After making the quilt, I thought to ask Barbara Brackman about the history. Here's what she said: The block was given that name by the Ladies Art Company, maybe at the end of
the 19th century. I think they were trying to draw a block off an old quilt
and got confused by what was block and what was sashing. It would be better
drawn as a regular monkey wrench with a sashing and cornerstone, but it
turned out so interesting with the four-patch behind it I'm glad it's an odd
block. As far as how old is the block? Those Monkey Wrench Churn Dash quilts
seem to turn up about the time of the Civil War (maybe the 1840s) but when
did somebody start calling it Lincoln's Platform?????
My friend Tori did most of the piecing. She's brand new to quilting and this is a visually complex quilt so a couple of the blocks are a little wonky but I think it adds to the charm. The piecing is easy - just triangle squares, squares and strips - but when you make the blocks, each corner churn part goes to a different churn. It can mess with your mind. If you'd like to buy a kit, click here.
The free download for the pattern was on April 12th.
Either way, let's stop for a moment and reflect on the lives that were lost, families and friends that were torn apart and the horror that the war brought to our country. Now it's interesting history - then it was not. You can follow the course of the war on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Blog by clicking the blog button on the right.
