I chose red for this month, and in early August, I was thinking of carefree summer days in my Grandmama's sandpile and this little red and blue shiny pinwheel I had out there under her oak tree.
But then, Christian Taylor was killed, and terror began again in Ferguson, and I though...you know, I get to choose whether or not this matters to me simply because I'm white. 
My project is called disappearing pinwheel. I was struggling to make my ideas work with no luck then I was inspired after seeing a tutorial on making the block. I made the biggest block I could with the pieces of blue that I hadn't already chopped up then made four small blocks showing the steps to make the disappearing pinwheel and put them on the side.
I used some crazy fabric that I had used for a project for my granddaughter and the pinwheels disappeared on their own but not in a good way. After talking with my forever friend I decided to go ahead with some of her suggestions and quilt it. It started to behave finally. It's a little puffy due to the fat batting but it actually it has sort of a retro 70's look.
~~~~
A little rushed due to uninspired month of trying to plan this one. I call it 'Floral Memories'.
Pinwheels remind me of windmills, windmills remind me of time spent in The Netherlands, which of course always reminds me of my favorite flowers - Tulips!!
created by Laurel Hewitt
Marcus Fabrics Make it Intriguing Quilt - $99.99
from: Craftsy
Title: Contentment by Wendy Blanton
Life is so hectic and complicated during the summer months that I made a place your mind can be at peace and the sight brings calmness to your heart. Sitting by a cabin next to the creek with the cool mountains in the background brings inward peace and contentment to my soul.
July-2015, 3rd Challenge Quilt, for Focus through the Prism. This month ‘Log Cabin’ was the required block and medium blue is my chosen Cherrywood Fabric color.
“Monkey Wrench” by Leana McCutcheon for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge
In memory of a dear friend who had breast cancer, I plan to create a series of labyrinth quilts for this challenge.
Monkey Wrench block. Red
Carol and I had as much fun together as the proverbial 'barrel of monkeys'. She introduced me to labyrinths and together we travelled to walk labyrinths in other countries. We created labyrinths at our homes and in our neighborhood. I chose red as the first color as it relates to the first circuit of the labyrinth and also to the root chakra. The quilt is pieced and the labyrinth is black braid hand-stitched over the design.
Wonky Monkey Wrench by Annette Hosmann for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge
I have been quilting for about three years and saw this challenge and thought it would be fun. Worked the Quilt show in Chicago and saw the Wicked Exhibit. I have not done any art quilts before. The most recent speaker at local guild used lots of stitches and that inspired me to use them as quilting.
"Bee Happy" by Pat Dubois for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge
When I see the monkey wrench block I think churn dash.....churn makes me think butter....butter yellow daisies. A little stretch maybe? I have been wanting to do something with reversed colors and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! This little quilt makes people smile....so Bee Happy!
Purple Monkeys by Evelyn Larrison for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
Waves of Blue by Sue Johnson for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
Story: With an adjustable monkey wrench on my mind, I headed to my stash. The surfing monkeys caught my eye and it became "all about the monkeys". Here they are, surfing through two big waves of blue. To embellish, I followed the ROYGBIV theme and attached a tatted B for Blue.
Blue Monkey Wrench by Sherri Moening for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
Story: I had fun making the monkey wrench block. I chose to make 4 of them for the center of the flower. I used buttons and beads and crystals for embellishments. Highlights were done with paint sticks.
‘Monkey Business’ by Zeeda Magnuson for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
I truly enjoy challenges, and this opportunity spoke to me. The monkey wrench block is a favorite of mine, so I knew I had to add a monkey showing the exuberance I have for participating in this seven month challenge. I look forward to the June 1st to see the next installment.
“A Different Perspective” by Nancy Kazlauckas for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
That old saying: "someone threw a monkey wrench into my plans" means I need to look at things from a different perspective and look at the big picture.
You can see this in the three monkey wrenches: the original plan is represented in the upper right, the perspective is below it and the big picture is painted in the background.
Monkey Madness Quilt for the Focus Through the Prism Challenge.
by Leslie Carmichael
I've always loved RaNae Merrill's mandala quilts so I took a class
from her a few years ago. I've been wanting to make some type of
spiral quilt since taking that class. I saw my mirrors in a drawer
when I decided to do this challenge so I thought I'd try a spiral
quilt. I divided a circle into eight sections and began playing with
different size monkey wrench's until I came up with this design. I
needed something to complete the quilt so I added the bars in the
corners. The middle looked so bare, I added the star to the center. I
used yellow cherrywood fabric for the monkey wrenches and after
finishing the quilt, I realized I needed red cherrywood on the quilt
since it read red, so the trim on the bars and star are red cherrywood
fabric.
This has been so much fun, I'm looking forward to next month's challenge.
Karen Golden’s quilt ‘More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys’ for the May Focus Through the Prism Challenge – Monkey Wrench.
I have monkey wrench pattern, monkeys and orange....so much fun to work them all together. Thanks for thinking this challenge up. I look forward to next month ! Karen Golden
