Travelers will notice Guthrie County is filled with barn quilts.

Charlene Watkin uses her creative talents to add a little history and color to the horizon.

Let's learn how barn quilts are made.

♪♪ We are here with Charlene inside her studio talking barn quilts today.

I'm curious because you're so young, but you've been doing this for quite a while.

Tell us about your business.

Well, I learned how to make barn calls when I was 14 through 4-H, and back then they were really starting to take off and getting really popular.

So, I decided to make one for the county fair.

It went to state fair, and then I decided, "I want to make this a business."

So, it first started out as a family business.

That's why it's called Watkins Barn Quilts.

But from the last decade plus, we've been able to make barn quilts and ship them all over the state and all over the country, as well.

What is a barn quilt?

So, a barn quilt is actually just wood and paint.

There is no fabric involved.

Okay.

The only reason they're called a barn quilt is because the patterns are quilt patterns.

So, I see so many different colors and designs.

How do you decide what goes into a barn quilt?

So, I have a lot of people who have quilt patterns that mean something to their family, and they also like to incorporate colors from their heritage and things like that.

Okay, so for viewers who are watching, I sent you some inspiration for a quilt we're going to make today.

So, this is the flag from the Netherlands, from the province of Friesland, where my family comes from.

And you came up with a design, correct?

Yes.

So, I wanted to kind of start with a traditional barn-quilt pattern, and I sketched it out, and then I did a little color-up with some colors.

I pulled some of the white, blue, and red from the flag that you sent me.

And on that flag there are some tulip kind of heart shapes.

And so, I thought these would kind of pull that in really well.

And then the black and yellow is also from the Netherlands.

So, the next step will be sketching this onto the board.

So, since this is on a grid, each of these little squares represents a different amount of inches.

So, since we're doing a 3-by-3 barn quilt, each of these little squares will be about an inch and a half.

♪♪ ♪♪ How does it look?

It looks great.

That didn't take too long.

No.

Once you get going, it goes by pretty quick.

Okay, so what's the next step?

So, the next step would be taping and painting.

You've got one started, right?

Yes.

So, I went ahead, and I started painting one.

This is a 2-by-2.

So, it's going to be a little bit smaller.

But I already painted a few of the colors so that we can get going.

The only ones that are missing would be the red and the blue.

Okay.

Well, I can help you with that.

All right.

Sounds good.

Yeah.

♪♪ ♪♪ How many coats do you usually do?

For reds, it kind of depends.

I try to do three coats for everything just so it gives it a good coverage, solid color.

You can really change a lot about a barn quilt in the way that you color it and the way you hang it.

That's why some are hung as diamonds and some are hung as squares because they're different each time.

All right, let's do it -- from paper to paint.

I love how this came together.

I love the colors.

It's really beautiful, Charlene.

Thank you.

For me, barn quilts are the perfect mix between Midwest culture and art.

And I love, like, driving through the countryside and seeing them out on the horizon.

I'm sure that is very gratifying.

Thank you so much, Charlene.