The pattern was in the 2013 May/June Quiltmaker magazine. If you follow her blog, Bonnie mostly has free patterns for a short time, then will include them in her books.

Bonnie wrote the pattern, after she had created a block for her bimonthly column. It was available for a long time for free. Now there is a separate charge for it. She still has several dozen free patterns on her site. Creating patterns and sharing her blog constitute her livelihood.

I don't dispute that a pattern made from a 'free' block can be copyrighted.
I don't think taking a block that is already known and has been free, give it a different name and say it's an original is just greedy. The template for the block is free to download at a lot of block sites.