This is the reason that I changed this from a five part series to a six part series. How could I forget the BOMs?
What is that you newbies are saying? What on earth is a BOM? Well it is not something to be scared of that is for sure.
For the uninitiated a BOM is a block of the month.
There are a number of Aussie Hero Friends who are novice quilters. There are also a bunch of quilters who for whatever reason can't complete a whole quilt for Aussie Heroes but they still want to contribute. I want AHQ to be as inclusive as possible so that anyone who wants to join in can in one way or another. This is just another way people can contribute!
Each month I introduce a simple block, complete with a tutorial, then anyone who is interested can make up one or more blocks and send them in - getting them into the mail by the end of the month. l make them up into a simple quilt or quilts and will post the results. You could also make a few extra blocks for yourselves. If you are a beginner the completed Aussie hero Quilts will them give them an idea how to turn them into a quilt.
For the experienced quilters please don't be frustrated by the simplicity of the blocks - that is whole point and after all, sometimes the simplest of blocks yield the most stunning quilts.
We started off in February with a simple nine patch block.
We were sent a wonderfully diverse collection of blocks.
We received enough blocks to make five wonderful quilts. This lot were sent up to Christine and she turned them into this cozy looking quilt.
This isn't a great photo but Sue made all these nine patches and they have gone to Darwin to Larissa who is working on completing the quilt around her study schedules.
The next three were completed here and quilted by Carol from Turramurra Quilters.
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I sent these two (the red border and this yellow border) off to one of the chaplains to find a home for. He is home now and I never heard if they arrived or not so I am hoping he was able to give them out before he left. I am sure there is someone enjoying them on their bed now though.
This is the first BOM quilt that was completed. It has blocks from lots of people, including some from two lovely girls in the States who regularly contribute! Because so many people had contributed I figured it was the perfect choice to send when I was asked to send a quilt to the Major General.
I didn't tell you about it before as I was hoping that we would get a repy but given that it was posted at the beginning of April and I still haven't heard anything about it I am just going to assume that it is there and that he is flat out- afterall, General's are busy people! I thought you would like to know that we had been asked to send one to him and that the one that I sent was a joint effort.
The March block was the pinwheel.
Again we received loads of blocks from all over.
This resulted in another of my favourite quilts and this was also sent to the Chaplain to find a home for.
Caroline has taken the leftover pinwheels and put them together with some of hers and this quilt is currently under construction! Doesn't the green and gold just shout
Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
The BOM for April was the wonky cross - I think I took a few people out of their comfort zone with this one (evil giggle!) but it is a fun block and I needed something really simple for April as everyone was busy finishing quilts to get them in the mail. I think the result is a fun bright quilt. I haven't been able to put this one together yet as I was waiting for the last few blocks to arrive in the mail.
And now we come to the BOM for May. This was Naomi's suggestion and I think it is going to lead to a gorgeous quilt or two.
I think we will end up with one cozy country style quilt full of plaids and another brighter version. I love it when you end up with two completely different looks from the same pattern.
I am not game to start putting one together till I get all the blocks and I know Pauline and Larissa are planning to send some.
You will see another gorgeous quilt made from the May BOM blocks in tomorrow night's post as it is already been completed by Pip but it is already a Quilt in Waiting - one of tomorrow night's topics!
This is probably a good time to warn you that this months BOM will be published a couple of days late in order to complete the Aussie Heroes 101 Series. I don't want to break your concentration by distracting you with thoughts of all the BOMs you are going to sew!
Okay, now you can go and get your glass of wine and relax. Class dismissed for the night but see you back here again, same time, same place tomorrow night!
Till next time.................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Ooh my blocks are there, thank you Ann-Maree, I didn't actually think of putting them together like that, they look pretty good, as do all the other BOM blocks.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first BOM that I did for AHQ and I thought I would make a block for the 3 months I missed out and then I can use them at the end of the year to make another quilt.