Working ahead

I volunteered to coordinate the guild's Block of the Month program this year.  We aren't meeting until it's safe - maybe we'll get together this spring, and maybe not til next fall.  The church we meet in is closed right now, and very few guild members feel good about meeting in person anyway.  The BOM is a nice project to do at home, and I've added a twist.  Everyone who wants to can contribute to and enter a lottery, and then mail one block each to the winner each month.  All the blocks will be 6" finished, so they'll be easy to mail.   I'll draw a winner at the end of each month using a random number generator.

September's block is an easy nine patch, and quite a few people have already made their blocks and entered.  People can, of course, make as many blocks for themselves as they wish.  At the end of the guild year, they should end up with a sweet little sampler, a memento of the year without meetings.  I started keeping a box of scrappy blocks a month or so ago, and I think there are now about ten nine patches, a bunch of string blocks, and some crumb blocks.  These will all go into a quilt(s) sometime.

I decided to make each month's block seasonal and a little more difficult, so October's block will be a maple leaf.   Fall is already in the air here in Vermont, and, by the time October rolls around, leaf season will be at its peak.  I wonder how many tourists will venture into the state?    

Fall colors aren't my favorite, but maple leaf is one of my favorite blocks and I particularly like this arrangement.   Instructions for a 6" block are all over the internet, so it will be easy to send links to the guild members at the beginning of the month.

A few years ago, my smaller guild made a table runner / wallhanging for the Vermont Quilt Festival with blocks arranged like this.  After the show, we gave our finished piece to our president, who still holds that office and keeps us together.   That group isn't meeting again this year either.  I really miss Saturday afternoons, sitting and hand sewing with those thoughtful, interesting women.  Glad we have email!