Way cool! I started quilting a couple months ago and really love it all to pieces.

i did not know we shared a local quilt shop...

sharon

You know, right, that there are lots of sock-of-the-month kind of clubs? Most of them are online things tho.

Dishcloth cotton of the month? Louet Gems of the month? I'd do either one!

I guess if LYS were willing to ball up small amounts of yarn, say enough for a 12x12 square, and provide a pattern, then at the end of the year you'd have enough for a lap blanket, baby blanket or really, really big scarf. :D

I teach knitting at my local Michaels store. I tried an Afghan Block of the Month idea last year. We used the Leisure Arts 60 Squares book and the intent was to get the students to come back each month to work on another square. I'd furnish tips/help, etc. That lasted two months and then they didn't come any more. I don't know if any of them ever finished their afghan. Two of them got far enough that I showed them how to crochet around each square to make joining them easier. Perhaps if you were to knit quilt squares (can be accomplished by using garter stitch and geometric quilt patterns), you could get people to come each month but I hesitate to try that although I did knit a Log Cabin variation blanket for my great-nephew for Christmas.

I know of a LYS near Lansing, MI that has a block of the month and then if you have the knitted block finished before the end of the month, you get 10% off a purchase. Quilts are wonderful, too.

The fee structure sounds like Weight Watchers, for quilters.

BOMs are so much fun! Here is my first Block of the Month project: http://heleneh.sprayblogg.no/110804105316_teppeoverrekkelse.html
I love how it turned out. Now I'm doing a monster BOM ;-)

One of our lys (Spun Fibre Arts) does have this but it costs $20 a month regardless if you finish the square or not.

You bring your size 10.5 mm needles and $20 to the store every 3rd Tuesday of the month. She provides a stitch pattern and enough yarn for you to complete a full block of that pattern.

Yes, you 'could' in theory set something like this up yourself with a stitch pattern book, a few ball of yarn and an active knitting group but we agreed it would expose us to stitch patterns we might have otherwise overlooked.

Excited to see your progress.

In the past, I have taken my 2 daughters to our LQS and done the same BOM. It is nice because it's not a huge project and there is the accountability which is motivating. I enjoyed spending that time with my daughters, too, and even my 10-yr old became quite the seamstress. We need to do that again.

Yarn shops could do a knit or crochet square of the month club too... you just end up with an afghan instead of a quilt. :)

That looks so fun! And one block a month is such a manageable goal.

What a wonderful idea! Wish I could sign up! So fun.

I like the BOM club idea for knitting, but I figure that you should get a discount if you give the completed squares back (or work them yourselves and give the project back) as a blanket for charity.

I'm glad to hear that there are some yarn shops that have tried this sort of thing. It seems to me that the problem really is finding a knitting project that is as universally interesting to all knitters. I mean, pretty much every quilter is up for making a quilt, but not every knitter is interested in making an afghan or collection of socks. I imagine that the choice of the project could really limit who's going to participate. Too bad.

What a great idea!!!! My local quilt shop has nothing like that, maybe I could suggest it to them. Looking forward to seeing your first block!!

Yeah, those are cool block of the month clubs. I've heard them called "The $5 quilt" or "a buck a block" - both similar ideas. Manos had an afghan a couple of years ago that would be a fun knitting club kind of thing. But I do love the idea of a sock club. I've just never been disciplined enough to make that many socks!

Thanks for the visit.

Sashiko - well, as with lots of things I wanted to try it out, but I doubt I'll keep it up. It was VERY quick and easy though, and kind of fun to search for different patterns like with the zipped pouch where I used the lines in three different ways.
http://heleneh.sprayblogg.no/1192088197_mer_sashiko.html

But I'm kind of into more fiddly stuff, so I suppose I'm done with my Sashiko quilting for now :)

I love block of the month projects. I'm doing a mystery quilt now at this site http://quiltville.blogspot.com - Those are fun, too.

Around here (western WA) they have a thing called. The Quilt Shop Hop. It is a 3 day weekend thing crossing the state N to S along the I-5 corridor. You come in before the kick-off and get a map/playing card. You go to as many shops as you want and get a free block with pre-cut fabric. The fabric is donated by a manuf co and co-ordinates all blocks, the block is designed by the shop. You get a stamp on your card for each stop and the most stamps wins a prize! I did this the first year after moving here and sadly, I must admit I have only made 5 blocks. Enjoy your BOM.

I love BOMs. I've gotten some lovely quilts that way. One variation I like is to make each block twice--once in the fabric provided and once more in fabric from my stash. I wind up with a much larger quilt and the addition of other prints adds visual interest without sending things completely out of control.

I so love that you are quilting now too. I've been doing the quilt a long at http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/01/quilt-long-week-10.html We are on block 10 of 12. It's free and uses my scraps. At out LQS, we have a Moda Group that covers a little technique, has door prize drawings and specials. I'm glad to hear you say it could be fun at a yarn store too. They could have a show and tell night with a new stitch demo'd, quickly show new patterns and yarns with specials on a certain color or type of yarn that evening. Our Moda Club is only 1/2 hour long and packed with fun! Even though I'm quilting, I'll alays still have my knitting.

What a great BOM you have! I would definately participate if there were a store here on LI doing something like that. Although, I have 3 very expensive BOMs waiting in my sewing room - all 12 months of each, somewhere behind my yarn stash...