When I started quilting 3 years ago, I discovered BOMs and got hooked on them. Cost wise, they are more expensive; but there are lots of free BOMs around. For those, you use your own fabric. By making BOMs, I have learned so many new quilting skills. I've made BOMs with patterns that I would never have tried otherwise. This past year, I did a number of hand appliqué BOMs. Trying to do an entire quilt at once, with any of the patterns, for me, would have been overwhelming; but doing only one of the blocks each month was fun. Sure, with BOM, many people will have quilts like mine; but the chances of anyone near me having a quilt like mine are slim. I don't make my quilts to show to people. I just give them to family and friends who will enjoy using them. I am now making quilts that involve skills that I learned when making BOMs. Those quilts are unique; but I don't like them more than my BOM quilts.
To be honest, I love opening my mail and finding a BOM to complete. It is like Christmas every month! As for the free BOMs, I start looking on the last day of the month to see if they have posted the new block early. Something tells me that I'll always be a BOMer.