Gathering Blooms BOM

I have something very exciting to share with you today. I am about to take over the Block of the Month slot in Today’s Quilter!  This will be the third time I have been the TQ BOM designer and I think I may have said ‘never again’ after the last time. But then I had an idea for a new quilt that I wanted to make so much!

So today I am announcing the forthcoming Gathering Blooms BOM!  Usually I can’t share magazine projects until the day of publication but I have been given special permission to share the full quilt design, the first block and sneak peeks of some future blocks to launch the BOM more than a month ahead. This is so anyone that wants to join in can get their subscription started in time for the first issue. And I have a FANTASTIC SUBSCRIPTION OFFER for you all as an extra incentive!!

The first issue of the BOM will be number 94 which comes out at the end of October. The subscription offer runs from today until October 12th. This is to get signed up in time to receive issue 94 as your first subscription issue.

The offer is for a whopping 60% off annual subscription rate!!  And don’t forget you don’t just get the BOM but everything in this wonderful magazine including interesting articles written by yours truly! In fact this month (issue 92) there is a feature all about improv quilting written by me and I have another article coming later in the year.

Please click here to purchase your subscription offer!

Let me tell you more about Gathering Blooms quilt. My idea was for a 12 block quilt with large 18″ blocks in a 3 x 4 layout.  There is one block for each month of the year and the featured flowers fit the month that issue is published. We start with chrysanthemums and move through cyclamens, hellebore, snowdrops etc. through the year.  The blooms are gathered and displayed in a range of vessels from vases to jugs and each vessel includes a traditional patchwork block as decoration.

Unlike my previous TQ BOMs (which were very much designed by the seat of my pants just before deadline each month!) I have rigorously planned this in advance. All the blocks are drawn up and all the fabrics have been chosen. This means I can offer full fabric amounts at the beginning of the BOM so you can plan ahead.

I have chosen Dashwood Pop solids in a lovely mix of soft pastels for my version. All the vessels are made using neutral tones of cream, charcoal, grey and beige which I think off set the colourful flowers really well and stops it from getting too busy.

The background is sky blue with sashing in a slightly darker shade. I want this to be a fresh happy quilt that conveys my love of both patchwork and flowers!

I will be offering full quilt kits in my shop and also some accompanying Aurifil 80wt thread collections. I’ll share more on this in a few weeks. Meanwhile I am working up two new versions of the month 1 block ‘chrysanthemums’ to give you some alternate ideas. The first one uses Liberty tana lawn and Essex Linen and the second will be very scrappy AND I’ll be using raw edge applique!! Yikes!

I’ll obviously be using needle-turn applique for the main quilt but I know not everyone can or wants to do all that hand sewing so I thought I would make a REA version to show you all how good it can look using that technique. I’ll be sharing these new versions as soon as they are finished!

I am so excited about this quilt and really hope some of you will be able to join me on this year long gathering blooms adventure.

But the great thing about signing up for the magazine offer is you will get these 13 issues delivered to your door which you can keep forever and make the quilt any time that you like! Frankly the magazine is worth having for that price even without my BOM, and is amazing value especially when you think about the alternative pattern PDFs or books you can buy for the same price!

Please click here to purchase your subscription offer!