so, what difference does it really make how many others have a quilt with the same fabrics as yours? will the quilts ever be together? will your family and friends go to their home and see the same quilt? ultimately the quilt is yours, yours, yours. you cut, sew, piece, quilt, etc. it is yours.

so, i can say that i have done these bom and never worried about it. my work, my quilt and i love them.

I have a little trouble cutting fabric. In BOMs, they provide just enough fabric (and sometime a tiny bit extra), so if you cut it wrong then you have to purchase more. Of course, that's presuming that there is more (there was not for the BOM that I joined).

I prefer to buy my own fabric so that I can purchase extra to cover my cutting foibles.

For the BOM that I joined at my LQS, they did show a variety of ways in which to make each block, so it would be good for beginners.

I am working on a block of the month now, I choose my own fabric, different from everyone else's. Each one looks so different and beautiful. This is the second block of the month quilt I've done and I really like it. But I also agree with you that I don't want a quilt that looks like everyone else's.

Personally, I like to do the BOM's. The quilt shop I go to has had BOM's for the past 5 years. She only charges $3.00 per block & has 2 different colors to choose from. She also does the buck a block in 3 different colors. One year I was doing 3 buck a blocks & 2 BOM's. It cost me only $9.00 a month. At the end of the year, you have 5 quilts to finish like you want or she has finishing kits to buy. It also gives me a chance to work on other projects in between when I finish the BAB & BOM's. So, yes, I like them.

Someone posted last week about a BOM by Beehive Quilts using Timeless Treasures fabric Wildflower Rhapsody. I saw this quilt at the IQF in Houston last year and loved it. So I signed up. Will be my first BOM, for the same various reasons already mentioned.

I'm not a BOM person. I like to choose my own fabric and quite often there is something about the block that bothers me and I spend way too much time redrafting it. That being said, I think it is a great way, in lieu of belonging to a guild, to get together with other quilters at LQSs that have monthly meetings for this or even encouraging less experienced quilters to try something new (as long as the measurements are correct).

I teach two different BOMs at two different shops. Each person picks her own fabrics. Even with all the same fabrics, if there are 20 people in the class, just how many of those people are close enough friends that you're going to see your quilt in their homes? BOM is a learning experience. Learn the techniques and don't fret that someone else will have the same quilt. I've seen lots of quilts that I would love to make, and I don't worry that mine will be like someone else's.

I have done several BOMs. It is a lot less overwhelming to make a big project when you do it one step at a time. And it is a great way to learn different patterns.

It seems like a good way to actually get a quilt top finished BUT if you are a procrastinator, like me, you will end up with a bunch of unpieced quilt blocks.

I don't consider having blocks made by some one else a hindrance. Put them all together at the end of the year and you have a friendship quilt. I would like to see each block I receive have an embroideried name on it.
I view them as "from a friend who cares" and treasure everyone.