then the idea of starting “trails” came about to get people out experiencing backroads, friendly people and the American countryside.
Each barn quilt could represent a story or even reveal a hidden secret and wonders of the community. Teachers have started using barn quilts to teach history, math, civics and designing barn quilts for people to express their story. To date, there are over 15,000 barn quilts and quilt trails in 45 states.
Self Taught and Finding Her Gift
Haffner, says she “pretty much” taught herself how to draw. As the youngest of 17 children living on a farm by Millerville, she states by the time she rolled around there wasn’t really any good reading or learning material left in her household except for the old World Book Encyclopedias. In seventh grade, for extra credit, she would rewrite a story and attach a picture of the animal or item she had seen in the encyclopedia. They were so good she was often accused of tracing.
Her interest in art led her to take a few Community Ed classes. The ones teaching about painting with oils and stroke painting got her attention most of all. While she had drawn and done sewing and quilting, she learned that she loved painting most of all.
In 2014, she started seeing quilt designs hanging on buildings in different magazines and thought that was something she could do. Since that initial idea came to her mind, she has painted over 250 barn quilts of all sizes.
Cindy taught her first barn quilt class at the Eagle Bend Library in 2018 and has since taught at Morris, and Long Prairie. She also teaches classes from her studio near Rose City on the last Saturday of January, February, and March.
Morris has now celebrated their 100th Year and they had 100 barn quilts installed to start the Stevens County Barn Quilt Trail. Cindy facilitated an “art in the park” project at the Pomme de Terre County Park in Morris, Minnesota. Today campsites in the park are marked with 2’ x 2’ barn quilts painted by Cindy’s students, along with 12 that she painted herself.
Painted at Douglas County Fair
Her barn quilts have also been featured on a television commercial, in a dental magazine, and on a calendar. If you attended the 2023 Douglas County Fair, you may have seen her 3-day community project where fair goers were asked if they wanted to paint a square on the 4’ x4’ barn quilt. The youngest painter was five and the oldest painter was 87. The painter from the furthest distance was from Germany. The completed barn quilt was a silent auction item on Saturday and the final bid was $250.
Barn quilts can be created in a variety of sizes and can be displayed indoors as well as on the outside of buildings. On Saturday, September 23rd, Cindy will be demonstrating in the Evansville Art Center Gallery during regular gallery hours of 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. When folks stop by to view her exhibit and meet her, they will be invited to try their hand at painting on the 2’ x 2’ square themselves. Now is your chance!
Cindy is currently working to build a team of interested volunteers to establish a Barn Quilt Trail in Douglas County. You don’t have to be a painter, there are many other ways to help this trail become a reality. Learn all about this Agri-tourism art form when you stop at the Evansville Art Center to see this colorful and interesting exhibit which runs Fridays and Saturdays through September 30th. Gallery Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Additionally you may be interested in checking out the 2 newest trails in our area:
barnquiltsmn.org (Todd, Wadena, Morrison & Cass counties)
stevenshistorymuseum.com/barn-quilts (Stevens County)
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Lake Region Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund and in part through a Minnesota State Legislative general fund appropriation.