Block of the Month Kits

I have had lots of comments since my last post, both on the blog and personally, about my decision to change out a lot of the fabrics I am using for my version of Stonefields. I didn't realise this was such a hot topic! I feel I didn't make myself clear on my reasons for change.

I am participating in a BOM run by Karen at The Running Chicken Quilt Co I was a little late to the party (as usual!) my package for month one, arrived a few days before I was due to attend Susan's workshop and see the original quilt. I am VERY happy with the kit supplied by Karen, I love the fabrics she chose, exactly the kind of thing I like to have in my stash. I love the instructions supplied, the acrylic templates and the pre-cut paper pieces; all of which came beautifully packaged and organised in a sturdy cardboard storage box.

I have participated in a number of BOM programs over the years and in my opinion this is one of the best I have received. However do you remember a few years ago when everyone was making a DJ quilt in civil war fabrics? I joined a BOM and started with great enthusiasm, half way through finished versions starting appearing in blogland (I was behind as usual!) they all looked the SAME. I decided then that I really didn't want a quilt that looked like everyone else's, so I took the blocks I had made, added some solid squares and finished it as a lap quilt.

I really like this quilt! The unused fabrics went into my stash - I have just used one of them in my Stonefields quilt :)

Following the workshop with Susan, I started sorting through all the photos I took of the original Stonefields quilt. One of the reasons I was drawn to it is that it has a very soft look, largely achieved by the use of a very pale cream background. It also uses a lot of French General fabrics which I happen to love and have a fair collection of! a lot of the fabrics are several years old.

Once I had thought about it for a while, I knew that I would not be happy unless my version also had a paler background. I also want to use lots of my scraps in this quilt, I would like to have 200-300 different fabrics as the original does. I have a large overflowing scrap basket that I would like to get down!

I have a nice collection of French and French General fabrics collected over a few years

These fabrics will give me the look I am after for this quilt (I don't know what fabrics I will receive each month, it is possible they will be very similar to these) I will continue to mix the BOM fabrics in with my own selection and scraps, but most importantly I want to feel that a quilt of this much work has some of my personality and taste in it! I like sorting through my stash and finding the perfect fabric to use in each block - it's part of what makes quilting fun for me :)

My intention to deviate from the BOM was in no way intended as a criticism of the program or the fabrics supplied, I am sorry if some people felt that it was.

I am off to prepare some more hexagons!