Follow the painted quilt designs on a scenic drive
Clay County’s Barn Quilt Trail begins at the town square in downtown Hayesville at the corner Historic Hayesville building. Visitors can start their tour with Historic Hayesville’s exhibit of quilts and more. Colorful quilt blocks placed throughout the town and county reflect the community’s charm.
The first of Hayesville’s barn quilts—the Triple Sunflower—was installed in 2017 on the Historic Hayesville Inc. Centennial Exhibit building on Sanderson Street. There, you can begin your tour by picking up a map to guide you along the “trail.” The Barn Quilt map directs
visitors to both in-town and to out-of-town sites for a 24/7 self-guided driving tour through the rural countryside. Maps are also available at the Town Hall and Clay County Chamber of Commerce, both located on Sanderson Street. The Barn Quilt Trail has grown to include over 35 designs displayed in the downtown area with another 35 throughout the county. Each quilt block speaks as a traditional work of art and a piece of local history.
Customized quilt designs range from blocks that are two-foot-square to larger four-foot-square designs. A team of volunteers spends many hours hand drawing and then painting original and traditional designs. With some advanced planning, visitors can see volunteers working on quilt blocks in a studio at the rear of the building.
The Clay County Barn Quilt Trail is part of the North American Quilt Trail Project, a driving tour that includes over 7,000 quilt blocks scattered throughout the rural countryside in the USA and Canada.
A Small Town Main Street project, the Clay County Barn Quilt HHI Centennial Exhibit features displays and information about the picturesque mountain town. Maps are available for touring the Barn Quilt Trail and a limited selection of smaller pre-painted designs are available for purchase. More project details can be found at historichayesvilleinc.com
Centennial Exhibit Building is open 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, March through December.
