2021 Old School BOM Discussion and Photos
 

Join us in making the Old School Blocks of the Month during 2021. The patterns come out on the 12th of the month and are free for a month. (Small fee after that.) They will be on the Persimmon Dreams blog.
https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/patch...chool-bom.html
This thread is to share progress, pictures, and any problems we run into. Hurry... month 1 is going on now. Post and let us know if you are joining us."

Ok! Here's my first block! This one is scrappy, but ideally I would like to make 1) scrappy, 1) civil war fabrics, and 1) 1930's fabrics every month. This is my first, but I will be making the CW and 1930s versions soon.

SBG, Oh! I like the colors of that block. Really rich. And I'm fond of the plaid, in green no less, my favorite color. I'm looking forward to seeing your other color-ways. I guess I have three weeks to decide about making more than one top with this BOM. I'll think about it.

It's nice to find a dedicated thread for this BOM. Great! Here's my January block.

Thanks for sharing about this thread! I have the first block downloaded and just might try to get it done this week (maybe even tomorrow since I will probably be snowed in)...I do have some fabrics in mind and yes a couple are from one of my centers for the new RR. :) It was fabric I bought when a local quilt shop was going out of biz so I got several in the line...

Welcome Carrie! Can’t wait to see what you come up with for this first block.

I will be joining in on this one.

carriem, I hadn't put away my fabric from doing the Merry Mayhem NYD mystery quilt. So I just incorporated some of it into my block. It was laying there on the table, so I just picked it up and used it. I have a few more scraps, so I'll just leave them on the table for February's block. Am I getting lazy? :-)

Queenbarbiej, Cool! I'm looking forward to seeing your pics!

I had planned to do this BOM. So glad there is a thread where I can follow along with others! More fun.

Welcome QueenBarbieJ and Blueridgebeverly! Yes, it's definitely more fun with friends. Please post your January blocks once you get them made. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

Here is my January block and other fabrics I will be using. Need to pull another green or two.

You gals are picking some great colors for this. This first block is very interesting.

Hi Barb, On the Facebook page someone made a whole quilt top with repeats of this block in various colors.

Carrie, I love your colors and your block looks good! Love that dark orange with the daisies, second from the top... ❤️

I missed one point, but probably won’t redo. I like this block.

LOL I guess I will redo the block. My center 4 patch is https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/shock.pngbackwards.

SBG I like the plaid; it really emphasizes the star points.
givio your fabric choices really show off the diagonal lines .... which is how I noticed my mistake.
carrie block looks great. I also like the fabric you’ve picked. They really look nice together.

It looks great to me, BRBeverly. Pretty fabrics!

Yes, this block is a bit trickier than it looks at first glance!

I want to make my other two blocks (in different colorways) but I've been trying to get a birthday present made first. My DIL had a birthday yesterday and I'm making her the cosmetics tote from By Annie. Once that's done and in the mail, I'll get back to my OS blocks. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wink.png

BRBeverly, I'd just go with the block you have. Why make it an orphan? Unless you are collecting orphans... I think it looks fine the way it is. I like this block pattern done with equal size units for the 9patch. I think the pattern made that way is called 'Waterwheel'. I've saved that in my to-do list. If you adjust the darks and lights, like you did on your center, you get some different looks that can be very interesting. I'll attach my save for my to-do list, so you can see, it's quite different in color placement than what we have for our January block.

carriem, Is it orange, like SBG mentioned? or are you using reds and greens?

I just went back and checked her picture... it's PINK!

I’ve been giving this BOM a lot of thought for a couple of days so I’m delighted to see this thread! I’m going to talk to a friend tomorrow to see if she will join the fun, but she may opt out. I have three collections of fabrics to choose from, so I will wait to make a decision which to use till I talk to my friend. Then I’ll come back to share.

I love all the blocks you’ve shown!

Yep, it is pinks :) Orange would be pretty though!!

Givio , thanks for sharing the image of the Waterwheel Block. It is a nice effect. It reminds me a little of the block used in the Milky Way quilt. That’s on my bucket list.

Finally finished this bag for my DIL's birthday gift. It nearly killed me. I've made 3 of these and I think this is the last! So glad to have it off my plate!

The top section is mesh, and the next two are vinyl.

Now I can so some BOM blocks!

Hi everyone,

All the blocks are so cute! And the colors are great! I've never done a block of the month before and I want to join. Excited about it! I read the notes about fabric choices but I would like some more info about how many different main fabrics you think I should have and what kind of light, medium, dark to plan on having. I will plan to make a quilt top from this so would like to have most fabrics already picked out ahead of time. I don't have a large stash so am feeling a bit lost. Help! 😕

Sharongn ~ Glad to have you join!

