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>> Sometimes a patch of color
can tell a story,
a story of loss.
>> It's a really pretty
Christmas quilt pattern,
but the sad part of it was that
she was quilting it
the night that she found out
her daughter was killed
in a car accident.
She wanted that quilt painted
on her barn in memory
of her daughter.
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>> Colors can also tell a story
of legacy.
Patricia and her husband
Eldor Erdmann have one of those.
>> It's been an Erdmann farm
for 126 years.
Eldor was the last one,
and he farmed for 51 years.
He quit at 80.
His mother and grandmother,
they lived in the farmhouse
that was back there.
They made quilts for their 13
grandchildren and children.
It caught our fancy.
I showed it to Eldor and
he liked it too.
>> Together those patches
tell the story of a place,
Shawano County.
They're called barn quilts.
And here, they're just about
everywhere.
>> We're traveling around other
parts of the state, and people
ask where we're from and we say
we're from Shawano.
They'll say, well, that's where
all the barn quilts are.
And you know, it makes us
feel good.
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We do have quite a few of them
that are painted red, white and
blue when we first started
the project.
>> Jim and Irene Leuenberger
first brought the idea of quilts
on barns to Shawano County.
But they got the idea from
farther away--
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--from a grass-roots group in
Ohio who set out to beautify
some of their old barns.
>> I made the decision to see if
I could get a barn quilt project
started in Shawano County.
The first three of our
barn quilts that were done in
Shawano County in the fall of
2010 were done by 4H clubs.
>> Then he thought, well, maybe
I can have some sponsors.
And we'll find barns and,
you know, we'll paint them.
I said, we?
Who's we?
We became the Barn Quilt
Committee, Jim and Irene,
and we started painting them.
>> They've been painting ever
since, working in the basement
of the local Chamber of Commerce
and leaving one big pile of
painter's tape.
>> Somebody would actually pay
for something like this.
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>> They've blanketed the county
with these painted quilts.
>> I had a goal of 25.
The project just grew
form there.
So we're to the point now where
we have over 230 barn quilts up
throughout Shawano County.
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[motor whirs]
>> On an autumn morning two
electricians in a bucket truck--
>> That's good for height, Jim?
>> -- added three more.
It was enough to bring out
a crowd.
>> That's beautiful.
[drill whines]
>> All that extra attention
may help save some of these
old barns.
>> The first objective was to
encourage people to preserve
their historic old barns.
But the fact that people are
preserving these barns, putting
a new roof on, replacing the
foundation and using them for
storage or what have you, I
think is a beautiful way to
preserve the history of our
county.
>> Still, Jim says bringing
people together is what these
quilts do best.
>> It's one of the most
rewarding things I think my wife
and I have ever done, because of
the impact that it's had on
people's lives and the way it's
brought the whole Shawano area
together as a community.
>> We really have enjoyed
meeting the people, getting to
know the people, and how they
feel so much a part of the
community.
>> I would guess probably 80%
of the people we've done quilts
for we never knew before.
So now we have this whole new
circle of friends.
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