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Welcome To Debbie Shore's Block Of The Month Quilt, 2025!

Quick Links: What you'll need Project steps

Welcome to the 2025 Block of the Month – 'It’s all an Illusion'!

NOTE: the instructions were updated on 26/06/25 at 08:54 (GMT). The cutting instructions for Block 11 were amended under 'Before you start'. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

We’ve called this year’s BOTM quilt 'It’s all an Illusion' because several of the blocks look three dimensional: the curvy-looking blocks all start off with straight cuts and one or two of the blocks have been stitched together in a non-traditional way (for example tumbling blocks with no 'Y' seams). This quilt is 60in x 48in (152cm x 122cm) when finished and can be used on a single bed, as a topper for a double bed, a throw or for filling a large wall space; it will certainly make for a lovely conversation starter! If you want to make it larger, just add a couple of borders (you’ll need extra fabric for this); we added the scrappy binding with leftover fabric after creating the blocks.

The quilt consists of varying-size blocks, twelve in total; we’ve grouped the curved flying geese and pole dance blocks into one 24in x 12in (61cm x 30.5cm) block, which is repeated on opposite diagonal corners. We’re introducing this block fairly early in the making-up process, so you’ll have plenty of time to complete both blocks. As always, there are various techniques (Half Square Triangles made in several ways, Dresden, Bargello, English Paper Piecing etc), so hopefully you’ll not only enjoy making this contemporary quilt, but pick up a few tips and tricks along the way. We hope that you all enjoy making up the quilt over the forthcoming months and, as always, for the more experienced patchworker, add your own interpretations to create a unique piece of work.

As before, my daughter Kym and I have put together a fabric bundle for this quilt at debbieshoresewing.com, available for you to buy right now. There is limited stock, so grab a bundle while you can! The fabric bundle includes all the fabrics for the quilt top.

TIPS:

• Read through all instructions for each block before you start to sew.
• When cutting out, be conservative with your fabric. Keep all fabric scraps as you may be able to use these in subsequent blocks.
• Stitch with an accurate ¼in (5mm) seam allowance throughout, unless otherwise stated.
• Stitch all seams with the right sides of the fabric facing, unless otherwise stated.
• Before pressing seams, set the seam first by running a hot iron along the length of your stitching. This helps the stitches to sink into the fabric and will encourage the seams to press flat.
• Generally, seams should be pressed towards the darker fabric. However, in some cases, to avoid bulk, it’s necessary to press seams open or towards the lighter fabric. If you prefer to press all seams open, that’s fine.
• Be aware that in some instances the fabric edges will be on the diagonal, so try not to stretch the fabric – a light spray of starch may help to stabilize those edges.
• When cutting fabric, the size indicates the width of the piece first, followed by the length (unless otherwise stated).
• Chain piecing is a useful technique when piecing together multiple segments (often identical units within a block) one after another, in a long chain with a continuous stitch. Just join one pair of pieces and then the next – there’s no need to cut the thread between stitching each segment – and simply continue to run a few stitches between each unit. Don’t worry, it won’t harm your machine, and it will save you time and thread. Cut the units apart at the end of the run. For some guidance, take a look at my video.

The first block will be out January 1st 2025. I'll link all the blocks below as they come out, so you can always find them when you need them!

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You will need:

Equipment

• Sewing machine 
• Iron 
• Rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler 

General sewing kit, including:

• Scissors 
• Pins and/or quilting clips 
• Quick unpick/seam ripper 
• Erasable fabric marker pen or pencil 
• Fabric glue pen 
• Hand-stitching needle 
• Optional:  Square ruler (useful but not essential), spray starch, spray adhesive 

Materials

Fabrics (all fabrics are 42/44in (106/112cm wide):

• Fab A  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab B  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab C  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab D  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab E  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab F  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab G  –½yd (0.5m)
• Fab H  –¼yd (0.25m)
• WW (background fabric)  –1½yd (1.5m)

In addition to the above fabrics, to complete the quilt you will require the following: 

• Backing Fabric – not included in the kit, you will require 1¾yd (1.75m) extra wide fabric
• Wadding – one piece 52 wide x 64in long (132 x 162.5cm)
• Binding fabric – 15in (38cm) x width of fabric, 42/44in (106/112cm) – I made up a scrappy binding with fabrics left over from the quilt top. Details of how to do this will be given towards the end of the year.

Threads:

• Neutral thread (medium grey) for piecing the blocks and machine applique 

Everything else:

• Photocopier paper (for reproducing templates and EPP papers) 
• Piece of card (for Dresden block) 

Before you start: 
I would suggest you cut out the following:

• Block 6: One 12½in (31.75cm) square in WW for EPP block
• Block 7: One 20½in (50cm) square in WW, two 20½ x 2½in (50 x 6.5cm) strips in Fab B and two 24½ x 2½in (62.25 x 6.5cm) strips in Fab B
• Block 11: Two 2½in (6.5cm) x width of fabric strips in Fab A, two 2½in (6.5cm) x width of fabric strips in Fab E and two 3in (7.5cm) x width of fabric strips in Fab G. (Note that this is a correction to the previous cutting information that was here for Block 11. If you have already cut the two 30in (76.2cm) long strips in Fab A, they will be too short for your needs, so although you can use these, if you do so, you will need to cut additional 3in (7.5cm) strips of Fab A in order to be able to cut enough sub sets. Unfortunately, the remaining strips are not suitable, and we apologize for the error.)

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