A Story of 12 Quilts - Part 2

Yesterday, I finished adding the final borders to the 2008 BOM.  I'll post a picture of the completed quilt later.  This BOM was a lot of fun and quite a learning experience in many ways.   The rules (as noted in Part 1) required participants to make a 12.5" block from only the fabric in the brown bag we were given at every monthly BOM meeting. 

When I opened the bag from month 7, I realized that red and green was a popular color combination.  This was the 3rd bag containing that color pairing.

Block 7:  Patience

You would think by the time I'd gotten to block 8, I'd be cruising.  Well not quite.  Bag 8 contained only 3 fabrics.  So which fabrics to use was easy, but for some reason, I couldn't find a block pattern that I liked which would work for the 3 fabrics from the bag and for the 4 fabrics I wanted to use in my practice block.

Block 8:  Irish Chain

I like brights, but apparently even I have my limits on that front.  The month 9 bag contained eye searing yellows, oranges, and a focus fabric that mixed all of them together.  Not at all my personal taste.  But what an opportunity to play with a unique, out of my comfort zone color palette.  The brown bag block certainly makes my practice block look a bit dull. 

Block 9:  Arrow Crown

Month 10 was another bag with red and green fabric, the 4th one in this BOM.  Of all the blocks from the BOM, this is my favorite. 

Block 10:  Mountain Star

Brown Bag number 11 wasn't very inspiring. It contained 4 fabrics, two browns, a peach and a beige.  Again not my color palette, but it was another opportunity to work outside my comfort zone. 

Block 11:  Eva's Garden 2

At the meeting for month 12 we got our own bags back and were finally allowed to look at what other's had done with your fabric choices.  I'll talk more about that in Part 3.  Since there were only 11 of us participating, there were only 11 blocks in the bag.  I had to finish the 12th.  I'm not sure how I ended up with the same green and pink color scheme for both quilts, in general, I'm not all that in to pink.

Block 12:  Aztec Jewel

In terms of being a participant, this BOM was a lot of fun and.  What a wonderful opportunity to dabble in color theory, working in color palettes I would never chosen for myself.   Plus, I challenged myself to try some difficult blocks, those with lots of pieces.  You have to pay a lot attention to your seam allowances in those cases.  It was always a good feeling to finish a block and find that it measured 12.5".  My confidence in that ability improved a lot over the course of the year.

I'll close Part 2 with a list of the sources for the blocks. 

Quilters Mix and Match Blocks, published by Leisure Arts, 2004:
     Blocks:  Magic Squares (Magic Triangles in the book),  Laural Wreath,
                   Square and Star, and Memory

Block Party by Marsha McCloskey, published by Rodale, 1998:
     Block:  By Chance

Quilter's Cache Website, Marcia Hohn
     Blocks:  No Name Block #2 and Patience,

501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks, by Judy Hopkins, published by That Patchwork Place, 2008
     Blocks:  Irish Chain, and Arrow Crown

5,500 Quilt Block Designs, by Maggie Malone, published by Sterling Publishing Co., 2004
     Block:  Aztec Jewel

Unknown:  Mountain Star, Eva's Garden 2 (Shows why it's important to keep good notes!)