Starting the Tiny Town Block of the Month quilt

On Saturday after going to the clinic for my son and myself I ran up to Sew Sisters to pick up the kit I needed for the Block Of the Month(BOM) I signed up for.  Tiny Town is a BOM kit provided by Bunny Hill Designs, designed by Anne Sutton.  I will be doing the BOM through Sew Sisters quilting store.  I don't need to learn how to applique, but the class will give me an opportunity to socialize with like minds, as well as pick up some good tips and tricks of the trade.

After I went through the package, I decided to go enlarge the black and white diagram to sort out the fabric placement.  I am a very particular type of quilter.  Even though I may be making a scrap quilt, I still like to organize it.  In this case, it would be to make sure that I have a good distribution of colour. I love the creativity that comes with the process, but still require a sense of order.

The pattern provides the colour selection from a specific fabric line.  All you have to do is buy the required amount of fabric and make the exact quilt you see below.  But..... I am not that type of quilter.  I like the process of creating something that is my own.  I enjoy the perimeters set out in a pattern such as the BOM, however it stops there.  I like taking that design and seeing where I can go with it.  When we get together in a class, it's nice seeing all the different colours.

Yesturday I sorted through all the fabric I had from our summer shop hop.  After examining the pattern it was decided by my daughter and myself that I had to eliminate the yellows that I thought to use for the background.  My daughter stayed with me and we enjoyed the morning figuring things out.  We got the background all laid out.  We took some of the bright yellows out and brought in some of my lighter neutrals.  

My daughter went off to work and I continued onward.  After the background was figured out, the applique pieces needed to be sorted.  When it came to the colours I had to decide how to handle it.  Do I choose one of my fabrics to represent one of the pattern's selection or do I chose completely different colours for everything.

In the end I chose a combination of both.  They used burnt red, grey, pink, blue and brown as their main colour scheme, where as I had burnt red, orange, blue, green and black.  I later added one bright yellow for some highlights in small doses and one brown for the tree trunks and various other small areas.

For the most part on their main buildings I chose to do the same colour family when it came to the blue and burnt red, but from there I selected what I felt worked best for the fabrics I had.  By the end of the day, my daughter needed to drag me to bed, but I had all the fabric rough cut and in place.  Now I have all the fabrics, that was spread out all over the quilt room floor, sorted and packaged together with the sections of the pattern that belongs to each month.  I know.......I am very anal when it comes to organized, but that is how I work best.  Everything fits nicely in a binder ready for when I need it.

This next picture is one part of the the first block.  I just started the block, while I was waiting for dinner to cook in the oven.  After dinner I pinned the roof in place ready to be sewn.  January's BOM finishes at 18" square.  It includes six houses, a tree and a flower on a stem.  This is all appliquéd onto a scrappy pieced background.

As I have less than three weeks before the next meeting, I have to do at least two houses per week and find time to do the tree and flower.  The clock is counting down.  For the next few weeks, until I can catch up, everything is going to be put on hold.

PS. Just in case a certain someone sees the quilt beneath the applique, I will let you know that it is more than half way done.  And if I do say so myself, it is looking fabulous.  I am really, really, really liking how this is turning out.  

Good night everyone.  Enjoy.