Clockwise from top left: Barn quilt designs for properties in Irasburg, Hardwick, Lyndonville and West Burke. Credit: Courtesy

Barn quilts aren’t actually heirloom blankets, but the painted panels are often made with a similarly cozy idea in mind. Affixed to the outside of a building, they can symbolize home or welcome strangers with bright colors and bold geometries that proclaim a site’s identity. Barn-quilt trails have drawn tourists to back roads in Franklin and Orange counties for years; soon, a similar path will invite them to the Northeast Kingdom. Over the past few months, volunteers and residents of buildings owned by affordable-housing nonprofit RuralEdge have been busily planning and painting new barn quilts that will grace the exteriors of 11 properties across the region. Each design reflects a unique community of renters and their stories, some featuring distinct imagery such as an iconic mill in Gilman and legendary monster Memphré — Lake Memphremagog’s answer to Champ — in Newport.

‘Stitching Communities Together’ Barn Quilt Unveilings Friday, August 14, 3-4 p.m., at 125 Mountain View Drive in St. Johnsbury, and Thursday, August 20, 3-4 p.m., at the Newport Municipal Gym.

This article appears in August 12 • 2026.

Alice Dodge joined Seven Days in April 2024 as visual arts editor and proofreader. She earned a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College and an MFA in visual studies at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She previously worked at the Center for Arts and Learning in Montpelier, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, and Midway Contemporary Art in Minneapolis. She is a visual artist with one lizard, two cats and too many chickens.