Barn Quilt Tour Launches in Jefferson County

The Jefferson County Area Tourism Council (JCATC) is pleased to invite all to their website, enjoyjeffersoncounty.com, to discover photographs and maps of more than 40 barn quilts on display throughout Jefferson County on their newly launched Barn Quilt Tour.

The colorful barn quilt appreciation page and self-driving tour were developed after a local artist reached out to the group in 2021. Fort Atkinson High School student, Tawney Hadler, had been designing and making barn quilts for several years when a photo of her barn quilt work on display on the Jones Yellow Barn at Jones Dairy Farm was featured in JCATC’s 2021-2022 Official Guide to Jefferson County.

Hadler’s artwork took off from awards at local county fairs to developing her own barn quilt business, Cold Spring Custom Barn Quilts. Since then, Hadler has been commissioned by local farmers and businesses where fourteen of her barn quilts are now on display throughout Jefferson County. Her talent, coupled with her love of the outdoors, is what spring boarded her idea to develop a Barn Quilt Tour. Shortly after that, she and her mother, Jones Market Sales & Marketing Manager Mariah Hadler, along with writer, Marsha Anderson, approached JCATC to see if their vision would be a fit for the group and be thelanding spot for a countywide virtual barn quilt tour.

“We were thrilled to feature Tawney’s photo with our barn quilt article in our 2021-2022 Official Tourism Guide,” said JCATC President, Katie Newcomb. “We knew Jefferson County had a number of barn quilts in the area and wanted to feature a list in the Official Guide to highlight just one of the area’s rich agritourism experiences. This connection sparked a continued collaboration, and we were happy to work with Tawney, Mariah, and Marsha to share just how many wonderful barn quilts are in Jefferson County. We hope others will enjoy exploring the barn quilts and finding other great Jefferson County discoveries along the way,” said JCATC President, Katie Newcomb.

The launch of the Barn Quilt Tour on the JCATC website coincides with Jones Dairy Farm’s Centennial Celebration of the Jones Yellow Barn on September 17. The Fort Atkinson event will be held from 11am to 4pm with an array of demonstrations, music, tasty food, and a presentation on the development of the Barn Quilt Tour from Tawney Hadler. Allproceeds from the event will go towards local agricultural scholarships. Limited tickets are still available at shopjonesmarket.com.

Barn Quilt owners who are interested in sharing their quilts for consideration with the Jefferson County Barn Quilt Tour are encouraged to complete a Barn Quilt Tour Form on JCATC’s website: enjoyjeffersoncounty.com/barn-quilt-submission. Anyone interested in the Barn Quilt Tour may contact JCATC when emailing [email protected].

The addition of the Barn Quilt Tour comes at a time when JCATC’s countywide promotions and reach continues to grow from its extremely successful launch of their 2021 redesign which reached more than 100,000 views thru April 2022, and its recently announced Wedding Resource Guide in July 2022.

About The Jefferson County Area Tourism Council: (JCATC) is a grass-roots organization with the sole purpose of increasing tourism throughout the entire Jefferson County, Wisconsin area. The group consists of representatives from area chambers, municipal tourism departments, and businesses. Communities are conveniently located between Madison and Milwaukee along the I-94 and US-26 corridors and include Cambridge, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Johnson Creek, Lake Mills, Oakland, Palmyra, Waterloo, Watertown, Whitewater, and surrounding areas. JCATC actively looks to bring together businesses, organizations, associations, and individuals for the development and promotion of tourism in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.