Donna Sue Groves has been a Quilt Alliance member since she and her mother, Maxine Groves, were interviewed for the nonprofit's oral history project, Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories (QSOS) in 2008. In her QSOS interview, archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, Donna Sue talks about being imprinted by quilting as a child as she watched both her maternal and paternal grandmothers work on geometric designs and hand appliqué. Her late mother Maxine was also an accomplished quiltmaker, but Donna Sue's interest in quilting took her down another path. Inspired by her mother's quilting, she suggested they paint a colorful quilt square on their drab tobacco barn, and the Quilt Barn Trail project was born. 

My mother, Nina Maxine Green Groves was the inspiration behind the Quilt Trails across the United States and Canada. The first official quilt trail was hung 2001 in Adams County, Ohio. Now, 1000's of quilt squares adorn barns, buildings, silos, buildings, businesses, mailboxes and homes throughout 43 states. My mother is also a prominent focus in Julianne Donofrio "Pieced Together" documentary film about the American quilt trail movement.