Part II of the Fulton Montgomery Quilt Barn Trail and a Visit to Amish Country

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Our journey through the Fulton Montgomery Quilt Barn Trail continues.  Saturday afternoon with a list of addresses in hand, lunch packed and camera ready, we set out to discover more of the quilt blocks in one of our favorite parts of Fulton Montgomery County. Guess how many we found!

We began our hunt in Amsterdam, NY where we found this bright quilt block, (below), on Arnold's Feed and Grain Services.

Bear's Paw
Next we travelled Route 30 and found the Double Wedding Ring....also pictured in the first photo of this post.  Isn't it a beauty?  8' x 8' large and colorful!

Double Wedding Ring

ACIU (Thank You)

In St. Johnsville, we found the Antique Nellis Quilt at the historic Nellis Tavern, built in 1747 by Christian Nellis, Sr.  In 1985 the Palatine Settlement Society purchased the the building and 8 acres of land and renovations began in 1995 and have been ongoing ever since.  The final portion of the restorations, a complete overhaul of the exterior, began in July 2020.  That was completed this summer.  For more information on Nellis Tavern:  


Just prior to us arriving at the Nellis Tavern, we came upon a horse and buggy - nothing unusual for this part of New York.  In fact on Saturday we saw several.  This one was a bit unique, however, carrying about four young men and a rather precarious cargo............

Goin' fishin'


Sunburst

Log Cabin





My favorite shot of the day


Ohio Star





Broken Dishes


Star of Hope

Bell Garden


We always enjoy driving through the back roads in Fulton Montgomery counties, marveling at the Amish communities throughout, soaking up the beauty of the freshly plowed fields, the unspoiled greenspace filled with nothing but farms and rural landscape.  On this trip, we discovered just 14 new quilt blocks, mostly because we diverted from our route to take some of our regular back roads.  Now when we make our regular trips to Fulton Montgomery counties, we have the added fun of hunting quilt blocks along the way. Considering we've only found about 42 of the 158, we've got plenty of quilts left to discover.  I hope that by including some of our sights along the way, you'll be inspired to take a trip to this area even if you let the quilt discoveries happen serendipitously.  If you need a little time out of the car to stretch your legs, or just another reason for a road trip, I suggest you pay a visit to the Fort Plain Antique and Salvage....always a fun trip down memory lane and 2 floors of antiques and amazing salvage pieces - windows, doors, drawers, boxes, and so much more.  Check out their Facebook page:
Till next time.....happy trails and happy quilting friends.  Life is short.  Take time to enjoy the journey and whenever possible, choose the road less traveled and slow down and enjoy the view!  For more adventures, check out my blog directory - https://www.lifeasiseeitphotography.net/p/directory.html


Discovering the Beauty of Quilt Blocks Along the Fulton Montgomery Quilt Barn Trail

Thursday, September 23, 2021

 When Indian born, Canadian writer, Rohinton Mistry, said, 'The whole quilt is more important than any single square', he obviously wasn't familiar with the Quilt Barn Trails.  If he were, he'd surely know the opposite is true.  Every single square is beautiful, unique and significant when it's proudly displayed on a barn or building along one of the many quilt trails in the United States.  We found that to be especially true when we explored a piece of the Fulton Montgomery Barn Quilt Trail a couple weeks ago.



Much like the Schoharie Quilt Barn Trail, the Fulton-Montgomery trail is comprised of a mixture of rural roads, villages, and cities throughout Fulton and Montgomery County and features over 155 quilt squares.  These painted squares range from 4' x 4', and 8' x 8' and a few 2' x 2'.  We stopped at the Fulton Tourist Center and picked up a brochure which pictures most squares (up till the last printing) and their corresponding address (on the reverse side of the map below).

The Fulton Montgomery Quilt Barn Trail was founded in 2014 by Liz Argotsinger.  Most of the quilt block designs are suitable for replicating on the sewing machine. I asked Liz this evening if she had an exact number of quilts currently but keeping the number current is next to impossible.  People sometimes move and take their quilt blocks, others add them without registering them with the group.  Best she could say was around 158.  

 We began our day of quilt detective work in Perth, traveled to Broadalbin, then Gloversville, and Peck Lake and found about 28 quilts.  We figured out along the way that the most efficient way to find the quilts is to plug a block's address into your GPS, one block at a time.  I would then look at the map, find the next closest block on the map and punch its address into the GPS.  Our plan of attack on our next ride might be to plot out our route ahead of time, making a list of block addresses and then just plug one into the GPS after another, without having to keep reading the map in between each block.  I also brought a highlighter so I could mark off the blocks we found.


 The quilt above was a combined effort of the School District, the Mayfield Fire Department and the Fulton Montgomery Quilt Trail.  Isn't it amazing?

Carpenters Wheel


This is the perfect time of year to explore this beautiful exhibit, when the leaves are putting on a show in what is already a beautiful countryside.  I really hope that in sharing just a small portion of these gorgeous blocks you will be inspired to get out there and discover some too.  

Stepping Stones


If you missed my earlier post about the Schoharie County Quilt Barn Trail, check it out now: https://www.lifeasiseeitphotography.net/2021/09/enjoying-afternoon-exploring-schoharie.html.  Maybe you'll be inspired to make your own quilt block or start a trail where you live.  Here's more of the quilt blocks we found.........

Basket of Blessing

Seasons

One Room Schoolhouse

Craftsman

Pinwheel Surprise and Tipsy Star

Tulip #4


Ocean Waves

Flower Pot

Stepping Stones

Flying Geese

Sonia's Sunflower


Peace Around the World

Honey Bee

Morning Star

Crown of Thorns

Star of the West

Welcome Pineapple


Mariners Compass


Camp Smore Than Enuf

As you can see.....there's no end to the beauty and imagination displayed on over 150 barns, houses, sheds and businesses throughout these picturesque counties.  Photos were taken from a distance away, from our car, alongside the roadway.  Suzi Parron started the idea of barn quilts when she was looking for a way to honor her mom, an accomplished quilter.  Her idea took off and today there are barn quilt trails all over the United States and Canada.  Check out Suzi's website:

 For more information about the Fulton Montgomery Quilt Barn Trail, check out their Facebook page: 

Also check out their video onYouTube:
Happy exploring!  Don't forget to stop at the Fulton County Visitor Center in Vail Mills to pick up your brochure and then plot out your trip before you go and don't forget to share this with all the quilters you know!
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