The 100-year-old barn of Blessed Trinity parishioners Pauline and Carl Eschbach of Golden Eagle is one of those featured in the new Barn Quilts for Calhoun County Project. By the time the Calhoun County Church and Quilt Tour is held on Oct. 24 and 25, six barn quilts are expected to be up in places throughout the county, and more barn quilts are in the works. The barn quilts and church and quilt tour are sponsored by Partners for Calhoun County Wellness, an ad hoc citizens committee.

Just as fall foliage bursts into color in central Illinois, and the high price of gasoline has at least temporarily gone down, the Calhoun County Church and Quilt Tour plus the Barn Quilts for Calhoun County Project seems like a great incentive to get out and go for a drive.

Blessed Trinity Parish's St. Mary Church (1852) and St. Mary's Hall in Brussels; St. Francis of Assisi Parish's St. Norbert Church (1872) and the Presbyterian Church Hall across the street from St. Norbert in Hardin; and St. Anselm Church Hall and the Presbyterian Church (1908) in Kampsville are featured in the church and quilt tour, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25. Tickets are $12, with proceeds going to promote economic development, tourism and wellness concerns in the county.

More than 100 quilts made by or owned by Calhoun County residents will be on display. Quilting demonstrations, quilting supplies, a quilt appraiser, raffle items, and a Calhoun County photo gallery by photographer Sonny Williams are included in the tour.

Pauline and Carl Eschbach of Golden Eagle in far southern Calhoun County aren't farmers, but they've got a barn on their property, and they love it. They're both retired - Pauline, from Saint Anthony's Hospital in Alton; Carl, first retired from construction work, then retired from a state job. Both are natives of Calhoun County. Carl was born and raised in Batchtown; Pauline is from Meppen. They attend Mass at St. Mary's Church in Brussels (Blessed Trinity Parish).

"Our barn has the only barn quilt in this end of the county," says Pauline.

Barn quilts are squares of plywood painted with a decorative quilt design and coated with layers of polyurethane.

Robbie Strauch, a St. Francis parishioner, chairs the economic development subcommittee for Calhoun County Wellness.

"Many people come here for peaches, for apples, for parish dinners and to see the view," says Strauch. "The tour is a way to maintain our heritage, to bring visitors to our community without disturbing the beauty of the county, and to help our local small businesses that operate here."