I am working on my first BOM - Stitcher's Garden. I decided to join this group because I loved the quilt and I had just bought my machine (2 1/2 months ago). It is a great way for me to get to know my machine and everything it can do. This is a large quilt with more than 12 blocks. Some months we get more than one block to work on. As someone else mentioned, we get together once a month, talk about what we did last month and what is involved in this months blocks. We chit-chat, have a good time, and get ideas for other projects from the other quilters. I also end up buying more fabric and supplies for other projects. Our quilt store does not try to make a large profit from these groups. It is their way of getting us in the store to see what is new and spend our money on other things. I guess it depends on your LQS as to how much your BOM would actually cost. I am really enjoying going. If I didn't like the quilt so much, I wouldn't have joined. I'm really glad I did.