National Quilt Museum * Block of the Month

N.Q.M. B.O.M. Round 3 - Block 1

​As if I don’t already have enough projects going, I’ve decided to take part in the block of the month program that is being hosted by the National Quilt Museum on Facebook. What can I say the first block, a set in circle, looked like it would be fun to make and I decided to give a whirl? 

 I've seen comments from folks asking how people put together fabrics that they're going to use for this block of the month. This is my selection of fabrics for round three. I started with a collection of fabrics that I had procured many years ago when I worked at a fabric store. I'll never admit to how many years they have been in my stash. Finally they're being put to use! 

The first image shows the focus fabrics that I had from that collection. I went through my stash and pulled out all the blender and tonal fabrics that I had that went with the colors representative of this collection. The result of this is the second image. 

My next step was to go through my stash and pull out any other prints that might compliment the blenders and tonals that I had gathered together. You can see this in the first image. The second image shows all the multi colored prints that I have gathered for this project.

I’ll probably add more fabrics to my palette of fabrics before I get to the last block. It doesn’t matter how much fabric we have in our stash we can always use more light and dark valued fabrics to make block designs pop.

If you are going to take part in this project, I have some advice that I'd like to share with you. First, if you've never done a set in circle or you haven't made one in a while, you should watch some videos on YouTube about this technique before attempting it. I also recommend that you have a stylus to help you manipulate the top layer of the circle as you sew. I like to use a large porcupine quill. It's not only much more versatile than other stylus options it's also pretty cool having an 8" porcupine quill in your possession.

Next, this BOM quilt is a quilt as you go project. So if you do decide to take part in the BOM be sure to extend the dimensions of your block by at least an 1" to compensate for the shrinking that happens when you quilt.

Finally, after your done quilting you're going to want to bury your thread ends. The best tool for making this job enjoyable, yes I said enjoyable, is a spiral eye needle. This makes it quicker to thread the needle when you bury the stitches. You can find one on Google if you search. Also there are lots of videos on YouTube that show you how to bury your thread ends.
 
I hope that you feel inspired by this post. Please let me know what you’re working on or are looking forward to working on.