As I was reading my mail, I noticed so many of the businesses offer the Block of the Month options. To sign up, it is $25. For each block it is around $25 (plus shipping and handling)How many of you have subscribed to this and are you glad, do you do it regularly, and what are the advantages?

I have done a couple, but prefer to choose my own fabrics. With a BOM, your quilt will be the same as everyone else who does it.

I have been in "a buck a block" the first month a kit was purchased for $1.00 and the next month took the completed block back to the store, receiving the next month block kit for $1.00. I didn't keep up with making the blocks. However, I think it was a good idea, because the blocks developed different skills............the drawback was.........if understanding the directions correctly and cutting was wrong........zip........substute a different fabric. As, there was no extra........and some months got very busy, as December..........and I didn't finish the block...........just my thoughts...........calla/Sue

i have done a couple on line bom's i have found that you wind up paying 3 times as much to make the quilt as you would if you just bought the patterns and did it yourself; the fabric choices are not always to your liking, sometimes the kit peices are not cut correctly and you go through contacting the shop and trying to get a replacement fabric; and a couple i did was just because i really really wanted to make the quilt but the patterns were just not available unless you did it their way...i have signed up, paid big, and still used my own fabrics...using the ones they send for something totally different.
every year i swear i will not waste my money on another one...this year i am doing 3...but they are almost done...and next year? no way...i'm going it on my own.
the first one i did was through a lqs; i figured it out about 1/2 way through, if i had bought the yardage from the shop and the pattern packet i would have spent about $157; doing it month by month and buying the kits cost me $487; and that was with no shipping or sign up fees.
so, if you are considering doing one i recommend figuring out the actual cost and really checking out the fabrics. do you love them and cant find them anywhere else? is it the only way to do this quilt...do you really think it will hold your interest for a whole year? they do not let you decide 1/2 way through that you don't want to make it anymore; you are commited to finish the program. and if you are finding ones you like that have the $25 signup fees, keep looking, there are plenty of shops that offer the exact same bom without the signup fees.

hmmmmmmm you convinced me - not that I was close in deciding - 'don;t EVER want to make a cookie cutter quilt! With the stash we ALL have, ......WHY?? Thanks for answering.

Why not go to the quilt shops in your area, and see what BOMs they have? My local shops offer many different BOMs to choose from, and they cost much less than doing them online.

I often change one or two of the fabrics so mine is a little different than the others.

I too have signed up for BOM's but I have not done one with the $25 sign up fee. What's that about anyway? The one's I've choosen have also been much less expensive/mo. I did the Buck/Block and really like that one, but it's not done now. I'm not sure why. I did buy other things from those shops so it is a nice promo deal for them. I also did an in house BOM that was FREE if you brought your completed block in for the next mo. It was fun and the lessons were very good. Again no one in the class left w/o buying more stuff in the shop. It was a great promo deal for the shop and the customers. I am still doing one BOM from a shop in NC. When this one is over, I think I'm done. I was feeling lonely in my own quilting world and the BOM's helped with that. I will admit there are many in my WIP/UFO piles. LOL I'll get them done eventually.

I'm just shocked at how expensive these are and have never thought twice to do them.

$25 per block sounds outrageously expensive to me. I would not do it because a good sampler book or the gazillion free patterns on the web can be my BOM for YEARS to come.

I love BOM's, but there are lots of free ones around, you don't need to pay those exorbitant prices to do one.

I am doing a scrap one right nor from Erik's Homemade Ezine:
http://erikhomemade.typepad.com/erik_homemade/

We're getting towards the end now, but all of it is still online and can be downloaded.

Claudia's Quilt Shoppe is doing a row BOM which is kind of fun also. http://www.claudiasquiltshoppe.com/freebom.htm
There's a lot of members here involved in that one.

Block Central also has a free BOM:
http://www.blockcentral.com/bom2010-intro.shtml