PARIS – After nearly two years of collaboration and countless rows of careful stitching, Barbara Swan Frost has completed the Oxford County bicentennial quilt.

Measuring 6- by 7-feet, the quilt contains 40 squares representing each town, township and unorganized territory in Oxford County, Frost said Friday. A double square in the center denotes the bicentennial of the county, which was incorporated in March 1805.

Frost finished the project Nov. 1, “A day I will never forget,” she said.

When a picture of the quilt squares appeared in The Bethel Citizen last year, Frost said, many believed it was complete. However, the actual quilting had just begun. “It takes a lot longer than people think,” she said.

It was local historian Larry Glatz who first approached Frost to discuss the project, she said. She’d done a similar quilt in Sumner when the town celebrated its bicentennial. Knowing the project would take time, she began work immediately.

Towns and townships throughout the county were asked to submit quilt squares representing their areas. The resulting fabrics carried everything from air-brushed images of local buildings to artful appliqu and needlework. One of Frost’s favorite squares was done for Paris. It features the old Market Square elm tree in needlepoint, contrasted against a blue sky.

Oxford’s square displays an appliqu of the old meetinghouse, which sits off Route 26.

West Paris’ square is filled with images, including maple leaves, a glowing sunset, a trap representing Trapp Corner. and Molly Ockett.

Frost’s quilt eventually will be displayed in the Oxford County Courthouse. First it will go on tour during this year’s county bicentennial celebration. Towns may request the quilt for display at historical talks or events.

People already are beginning to request it, the quilter said.