Sunday, 26 April 2026

building on an idea


Things have been a bit chaotic chez Linda's this past month. I did manage some sit & sew times, taking slow meditative stitches, adding binding to a few quilts. And now after a short interlude, normal service has been resumed and I'm back working on my WiPs.

Way back in 2020 I started making 10" churn dash/monkey wrench blocks. I had originally begun these blocks following Jen Kingwell's 'flea market dash' pattern. I dragged them out this weekend & decided I really should do something with them. My blocks so far were mainly in medium/dark prints mixed with an assortment of checks, not feeling the love for them really. And, I also didn't have 1.4 mtrs fabric sitting around either, for the inset & corner triangles.

I remembered a monkey wrench quilt in the *U & U book, a joyous collection of colour & pattern. The blocks were in groups of four and the sashings were a mix of scrappy fabrics in blues & yellow.
After some faffing around reworking (and unpicking) a few parts of my earlier blocks, I laid them out on the design floor to check how things were progressing. My blocks do look a bit different to the inspo quilt - but I'm happy with these fresh contemporary colours.





love the mix in this one, Kaffe, Liberty lawn & Anna Maria ...


 the pile is growing ...

Tilda, a little Liberty lawn & gingham ...


 For my sashing, I'm thinking maybe teal, and more teal ...


*Inspirational quilt from Unconventional & Unexpected by Roderick Kiracofe 



I'm enjoying this, building on an idea with a little improv & a lot of colour exploration 
- such a good way to waste away spend a few hours!
Linda







9 comments:

Gretchen Weaver said...

Your blocks look like fun, enjoy stitching!

cityquilter grace said...

wowza! those are gorgeous blocks...

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

you must have a big collection of floral prints - I must admit that is something I don't have much of and most that I do have were in fat quarter collections or passed on to me

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

It looks like fun playing with the older blocks and making some new.

The Colorful Fabriholic said...

I like the direction you're going with this! So bright and cheerful.

Quilting Babcia said...

There's one word that captures these blocks, joyful!

Janie said...

I agree with Quilting Babcia, joyful!! I'll add exuberant!!

Karen S said...

I like that way of putting the blocks together. Great to see older projects coming back into the light.
I haven't asked for a while - how is your husband going?

MissPat said...

What a cheery set of blocks. I love florals of all shapes, sizes and colors. This will be a charming finish.
Pat