Our seventh barn quilt in Lincoln County was hung in early December on the Schulz farm located at N320 Brandenburg Ave. south of Merrill. They join the Roets family whose farm is located on Chestnut Avenue east of Merrill, the Heidemann family on Range Line Road east of Merrill, the Buck family east of Merrill on State Highway 64, the Koehler family west of Merrill on State Highway 64 and 107, the Pope-Will family on Pope Road just north of Merrill and the Hanson family on Highway 17 north of Gleason, in being part of the Lincoln County Barn Quilt Project.
The quilt was a family project for Karen Kunkel, Mark Schulz, Linda Fellbaum and Jeff Schulz to honor their parents, grandparents and generations past. The farm land where the Schulz quilt is hung was purchased in 1917 by their great grandfather, Carl Schulz. Their grandfather, Arnold Schulz, then bought the land from his father. He and his brothers built all the farm buildings by hand, including the house. All the beams in the barn are hand hewn. Their grandparents retired from dairy farming in 1963, when their parents took over and lived there till they passed on. Now, Karen Kunkel and her husband have taken over the homestead and have updated the farmhouse for their retirement years. The fields are rented out for crops.
The barn quilt was designed by Linda Fellbaum. It is two plowshares to symbolize farming, which is what the Schulz family has done for many generations. The green triangles stand for fields and the corn cob in the corner, for crops. The John Deere tractor is the only tractor their father used, and he restored them after he retired from farming. The blue and white colors are from the Pomeranian flag, which is where the Schulz line came from, immigrating here mid-1800s. Also the blue reminds the family of the Wisconsin River which borders the east side of the farm. Natalie Watland, an artist from the Tomahawk area, painted the quilt and RTL Electric of Merrill did the hanging.
Through the cooperation of the University of Wisconsin-Extension Lincoln County, the Merrill Historical Society, Lincoln County Farm Bureau and funding from the Merrill Area Community Foundation, the Lincoln County Barn Quilt project was initiated in 2013. Through this project, people will be able to view historic agricultural icons in their new role as public art.
The Barn Quilt Committee is currently looking for additional farm families both Century Farm families and others who are interested in being a part of the project. For more information about the Lincoln County Barn Quilt project, visit http://lincoln.uwex.edu/p/lincoln-county-barn-quilt-project/ or contact Debbie Moellendorf at the Lincoln County UW-Extension office at 715-539-0177 or Bea Lebal or Pat Burg at the Merrill Historical Society at 715-536-5652.