SUN CITY – Residents who constructed a new fixture on a Sun City building are hoping it brings perpetual sunshine to the community.
Sun City maintenance workers install on the exterior of Millgrove Woodshop a painted wood quilt produced by the Woodchuck members to honor the upcoming Weekend of Valor. (Photos by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
As the three-month Northern Illinois Quilt Fest gears up for its Weekend of Valor, a two-day event honoring veterans on August 19 and 20, Sue Bruss, N.21, program coordinator of the Huntley Gazebo Quilt guild and co-chairman of Weekend of Valor, thought Sun City could get in on the effort.
In addition to soft quilts, the Quilt Fest celebrates barn quilts – large patterns painted on wood and mounted on the side of a barn. When Bruss thought of the Sun City woodshop, she saw an opportunity.
“We decided that it would just be wonderful for Sun City to have [a barn quit], and we have this beautiful barn and it had this big plank wall and it seemed like the perfect place,” Bruss said.
The sun pattern is no coincidence; Bruss flipped through numerous quilt books and searched online before coming across the “sunshine” pattern she thought best fit the community’s namesake.
Originally a quarter sun design, Bruss reproduced the original copy four times to make it a full sun. Bruss also found instructions on how to construct the barn quilt online.
Bruss then teamed up with the Sun City Woodchucks to construct the quilt. Nelson Cheung took the 3” x 3” photo and converted it to an 8’ by 8’ layout. Ron Wiedenfeld and Jerry Meccozi taped and painted the pattern to two pieces of plywood. According to Al La Pelusa, community projects coordinator and N. 15 resident, the process took about a day and a half.
In order to hang the barn quilt, the Woodchucks used a French cleat to give the quilt a groove to fit into and then screwed it into the barn wall. The actual physical hanging was done by the maintenance department, and the barn quilt was put up on July 27.
Because the woodshop is owned by Sun City, the Community Association Board will have to make a decision on the barn quilt’s long-term status. For now, Wentworth Management is allowing it to be up through October, according to Bruss.
“They did a permanent job on it,” Bruss said of the Woodchuck’s job. “They painted it permanently; we planned it permanently, hoping that we’ll get a real positive response from the community, and I’ve already heard a huge amount of positive response.”
Bruss said she plans to petition to the CAM Board for the barn quilt to become a permanent fixture in Sun City. If it does become permanent, it will need to be repainted about every two years.
According to Bruss, the Woodchucks agree to cover the cost of repainting, and the only cost to Sun City will be to take down and put the barn quilt up again, most of which will go toward renting a lift to do so.
For now, Sun City residents, passersby, and attendees of the Quilt Fest can look up at the woodshop and enjoy and appreciate the hard work of Sun City residents working together to honor the country’s veterans.
