Designed and quilted by Marlene Brown Woodfield.

9″ wide by 12″ high. Original design, 2012.

Materials/techniques: Cotton fabric, fused, heavily machine quilted, signed, piped, traditionally bound.

Artist’s statement: When I was young, my father farmed a farm with a barn that had this sign painted on it. I enjoyed replicating this scene of some 60 years ago. This quilt includes the bull that chased my father over the fence!

Dedicated: In memory of my father, Haskell Brown.

Raised for AAQI: $181. July 2012 auction.

Purchased by Kim Peterson, Lowell, Indiana. Buyer of Checkin’ the Back 40 and The Painted Barn. “I am the buyer of the 2 quilts you have created for the Alzheimer’s Art show…. there is a barn just west of our farm with the Mail Pouch message painted on it, but the man that origially paints the signs. So, I have always loved them. Being farmers, your Checkin’ the Back 40, just struck me when I first saw it at the show in Valparaiso, IN. The colors are so bring, and everything about them stood out to me. When they came up for bid and I was alerted, I just had to have them. I was willing to pay much more, and given the proceeds were going to the Alzheimer’s Initiative, it was a great way to support this cause. I was so happy to have the winning bids on both of these quilts. I will be looking for more of your work in the future, more opportunities to support. Thank you for all you do for this cause. Thank you for being interested in who I am.”