Halifax County Barn Quilt Trail is a listing of participating Barn Quilt owners who exhibit barn quilts throughout the year, and especially on “Trail Day,” typically in April of each year. Terrapin Springs is a proud participant in this event. Learn more about the Halifax County Barn Trail.
The Barn Quilts at Terrapin Springs Farm
Terrapin Springs Farm is in the center of the Aarons Creek community (named in 1733 by Colonel William Byrd) in southeast Halifax County, adjacent to the historic Aarons Creek Baptist Church (1845).
The Quilt Story. While Mother’s, Grandmother’s, Great Grandmother’s and Aunt’s hand-sewn quilts cover the beds, rest comfortably on the backs of chairs and sofas and fill the cedar chest at the farm, I always sought to commemorate the women in my family. What better way to chronicle their dedication and artistic and creative abilities, utilizing every scrap of cloth, their desire to keep the family warm in winter and make pallets for the babies and children to play on, than to paint and display representative barn quilts. Two of the barn quilts are “wild turkey tracks,” a reminder of the many wild turkeys that frequented the farm, while they fed on the grains in the fields and nested in the tall pines, delighting Father while he sat under the Old Oak Tree in the back yard in his later years. A third quilt is a memory of the hand-sewn quilts by Grandmother Nunn and Great Grandmother Holder who rocked in her favorite rocker with a basket of cloth scraps by her side sewing pieces of irregular shapes together as she drifted in thought in her later days clouded with dementia. Grandmother Nunn’s dark-blue patchwork square quilt rests gently on the chair in the living room awaiting a cuddle and a good book. –Joanne Nunn Marx
Barn Quilt Trail 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Five Barn Quilts at Terrapin Springs Farm
“Wild Turkey Tracks – Green” at the Lodge at Terrapin Springs. Overlooks Aarons Creek Baptist Church (1845) and the Aarons Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, and the historic sites of Aarons Creek Academy and Aarons Creek School.
“Bluebird and Cardinal” at the Lodge at Terrapin Springs. Featuring the art of a local cancer survivor who used quilt painting as therapy.
“Patchwork” on the Barn at Terrapin Springs. An interpretation of the hand-sewn quilt created by Great Grandmother Nunn about 1925.
“Wild Turkey Tracks -Blue” at the Old Homestead (circa mid-1800s) at Terrapin Springs. Overlooks the historic farmhouse and sites of earlier sawmills and blacksmith shops, and the Covered Bridges at Terrapin Springs.
Viewing the Barn Quilts at Terrapin Springs Farm
All barn quilts are visible from Aarons Creek Road, although at some distance. You are welcome to take pictures from the road any day at any time. On Halifax Barn Quilt Trail Day we welcome more close-up photo opportunities. Please park in the driveway and walk up to the quilts; and stop in to say hello; and join us for lunch.
Photo opportunities are available at the farm by appointment. Email joanne@terrapin-springs.com.