This quilt is one of the quilt-block-of-the-month kits from Keepsake Quilting. It's called "Wildberry Vines". They're much more expensive than what I'd normally spend on a quilt, but I decided to splurge. It's actually only four months long - and many more than one block each month!

I received the second kit on July 12th. It contained the fabrics and patterns for 5 different blocks, although some are repeated, so there are actually nine blocks total for this month. I'm running just a bit behind, but that's OK - no chance of giving up on this one and putting it in the "stuck" column!

Wildberry Vines I had some trouble with this block. Mostly, I didn't like the background fabrics I was supposed to use - they were very busy patterns, and much darker than I thought they should be. You could barely make out where the berries were on the fabric. So, I improvised. The middle two background panels are pieces from one of the backgrounds they said to use - that was the lightest of the four. Then I found big enough pieces of two other backgrounds I'd used in other blocks, and turned them wrong-side-up to lighten them up even more. I definitely like it better this way. The embroidery was a challenge for me, as stem stitch has to be my least favorite stitch (because I'm awful at it!) but I think it came out OK. I spent an evening working on that in front of a sappy romantic comedy. That made it a bit more pleasant to deal with!

I received the first kit on June 20th. It contained the fabrics and patterns for 5 different blocks, although some are repeated, so there are actually eight blocks total for this month. I'm all done with them, as of July 21st. The second kit is waiting patiently for my next free evening.

Summer Bloom This is the first block I did - the part I like best about doing kits is that they come with a much wider variety of fabrics than I'd pick out myself. Even if I delved into the huge stash of fabrics I have, I'd never select some of these to go together. Once they're all combined, though, it really turns out nicely.

Pears I think this block is just plain fun! Pears are a rather bizarre thing to put in a quilt, but it's very cute. I may have to adapt this one for a small wallhanging...

Heart & Flower blocks

Lesson learned: always double-check the layering of the appliques before fusing them to the background fabric. Can you figure out which one I messed up on? (I hope not!)

Nine-Patch Star blocks

These were pretty quick, once all the pieces were cut. I thought I'd enjoy them more than the applique blocks, but they were almost...boring...maybe not the right word, but I was happy to finish them so I could move on to the next block!