The Gathering Blooms BOM Begins!

The Gathering Blooms BOM officially starts today with the publication of issue 94 of Today’s Quilter! 

I wrote a whole post about this new BOM a few weeks back which you can read here. Please note that the 60% off subscription offer is still valid but of course you won’t get your first issue with number 94 now, instead you will need to pick one of these up from a newsagents.

As promised in the previous post I have been playing around with the first month’s chrysanthemum block, trying the design out using different fabrics and techniques.

My first alternative block uses Essex Linen for the patchwork planter and Liberty tana lawn (from my long hoarded stash) for the flowers.  I then heavily hand quilted this in close lines using different coloured Aurifil 12wt wool thread.

It’s now become a glorious cushion!

I then turned my hand to a technique I rarely use, raw edge applique using the machine.  I wanted to show how good these blocks could look with zero hand sewing. I know not everyone has the time, physical ability or desire to hand sew the applique part of these blocks and that’s absolutely fine. Look how good the chrysanthemums look using REA! After using fusible web I chose to a top stitch the flowers and leaves in place using Aurifil 80wt thread (on the top spool of the machine with 50wt in the bobbin) rather than blanket or satin stitch.

This block is also an example of a very scrappy approach to choosing your fabric as it all came from my stash.  Again I want to show everyone how great this quilt can be just using fabric you already have.

However if you’d like to make an exact replica quilt to mine (and therefore avoid having to make decisions!) I do have quilt kits available on my website.

These include 13 1/2 yards of Dashwood Pop Solids in the exact shades and amounts needed.

I’ve also put together an Aurifil 80wt thread kit to help with the needle-turn applique.  I chose the 6 most useful colours of thread to use with my quilt kit. Thread kits include a pack of my favourite Millward Milliners/Straw number 10 needles and everything comes in a cute drawstring bag with my birdy logo stamped on the front!  Check both products out here.

I’m not going to post here about the BOM every month or offer extra tips and tutorials like I would with a sew along. That’s because I have put a huge amount into the magazine instructions and I don’t really think I can offer any more here.

I did just want to say that this first block is probably one of the hardest blocks as far as the applique is concerned, mainly due to all those petals.  Future blocks are a little easier but this one happened to be the seasonal choice for the month when the BOM had to start. Plus it’s great to start with an absolute stunner as it’s the only one I’ve been able to share with you in full.

The magazine has plenty of step photos to guide you through the layering process and don’t forget you can take a very relaxed approach to creating fabric flowers as all flowers look a little different anyway. so don’t worry too much about keeping the pattern exact but enjoy making this your own design.

My chrysanthemums are hardly botanically correct so be as impressionistic as you like!

Meanwhile I will leave you with a sneak peek of the last block I finished, snowdrops, which will be for January.