OELWEIN -- Six generations of the same family have annually planted a crop in the spring and harvested their grain in the fall on an historic farm. For more than 130 years, this family of farmers has tilled the soil, through prosperous times and hardship.

Proud of their agricultural heritage, the David and Ann Schmidt family, residing on the farm today, was eager to become part of the Barn Quilts of Fayette County project.

Designed to promote tourism, the project was stitched together by a small group of volunteers about two years ago. One of its first activities was a coloring contest for youngsters in area schools.

Hannah Schmidt, then 7, hurried home from school one day to tell her parents, David and Ann, the exciting news: She was one of the winners in the coloring contest at her school.

This fall, the Schmidts mounted their own 8-by-8-foot quilt block on the barn on their farm, just west of Oelwein and south of Iowa Highway 3, where fifth-generation farmers Gerald and Nora Schmidt live nearby and sixth and seventh generations of the Schmidt family now reside in the original farmhouse built in 1874.

The Schmidts' block is one of 60 such blocks in a "clothesline" of artistry stretching from south to north and east to west.

Their barn was built in 1906 by David Schmidt's great-grandfather, Otto Schmidt. He used a two-horse team to transport the rocks for the barn's foundation. A three-man team of stone workers charged him $75 to cut the stone and build the foundation, according to family records.

To acquire the lumber, Otto answered an advertisement in a local newspaper selling lumber from the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

The lumber was delivered by rail car, and using a team of horses and a hay rack, Otto moved it to his farm. The barn was used for hay storage and the basement had stanchions for 26 milk cows and a pen for young cattle.

Otto died in 1960, at age 89. His son, Edwin, took over the farm in 1928. Edwin and Ella's son, Gerald, and his wife, Nora, continued the tradition when they took over in 1957. The barn was used as a dairy barn until 1975 when it was converted to hog finishing. David took over the farming operation in 1987.

Ann, an avid quilter is pleased that her family has been included in the project.

She and Hannah worked with other volunteers who got together at a couple of vacant buildings in Oelwein to paint their blocks.

About a dozen barn quilt blocks still need to be hung around Fayette County, however, there are 33 blocks in place in an "eastern loop." Southwest and Northwest loops have been established, and there are eight additional barn blocks at sites, most are near major highways, scattered around the county.

For more information about organized tours, call Fayette County Tourism at (800) 798-4447. Brochures/maps of the barn quilt tours are available at convenience stores and the Little Red House Tourism Center in Fayette, at the junction of Highways 93 and 150.