In the introduction to this BOM there is a link for “fabric pull” which states “Since I don’t know what each block is going to look like – it’s a mystery and the real goal of this block of the month is to learn techniques – I don’t know exactly how much fabric you should pull. My best guess is 2 yards of about 3 color families with the possibility to add or subtract fabrics from your stash.” There is a picture of the fabrics she has pulled to choose from with an explanation of her process. I hope that is helpful. I’ll bet many of us have the same ambivalence in trying to pick fabrics. It will probably turn out to be a bit scrappy in any event.

Here's something else she posted:

Choosing Fabrics
"How do you choose fabric for a mystery sampler quilt?
Well – my plan is to pull 1-3 main colors and an accent color. Since most of my quilts are fairly scrappy I’ll pull about 2 yards (which could be 8 quarter yard cuts or an equal volume of smaller cuts) of each color, while making sure I have other fabric in my stash I could add if needed."

Here's the link:
https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/fabri...chool-bom.html

DJ, Those comments you found look very helpful!

With my first block, I thought I'd make the quilt using sort of Civil War type fabrics, or any scraps that I thought looked nice with those type of fabrics. My CW fabric stash is mostly smaller pieces and all sorts of colors. I'm not into matchy-matchy type quilts, so scrappy for all the blocks is fine with me.

SBG was doing more than one set of blocks, so I thought I would try another. For my second (January) block, I chose a few prints and will add various shades of brown. I only have FQs, so maybe I will not have enough of the prints for them to extend to all the blocks. I want this one to look 'manly' and I plan to give it away.

I think you could either use this and that, or use some big chunks of fabric where you will be able to incorporate the same prints in all 12 blocks.

Here's my second block--

SBG, pretty purse/bag for your daughter!
I am enjoying seeing how everyone's January blocks are coming together, they all look great! Today I picked out my fabric and made the first block, now I have to wait until the next block is released on February 20th. I see a few of you are planning on making additional blocks in different colorways, that is something I might consider doing as well.

Thank you DJ! I didn't see that part. I really appreciate the link. I'll rummage around and see what I can come up with to start. This might call for a fabric shopping trip. Poor me, right? Lol.

givio, I will be looking forward to seeing your blocks with the CW prints.

Cheesehead, those are very pretty colors.

Here are my fabrics and my January block ...

Thanks, Cheesehead! BTW, the release date for blocks is every 12th, not 20th. So we don't have quite so long to wait...

givio, Cheese and DJ, those blocks look so good! Love the fabrics everyone is putting together.

Pooh...I wasn’t planning to participate in a BOM this year but this one looks fun.I also like the idea of challenging myself on a few sewing techniques and fine tuning my piecing skills. I am not home this weekend... it is DH and my turn to care for his 100 year old mother who still lives in her own home but I will be diving into my fabric stash on Monday. Thank you SBG for hosting.

Beverly, I love your fabric selection, in fact I think I have some of that same fabric. Everyone’s blocks look fantastic and I’ll head over to the FB group for more inspiration (sigh).

jmoore, Thanks for coming to the thread! The January block instructions had a very, IMHO, unusual method for 4 patches. Try it if you like, but I just preferred to cut squares and sew 4 patches my usual way... One block a month probably won't take you more than an hour to sew, it seems like a snail's pace for making a quilt top. It will be easy! Looking forward to your pictures.

SBG, pretty in pink! Nice organizer bag!

Cheesehead, I like how your dark pink points stand out. I wish I'd done points with a contrast that stood out better. Live and learn!

DJ, that's a fun selection of fabrics. I imagine they will look nice together over a whole top. :-)

I've been following this thread with interest, enjoying everyone's blocks. I'm too embarrassed to join in, as I am still working on the BH mystery and then must complete my Merry Mayhem quilt. But at this pace, perhaps I can catch up when those two projects are finished.

Good Luck, joe'smom! Don't forget to download the monthly instructions for the blocks, so you don't have to pay for them when you are ready to start. They are only free for 30 days after being posted, I believe....

I thought that too. I did go by the method described but was disappointed that I ended up with an orphan block. It would be fine if I were making more than one block though. I’m not sure the advantage. 4 patches are about the easiest block to make. I’m glad the instructions for the half square triangles were the way I prefer to do them or I would have gone rogue with those!

Thanks for the compliments on my fabrics and block.

Thanks for the heads up Givio. I looked at the instructions and it is a different construction of a four patch than I’m used to but will give it a go on the small 4 patches but since one is wasted, I’ll do my regular method on the larger one as not waste.

Once I had picked out my fabrics, I spent quite a bit of time starching, pressing and straightening them. Now I should be ready to fairly quickly cut and sew the blocks each month.

Jenny Doan has a tute on doing 4 patches that "shortcut" way. The only problem I have with it, is that you have to start with bigger pieces, and if you are working with scraps that may not always be beneficial.

I pulled a small collection from my stash, to use on my first set of blocks.