Amazing Day in Hart Square

What do you get when you turn a quilter, a writer, and a kid loose in a historical log cabin village? A really, really good day!

On Saturday, Josh, James, and I went to Hart Square for their Founder’s Day celebration. Hart Square is an amazing place built by Bob and Becky Hart and their family. Click Here to learn more about Hart Square.

It’s hard to describe this exactly, but this seems the most fitting. Quilters collect fabric, knitters collect yarn, blacksmiths and welders collect metal.

Bob Hart collected log cabins!

This is actually the largest collection of historical log cabins in the United States, but they are so much more than just a set of buildings.

Bob became interested in the history behind it – what is was that tool used for? Why was that house built that way? And began collecting and preserving all the little details of life to go along with the houses.

In almost every house I entered, hand pieced, hand quilted quilts were displayed on the beds, hung on the walls, and draped over the furniture. Along with quilts they have dishes, linens, knives, and every kind of tool imaginable.

It’s a level of history and preservation that I’ve honestly never seen before. Since yesterday, I’ve tried to put my finger on why this feels so incredible. It’s a bit like Renaissance Festival in that it’s a chance to step back in time and appreciate how people lived many years ago.

But to me, Hart Square is even more magical and wonderful because it’s REAL. This isn’t a magical fantasy world with dragons and princesses. This is how we used to live and raise our kids, in tiny cabins that had to be bitterly cold in the winter and very warm in the summer.

It feels magical I think because the cabins have been so well preserved and so much attention to detail has been given to filling them with historically accurate furniture, quilts, and accessories.

So that’s what I was busy with yesterday! I had an amazing time with my family and saw so many beautiful quilts. I feel filled with inspiration and ideas and a much deeper sense of appreciation for the comfortable life I get to live in the twenty-first century.

This has definitely made me want to pull out needles and thread start a new quilt project 100% by hand. If my great grandmothers could do it along with everything else they were managing, I can too!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day