I'm working on three different block of the month quilts. One comes from one quilt shop. I get the blocks every three weeks with plenty of fabric to complete them.
The other two come from a different quilt shop. On the other two, I've gotten the blocks sporadically, sometimes missing an entire month in between. Usually, I have to use a few pieces from my stash to supplement because I don't have enough fabric, or because what I they give me isn't appropriate.
In addition, the blocks have come out of sequence. When I call, they tell me THEY haven't received the others, but it'll come in time. Yesterday, they sent the pattern and fabric for one, but only the fabric for the other--no pattern. When I called them this morning, they told me they had cut the fabric, but that they hadn't received the pattern. She apologized and said she'd put a note on my card and that I'd get the pattern eventually.
I've never done a block of the month before, and so I don't know whether this happens commonly or if it's a problem with the shop. It seems to me that when a shop advertises a BOM and takes your start-up fee, that they should be able to give you the whole thing before you start, but what do I know? Does anyone know how this works? Do you think it's the shop? The designer? If this is common practice, I don't think I'd sign up again. For sure, I'm not going to sign up with this shop.