In the Black - Yet Another BOM

I absolutely love signing up for block of the month clubs.  There is something so delightfully feasible about doing one small block every thirty days.  I love getting a little package that has every single thing I need to sit down and have fun for a few hours.

I (almost always) finish all my blocks for my block of the month projects.

It's putting them together in some form or fashion that always seems to hinder my BOM success.  The finishing kits are usually out of my budgetary reach, and my indecisiveness about settings and fabric choices have led to the infamous "block of the month drawer" in a hutch in my den.

No block to ever enter that drawer has ever come back out.

This rather dreary realization led me to declare that I was DONE with this block of the month silliness until I found the motivation to complete some quilts in waiting and empty that drawer.

UNTIL.....I walked into my LQS and fell completely in love with this year's block of the month.  And then I folded like a yard of quilter's cotton.  WORSE YET....I called up Wendy and lured her into the spider's web with me, because nothing beats breaking personal rules than doing so with a good friend.

And so it is.  Wendy and I are BOTH officially signed up for yet another block of the month.  We can drive to the LQS shop together on the first Saturday of every single month and remind each other how we really shouldn't be doing this and confirming that we're glad we are anyway.

So...there were two color ways to choose from.  Black or navy.  I chose black and Wendy went with navy.  I was really disappointed when I saw my first packet.  Not one single pretty fabric in the group!  Not one!  I delayed in getting my block assembled and convinced myself that this was indeed punishment for signing up in the first place.  In fact, I had the block in my van and drove around town with it for weeks intending to go exchange it for the navy version.  And then, something horrible happened which will forever be a hilarious memory attached to this quilt.

One of my children had an episode of van vomit.

Reading here is not for the faint of heart!  Ha!  You get the real life low down here at Lazy Daisy!

Don't worry, I'll spare you ALL the details, but suffice it to say my ugly BOM packet was.....inexchangable.  :-)  Don't you worry....the bag was very tightly sealed!  I promise I didn't touch any contaminated fabric.

Block #1 is officially completed, and you know what??  I actually really like how these fabrics played together.  Never would have guessed it.  It's my little reward for keeping my calm during a commuting catastrophe.

Okay....a final word.  When I was taught to quilt it was drilled in me to never, ever press seams open.  It's one of those "rules" I've always followed and never thought to question.  However, with more detailed construction such as this, I find it is very helpful at times to abandon with wild recklessness everything I've ever decided to be true.  (That's how I got into this BOM to begin with!)

Occasionally pressing seams open can help the block to lie much flatter and have a better finish.

I'm in for a whole year of breaking rules and having fun.  Here's to first Saturdays!