SEBAGO — Suzi Parron, photographer and author of Following the Barn Quilt Trail, will speak and conduct two workshops on Barn Quilting, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 16 – 18, 2022, at Sew-clusion Retreats, LLC’s studio, 694 Hancock Pond Road in Sebago. Parron’s Friday-evening lecture and weekend workshops will be conducted outdoors, lakeside, rain or shine. The weekend will appeal to creative artists, painters, quilters, folk art enthusiasts, and lovers of Americana.

A barn quilt is a traditional quilt block mural painted onto metal or wood and adhered to the side of barns, garages, sheds, porches, fences, and more. Sew-clusion owner and host, Patty Sawyer, hopes this event will help support local artists and generate interest in documentation of a barn quilt trail in Cumberland County. The Barn Quilting movement has been sweeping the country for several years now. Currently, there are established trails only in Franklin, Somerset, Penobscot, and Aroostook counties in Maine.

Parron’s talk and instruction will focus on the American Barn Quilt Trail, which she has documented in two books by traveling across the U.S. with her husband and their dog Gracie in their converted bus, Ruby. Her presentation includes over a hundred photographs of barn quilts and stories of those who have painted quilt blocks that adorn barns’ walls.

The cost of the workshops will include all materials for attendees to paint their own two-by-two-foot barn quilt block. Attendees will be encouraged and inspired to install these quilt murals where they can be easily viewed and help create public art in their respective communities.

Participants may attend the lecture or any of the workshops or stay and retreat for the entire weekend. For more information, tickets, reservations, or costs of available packages, visit https://www.sew-clusion.com/copy-of-2022-barn-quilting-event or call Patty Sawyer at 207-803-8500. Space is limited.