The Blacksmith -- aka -- the Monkey Wrench

_{Monkey Wrench}

The Monkey Wrench quilt block has been around for a long time. History tells us that quilt patterns were used as codes to help escaping slaves reach Canada along the 'Underground Railroad'. The Monkey Wrench quilt block pattern was designed to represent the blacksmith (named for the inventor of the tool -- a London blacksmith named Charles Moncke), and was one of the many quilt blocks used in the code.

By hanging a quilt with a certain pattern over a railing -- supposedly to dry -- the slaves were directed to a certain location on their road to freedom, with no one in authority being the wiser. Download the free quilt block pattern.

Today's Quotes about Tools

Eli Whitney

• "Science is a tool, and we invent tools to do things we want. It's a question of how those tools are used by people."
  ~ Margaret Atwood


• "Men have become the tools of their tools."
  ~ Henry David Thoreau


• "One of my primary objects is to form the tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the work and give to every part its just proportion."
  ~ Eli Whitney


• "Don't force it ... get a bigger hammer."
  ~ Arthur Bloch

_{Monkey Wrench image © W. Russell, patchworksquare.com
Eli Whitney image courtesy encyclopedia.com}