In the 1930s, a determined woman could sometimes be seen navigating her powder-blue roadster through the back country farm roads of a Putnam County community reeling from one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history.
The woman was Eleanor Roosevelt, and the town was Eleanor - named after the first lady and created as a New Deal project by her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The town's memories of Eleanor Roosevelt made a recent decision easy for quilters Roberta Farmer, 71, of Teays Valley and Charlene Wiseman, 50, of Liberty.
On Saturday, Eleanor residents, history buffs and quilters will dedicate a wooden quilt square at the town's Red House. The square is the second to be displayed on a Putnam County building to denote historic stops along the Appalachian Quilt Trail. The first square is already on display at the courthouse in Winfield.
Roosevelt loved blue dresses; the roadster that she sometimes drove from Washington to her projects in West Virginia was blue. So, Eleanor's quilt square is also blue.
"That little community was a star in her crown," Farmer said.
The square, painted on an eight-by-eight-foot blue patterned star, was designed with the help of two avid quilters and constructed by a computer-automated drafting class from the Putnam Career and Technical Center.
Both Farmer and Wiseman are members of the Putnam Quilters Guild. Members of the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development asked for their help designing quilt squares for historic buildings in Putnam County.
The Appalachian Quilt Trail started in Adams County, Ohio, where a quilt enthusiast decided to paint quilt squares on old, abandoned barns to promote the area's agricultural history and encourage tourism.
In the 1930s, a determined woman could sometimes be seen navigating her powder-blue roadster through the back country farm roads of a Putnam County community reeling from one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history.
The woman was Eleanor Roosevelt, and the town was Eleanor - named after the first lady and created as a New Deal project by her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The town's memories of Eleanor Roosevelt made a recent decision easy for quilters Roberta Farmer, 71, of Teays Valley and Charlene Wiseman, 50, of Liberty.
On Saturday, Eleanor residents, history buffs and quilters will dedicate a wooden quilt square at the town's Red House. The square is the second to be displayed on a Putnam County building to denote historic stops along the Appalachian Quilt Trail. The first square is already on display at the courthouse in Winfield.
Roosevelt loved blue dresses; the roadster that she sometimes drove from Washington to her projects in West Virginia was blue. So, Eleanor's quilt square is also blue.
"That little community was a star in her crown," Farmer said.
The square, painted on an eight-by-eight-foot blue patterned star, was designed with the help of two avid quilters and constructed by a computer-automated drafting class from the Putnam Career and Technical Center.
Both Farmer and Wiseman are members of the Putnam Quilters Guild. Members of the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development asked for their help designing quilt squares for historic buildings in Putnam County.
The Appalachian Quilt Trail started in Adams County, Ohio, where a quilt enthusiast decided to paint quilt squares on old, abandoned barns to promote the area's agricultural history and encourage tourism.
The trend has spread to several other states with agricultural histories, including Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Mason County introduced its first quilt square in 2008, and organizers of the program encouraged Putnam County residents to follow suit.
In May, Putnam County unveiled its first quilt square at the courthouse. Its colors are red, green, yellow and blue to represent the colors of Buffalo, Hurricane, Poca and Winfield high schools.
A third square will be placed in Buffalo some time in October. Organizers have not decided on an exact building.
Kathy Hill, a teacher's aide at the Putnam Career and Technical Center, spearheaded the construction of the quilt squares. Students from the school made the measurements for the layout and provided the painting guidelines for the community volunteers.
"Our kids are very precise," she said. "They take pride in the fact that they have done something for the community."
Hill also hopes that the work the students put into the project will be of value to them in the years to come.
"When they're my age they can say 'Hey, I had something to do with this,'" she said.
For information about the Putnam County Quilt Trail, call Jackie Byars at 304-776-5256.
Reach Zac Taylor at Zachary.Tay...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.
