Dave Oaks started “Barn Quilts by Oaksy” shortly after he retired. He really liked seeing folk art “quilt squares” attached to barns and wanted to pursue his creative interests. Dave has a part time job, and in the summer helps relatives farm, but he started building, painting and installing custom quilt squares at a few barns throughout the county. An article in the October 10, 2013 Chisago County Press highlighted some of Dave’s work. A few months later, his dream of a self-guided barn quilt tour in Chisago County started coming to life when he was contacted by the local Foundation to be a partner in the development of a Barn Quilt Trail along the Highway 8 corridor.
Dave doesn’t consider himself an artist, but he is definitely a craftsman with an eye for artistic design! He built and painted 5 large 8 X 8 quilt squares specifically for the Swedish Barn Quilt Trail, and also has done some custom designs that are included on the Quilt Trail map/brochure and web site. Dave is also the guy who cut marine grade wood and primed each of the quilt squares that local artists then painted for the barn Quilt Trail. He added a seal coat before installing them, to ensure that the barn quilts will last 6-10 years. Quilt squares are meant to hang on the exterior of a barn, but this project shows that you can customize any sized space with a “barn quilt.”
