New Month, New BOM Releases

I've been cultivating youthfulness of my spirit lately. When I look in the mirror and see the age lines showing up, I have come to accept this vision as as a fact of life. One healthy option seems to be cultivating a youthful spirit. For one thing, I have a floral wreathe to wear when I go into town and a new very bright and sparkly Indian-style skirt. AND I went to the circus Friday Night. That's what I mean. I think you have to step out of the comfort of a cozy chair and warm room to laugh a little, whether it is at yourself or with a crowd.

Each month a new block is issued for the BOM groups I am in.This is from the Gratitude / Harvest Solstice to Solstice BOM. The block here is actually 20" square so pieces were larger and it was a 2-color pattern. There was simply not enough of the light to do it so gold was added.

This next one shows 4 of the blocks to the Rising Stars BOM I might rename Pretty in Pink. There is a lot of the Paris fabric to what I gathered for a pink/gray color choice, though serving as more a complementary than a pop type of fabric. I want to keep it scrappy and love the variety of squares and color choices. My plan is to use some of the Paris fabric in each block, and perhaps use the white frost for the stars wherever possible. With eight blocks to go, I am already in love with it.

So far, I have a couple of BOM tops completed, and plan to buy batting to finish only four quilts going out this year: Debi's Blue Wheelchair quilt, her husband Tim's Seasons quilt, my godson Tim's Grinchmas quilt, and my younger Son's Cat quilt.  

I put dates on the sidebar projects so that I could stay on track with them. My goal in 2017 was to either finish or move the UFO projects to a more finished state. 

It took me more than a day to do the two BOM squares between selecting fabrics to a finish press. As I worked on them, I recalled a couple of things about doing BOMs. First of all comes the commitment for each month, and then the variety is not always something I might chose on my own and certainly gives me an opportunity to learn more. I am able to shop from the closet in very creative ways. Because I am following someone else's plan, there is less thinking about it and more doing. I know I like the thinking part, but honestly I have come to love the mystery and the BOM as well.

While the BOMs and Mystery quilts are appealing, at this point, I need to work on finishing the UFO projects first. I do plan to use some of the pre-cut squares I have to make totes until there are enough of them in my trunk to replace the oldies. I bought a drop cloth from Home Depot and will use it as lining for the two I am making right now. I don't usually wash my totes and would like to make these both durable and disposable.