Friday, June 29, 2018

Blocks of the Month


I don't have much of a history with Block of the Month programs.  Out of my 220 some finishes 5 were block of the month programs.  My last BOM was the 2015 Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshot quilt, a fundraiser for St Jude Children's Hospital.  The blocks were super cute and fun to make, I stayed on track and made each block each month, and the FQS sent so much fabric for each block that I made another project just using the leftover scraps.  It was a great experience. My worst experience was my 2012 Northern Lights BOM.  I signed up for the program based on the quilt shop website picture.  The shop did specify that the fabric in their program wouldn't be an exact replica of the fabric used in the pictured quilt, but would be very close.  In actuality it was not, I basically paid $25 a month for a pattern because I threw their fabric away and substituted my own.   I did love the pattern and still have that quilt.

There are pros and cons to BOM programs but a lot of it just comes down to personal preference.  After a history of just a few block of the month quilts over the last 14 years I have somehow managed to sign up for 3 this year.  I've spent the majority of this month getting caught up on them.

First up is the Red and Cream project by Fig Tree Quilts.


This is a repeat of a program they offered last year.  I loved the look of the finished quilts I saw online  and was thrilled to be able to sign up for it this year.  The blocks finish at 10".  This is the first 6 months worth of blocks. I tend to let the monthly packets stack up then do them in a batch.  I'm all caught up for now, 6 more months yet to come.  I swapped around a few of the fabrics and replaced one of the patterns and could not be happier with the look.

When I was signing up for the red and cream quilt another project also caught my eye, Fig Tree's Autumn Splendor Mystery BOM.  


As a rule I don't like surprises, this is my first mystery BOM.  Every year I piece a quilt for a raffle for my hometown library.  Fig Tree quilts are so pretty and seem to have a huge appeal, I thought this BOM would make a nice raffle quilt.   I've really enjoyed piecing the blocks and love all the different sizes.  I prepped the fabric for 6 months worth of blocks all at once, so my fabric combos aren't exactly as called for in the patterns, but I'm liking the looks of things.  I'm very eager to see what's ahead and how these blocks are going to be arranged.  This may be a hard quilt to give up.

And finally, while I was in Oklahoma City for my Jen Kingwell classes at the Oklahoma City Quiltworks shop, they were just offering a Kaffe Fassett mystery BOM that caught my eye.  I love Kaffe Fassett fabric but am continually stumped on how to use it.  I've made one Kaffe Fassett quilt that I love, but I used a family of fabric, which is a little bit like cheating. I thought this would be a great opportunity to piece another Kaffe Fassett quilt without any of the fabric stress.




I've received the first three months, it's all very organized and the fabric looks yummy, but the mystery part is still worrying me a little, I plan to wait until I get at least 6 months worth of blocks before I start working on it.

Are you a BOM fan?  When you calculate the entire cost they are sometimes on the pricey side, but I've finished quilts that I love that I never would have made had it not been for signing up for the programs.  



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