The eager participants in Around The Block have two people to sew for in September.  I made log cabin type blocks earlier in the month for Kate, then moved on to the challenge of making a wonky house block for Helen.

Those of you who know me in real life (and possibly those of you who know me from my blog have a pretty good idea by now) would know that I am not really a “wonky” person by nature.  I like order.  I like control.  I like symmetry and I like matching.  Neat and tidy are my friends.  I am the sort of person who follows rules and instructions almost to the letter, simply because if they are there, they should be followed.  Organisation is one of my strong points.  I am not fanatical about such things, but certainly have tended to be a little constrained.  Since I entered my forties I have been trying to chill out a little, relax, and have confidence in my own choices and abilities.  This is one of the reasons why I wanted to be part of Around The Block – it was time to be stretched a little.  This block definitely did that for me.

There are some terrific tutorials for wonky houses around – you can find one here and Helen’s is here.  After reading through them and playing with scrap fabrics, I decided I would attempt a block based on my house.  I started by taking  a photo of the house then drawing it in a very simplified way, just keeping the main lines.  After that I redrew it to the size of the finished block, added lines to help me with piecing, and Clare got out the crayons and pencils to determine which fabrics would go where.

I didn’t want to cut into Helen’s bright fabrics until I’d had an attempt at making this block, so I gave it a go in Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Not too bad, but not quite right.  Way too much piecing where I had underestimated how much fabric I needed in some places, and definitely not enough wonk.  However, it was super helpful to have this square beside me when I pieced Helen’s, since I could measure against it and adjust things accordingly.

I am very happy with this wonky house and can hardly bear to part with it!  Check out some of the other wonky houses that have been made over here – they are really quite amazing and I am certain that Helen’s quilt is going to be the envy of all!  Embrace the wonk!