Have you ever participated in a block of the month quilt? A BoM isn’t the same thing as a mystery quilt. For a block of the month, you know what the final product will be. A mystery quilt is one where you get directions for a block each month but you don’t know what you will get until you’re done. I’ve done both and while a mystery quilt is fun, I prefer the block of the month.
I joined one called Hello Spring, hosted by Bill Locke of Bill Locke Designs. Although I received my first block and fabric a few weeks ago, I only got around to making it now. I had to make sure I got it done before the June block arrived. The first month, we made the largest block in the quilt. The fabric pieces Bill sent are different from the instructions, so he also provided us with a legend. The fabrics are lovely, the kind that I often buy for my own quilts.
The instructions are well detailed. I managed to cut out all the pieces without doing any backwards or upside down! I label all my quilt pieces now – I am very disorganized. I can rarely find what I need even if I’ve just put it down and labelling my pieces keeps me a bit in line, especially if I have 4.5 inch squares and 4 inch squares of the same colour fabric.
Once I had cut out the fabric, putting it all together wasn’t difficult. I did, of course, manage a way to make my square unintentionally unique (you’ll see down below).
When instructions say to square off a block, be sure not to skip that step. This is important to keep the sizing accurate.
I don’t like or dislike applique. I don’t do it a lot, but this was good – and this is where you will see the mistake. Of course, no one is going to know it is a mistake unless they have a real eye for detail or someone told them. Can you see it?
The vines are upside down. Instead of putting the vine leaves pointing away from the center, I put them towards it. Oops. Oh well, like I said, most people won’t notice so I’m not changing it.
I like the colours and so far, the design. Now for June….