Honored to be Michigan's very first Quilt Trail!
The Community of Alcona County, Michigan, welcomes you to the Alcona Quilt Trail web site!

The Alcona County Quilt Trail Project, featuring Michigan's very first Quilt Trail, began as an idea, as a possible way to bring tourism to our area and showcase our unique history. After researching the project with the help of Professor Wynne Wright's Michigan State University class in the fall of 2007, plans were made to begin construction in the spring of 2008. Volunteers from the Alcona County community worked together to construct, paint and install large wooden quilt squares on barns and other sites of interest, to create a self-guided driving trail. In September 2008, Phase I of the project was completed, with eight quilt squares mounted in the five easternmost townships of Alcona County. Phase II will be completed by October of 2009, with another fifteen sites selected in the remaining six townships in the western part of the county. Alcona County will celebrate its 140-year anniversary in 2009, and the completion of our Quilt Trail will be part of the festivities thanks to a generous grant from the National Quilting Association.

Sites for the Alcona County Quilt Trail are chosen by reviewing area history, structural interest, road conditions and pulloff for safe viewing, and other criteria. Designs for the quilt squares begin with a traditional quilt pattern, which can be modified to reflect the site, the people who live there past and present, and/or an interesting event that has taken place. Kits for 12" quilt squares for each of the designs are available at Hollyhock Quilt Shoppe in downtown Harrisville as a fund-raiser for the project. All funds for the Alcona County Quilt Trail Project come from donations or grants only, and all labor is volunteer. We are very proud that we have accomplished so much on a small budget. The enthusiastic, talented people of Alcona County are its greatest resource!

Map brochures for Phase I of the Alcona County Quilt Trail Project are available at the Huron Shores Chamber of Commerce office in downtown Harrisville, as well as many area businesses. They show not only the driving tour route but also have a brief history of each site, and any small business hours and information along the route. Plans are also in the works for a downtown Harrisville walking tour of small quilt squares located inside area businesses, to be completed by April 2009.

Safety & Respecting Private Property While enjoying and viewing the Alcona County Quilt Trail, please use caution when slowing down or stopping near a site. Stopping on busy roads can be dangerous and illegal. All Quilt Barn sites are located on private property. They should be viewed only from the road unless otherwise indicated at the site location or if that site is a business open to the public. We are deeply grateful to all of our quilt barn hosts for their generosity.

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