Since I'm the first stop on the tour I thought it would be both prudent and fun to start off with a little overview of the Block of the Month course. Block of the Month is a free video course being hosted by the super-talented Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock; each month Amy walks participants through making one or two 12x12" quilt blocks with the end goal of having a 20 block sampler quilt at the end of the year. Since this is a video course you get to actually see Amy cut and sew each block step-by-step and are able to follow along with her, pausing, and rewinding whenever you need. One of the neatest things (I think at least) about how the videos are set up is that each one is divided into sections (introduction to the block, cutting fabrics, etc) so that participants can do each step in manageable sections if they so choose rather than feeling that everything needs to be done all at once.
Here is a picture of Amy with the January blocks - the January video is called "Slashed Blocks" and features both the Asterisk and Wonky Pound Sign blocks.
February's blocks feature half-square triangles and include the Balkan Puzzle and Chunky Chevron blocks. In case you want to know, you can't skip ahead in the videos - you have to wait for each month's to be released but I can tell you they look so fun! Each month also includes a printable materials list and the full set of instructions in PDF format. Cratsy's courses and workshops are set up in such a way that participants can all see and interact with each other with a discussion forum being featured beneath each video - if you go and take a look you can see that many people are asking and answering questions, showing off their blocks, and just generally having fun together. As the instructor of the course, Amy is also available to answer any questions and help participants along the way.
I have watched the first couple of videos (unfortunately I haven't been able to get started on my blocks yet though) and I think Amy is a natural! I have already suggested this course to a couple of first-time quilters but I also think that the not-so-first-timers will like it a lot too! It's so nice to participate in a quilt along with a bunch of other people with minimal pressure - you don't even need to keep up and make the blocks each month you can just jump in whenever you'd like since the videos will continue to be available at least throughout the year. It's also a bit of a mystery quilting experience too since the blocks are only unveiled when each month's video comes out.
Alrighty then, as promised, there might just be something in it for you for sticking around with me until the end! Fat Quarter Shop has generously donated a $25 USD gift certificate to each of the 14 blogs participating in the tour to give away! That's right - that means that when each of us puts up our tour post on our respective blogs you can enter to win! Can you imagine if you won all 14?! That would be way-awesome - however I'm putting my money on zero chance in a frozen hell of that happening! One can dream though...
Okay, so I guess you want to know how to enter, right? You have two chances but please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Here's what you've got to do:
1. Leave a comment letting my know if you have participated in a BOM or other type of block-making quilt-along (i.e. Blogger's Block-a-Palooza, FWQAL etc) before and what you thought about it.
If not, why not?
(Also, if you're participating in the Craftsy BOM, let me know!)
2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.
That's it! Two easy-peasy ways to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on March 2nd) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome! Also, please remember that I have comment moderation enabled so if you don't see your comment right away it just means that I haven't had the chance to approve it yet (duplicate comments will be deleted).
I really hope that you guys enjoyed my stop on the tour and learned a little something new about Craftsy and/or the Craftsy BOM! If you still need to know more I posted a bit more about Craftsy in this post and be sure to check them out here! And just in case you're interested you can find me on Craftsy here!
*the giveaway is now closed*
*the giveaway is now closed*
