BOM Rehab 4: Starting something new

I decided to take a break from the Fat Quarter Shop 2008 Designer Mystery BOM and work on something more current. I just received the final block in the FQS 2011 Designer Mystery BOM and thought maybe it might be time to work on it. I've loved this BOM since I saw the first block.

I know this block has many names, but I will always think of it as a sunflower. I made the same block in a smaller size for the Farmer's Wife project. In the Farmer's Wife project this block is called the Single Wedding Star, but I like it better as a sunflower.

These two sunflowers don't look very good together. Good thing they will be used in different quilts.

 I've got the rest of the FQS 2011 Designer Mystery BOM in a cute basket my friend Penny game me so they are ready when I want to work on them.

 

But maybe I'll finish the FQS 2008 BOM first. We'll see.

BOM Rehab 3: Light at the end of the tunnel

I spent most of Sunday working on the sashing for the Fat Quarter Shop 2008 Designer Mystery BOM. This is the result.

This is the FQS finishing kit. I don't always buy a finishing kit, but I really liked this one.

Here's how it looks on my design wall. It's not the final block arrangement, but I'm close to deciding how I want to arrange them.

Here's a close-up.

It's nice to be so close to finishing the top.

BOM Rehab 2: Blocks done!

BOM Rehab is keeping me motivated to finish my many BOMs. I just finished the last two blocks in the Fat Quarter Shop's 2008 Designer Mystery BOM.

I finished block11. This block was a challenge, but I liked the way it turned out.

I also finished block 12. I thought about changing this block, but in the interest of finishing this quilt, I stuck with the directions.

 Now I just have to finish the top. I did purchase the finishing kit and it takes a lot of cutting.

BOM Rehab 1: Ten down, two to go

Two weeks ago I finished another block in the Fat Quarter Shop's 2008 Designer Mystery BOM, but didn't get a chance to post about it until now. I started working on the 2008 BOM a few months ago, but ran into a snag with Month 9.

The pattern below is what the block was supposed to look like.

I liked the pinwheels in the block, but not the colors--it was too monochromatic. I don't mind monochromatic blocks, but this block was green and not my favorite color in the fabric line. So I put off working on this block. I worked on the next block in the BOM and I started thinking about how I could change this block.

I visited Moda's free pattern site and saw the pattern for Deb Strain's Nature's Gift line. The colors were similar to the Peace on Earth line and it also included pinwheels. I really liked the design so I decided to change the BOM block to look more like this pattern.

This is how the block  turned out.

I like it so much better. And I think it looks great with the rest of the blocks.

And that leaves just two blocks to go.

BOM Hall of Shame

Hi. My name is Helen and I am a BOM-aholic. Maybe  it is more accurate to say that I am a recovering BOM-aholic since I am now participating in just one BOM. But it has been very difficult to restrain myself.

When Sinta announced she was starting BOM Rehab it seemed perfect for me because I am so weak when it comes to BOMs. But it also made me wonder just how many BOMs I have joined, which meant I had to count them. It wasn't easy because they are stashed in a few places. I counted 14 BOMs. They fall in a several categories:

• Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOMs (2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012).
• Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs: Le Jardin, Pumpkin Hill, Rabbits Prefer Chocolate, Baltimore Bunnies, and A Tisket, A Tasket.
• Robyn Pandolph's With Willing Hands: Mystery Quilt, and Botanika.
• Jan Patek's Girl Gang: Pokeberry Quilt, Feathered Star, and Sunshine on My Shoulder.
• Fons and Porter's Scrapbag Star (my first BOM started in 1999). 

Right now I am not ready to share how much I have accomplished on those BOMs.

One thing is for sure: I am not going to start any more applique BOMs until I finish at least one.

I am looking forward to making some progress on my BOMs and seeing the progress made by other participants.

A pillow for Penny

Even though Penny has been my best friend since we were sophomores in high school, the last few years I have struggled to come up with Christmas gift ideas for her. At this point in our lives, we have both acquired most of what we need for our homes. I can always find a silly little gift, but in the past few years it has been a challenge to think of the special gift. It doesn't help that she has consistently found special gifts for me.

Penny has two blonde  Cairn Terriers and for the past few years I have tried to find something related to Cairn Terriers, but it isn't easy. If she had a Scottie, a West Highland White, a Jack Russel, or one of the designer breeds it would be much easier. But there aren't many gift items featuring Cairn Terriers.

I have looked for quilt patterns for Cairns and it is the same story. I did find a pattern for a paper-pieced Cairn, but it had a ridiculous number of pieces,  plus I don't have any experience with paper piecing and it seemed likely I could waste a lot of time and fabric on it. It was getting close to Christmas and I needed something simpler so I could actually finish it in time. So, I drew around the edge of the paper-pieced pattern and managed to reduce the number of pieces to five pieces that I appliqued to the top of the pillow. I was pleased with the results and Penny loved it.

I loved the way the fabrics worked together. They are all Moda fabrics. The background is Hometown by Sweetwater, the first border is Essential Dots, and the large border is from Maison de Garance. I had just a fat quarter of the Maison de Garance, which would have worked for the front borders, but in a "duh" moment I realized I'd need it for the back too. Luckily, a local quilt shop had plenty of the same fabric. I'm thinking I will go get more so I can make myself a pillow just like this one, except without the Cairn Terrier.

My mini design boards

I've been enjoying reading the blogs about the Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long. And I think Lori Holt's mini design board is a brilliant idea for working on the 6-inch blocks. I followed her excellent tutorial to create five mini design boards.

This was my first experience using a hot glue gun and I learned a few things. First, they mean it when they say it is a hot glue gun. Second, my hot glue gun is not a precision instrument. Maybe next time I'll figure out how to use it without burning my fingers or dripping hot glue all over.

I like the way they turned out, especially the map fabric from Moda's Peace on Earth collection. I'm looking forward to using them.