New BOM: Vintage Sampler

Yesterday we shared Barb Eikmeier's Vintage Shirtings and Dress Prints collection with you; today we're back with the unveiling of her coordinating Block of the Month quilt. 

This isn't your ordinary BOM...in fact, our favorite description came from Barb's daughter, who called it "a smorgasbord of quilt blocks."

"Vintage Sampler" by Barb Eikmeier
82" x 89"

Wow, right? That's what we said when we saw it! 

We asked Barb to walk us through her Vintage Sampler design. 

I definitely have to talk about the applique because that’s my greatest love in quilting. I know that a lot of quilters don’t love applique so I just put a touch of it and tried to scatter it throughout the quilt—you see the birds and the vines, both of which are a recurring theme throughout. The BOM pattern comes with instructions for fusible applique.

I love basket blocks so I chose a couple of different designs—the one with the handle is actually repeated three times. The basket blocks are sort of scattered throughout as well. Even though there aren’t rows in the quilt, I wanted it to have a feel of uniformity, and I think the repeating blocks do help with that.

Beyond that, I chose blocks I love—churn dash, little bowties, little pinwheels (called turnstiles because of how they're assembled). I included some star blocks because most traditional quilters like star blocks. It was a ton of fun to design.

Believe it or not, there is only one partial seam in the entire quilt!

The BOM program is set up so that you're making more than one block at a time—you'll sew two, sometimes three blocks in a month. If you keep up with the instructions each month, you'll be able to build it as you go, and by the time you get to month twelve, all you'll have to do is sew the sections together and then add the borders! 

Thanks for sharing your Vintage Sampler BOM quilt, Barb! Watch for this BOM in your local quilt shop in fall--we'll be posting updates here on the blog as well so you'll know when to start looking for it!

Missed our post on the brand-new, Made-in-the-USA Vintage Shirtings and Dress Prints collection? Read it here.

Be sure to check out Barb's blog as well for more anecdotes about the fabric collection and what she's making from it! 

See the entire collection here.