Danny and Debbie Jones’s workshop had entirely lost its green roof and the sides were leaning badly and torn. Danny graciously helped them gather some green tin, carefully traversing the yard and cow pasture, climbing over barbed wire where debris had laid it down. They also gathered some beige tin from the siding of the building. And as it turned out the brightness of the beige was just the contrast the quilt had needed. The American quilt trail, starting just over 20 years ago, began with the desire to beautify an old tobacco barn in Adams County, Ohio. Donna Sue Groves, influenced by her childhood love of barns, her mother’s quilting, and a passion for bringing people together, presented the idea of a barn quilt trail and started a movement. Josh and Justine have been imagining what a tornado tin quilt trail, marking the tornado’s route through Graves County or even Kentucky, might look like. Their place was the last homestead hit in Graves County before the tornado moved into Marshall County. They have wondered, like many others, how do you carry and piece some of the past into the future? On March 1st, 2022, a small crew hung up the first tornado tin barn quilt in Graves County. With the use of pulleys, straps, ladders, and a backhoe, Robert and Josh Riley slowly lifted the barn quilt up the side of the tobacco barn. Justine and Robert’s sister, Anita Thomas, let them know when the quilt was high enough and in the right spot. Meanwhile, James Riley, with tripod and camera, was weaving in and out of the action. The quilt was bolted to the barn studs. Josh was up in the backhoe on the outside of the barn with six inch bolts and drill. Justine was on the inside of the barn up in the tier poles with washers and nuts to secure the bolts. The weather, the company, and the new quilted addition to the barn made it a very memorable day. The quilt is part of the barn, carrying pieces of its old roof and of another generation’s mark on it. Now when the Rileys look out the window, drive into their driveway, or walk to the barn to feed the chickens and see the barn quilt, it feels like it was always there, like it always belonged there. Tin from five structures and two tornadoes, along with many rivets, screws, and measured cuts, complete the barn quilt. Devastation is a great word to describe the aftermath of a tornado. The word comes from Latin meaning “entirely to make empty”. A tornado is a master at destruction, ripping apart homes, buildings, barns, trees, stories, and lives. A vast, messy, emptiness is left in its wake. And while it is natural to fill that void with sorrow and grief, it is important, no, it is essential to fill some of that space with beauty. It is essential to bring some of the ripped pieces together purely for the sake of decorating an old tobacco barn that survived three tornadoes and a lightning strike. Beauty is a beacon of hope; it is hope manifest. It is movement in a decided direction. It is cutting and piecing. It is creation, as an answer to destruction. 42 APRIL 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM
