Unless you’ve had your head wrapped in a quilt this year, you’ll be aware that it’s our 40th Birthday! And the culmination of this year of celebration is the start of our first ever Block of the Month project, based on the Red Manor House Coverlet. The original Red Manor House Coverlet dates from 1840-1860 and is filled with appliqué motifs of home and rural life made from dress fabrics.

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the original why not join our Collection Curator, Heather Audin and block of the month designer, Jenni Smith as they take a closer look at the coverlet in this video.

We hope you’re ready to start making your first block which is the iconic house at the centre of the quilt, but if you haven’t yet bought the pattern there’s still time to get it and sew along with the rest of us!

For the first block you will need four fabrics for the house, windows, door and background. If you need some help with quantities please download our fabric guide , this follows the fabrics in our fabric pack but you can mix and match from your stash (or have a shopping trip). If you’re using your own please be aware that you may need more fabric than stated if you have a directional print.

If you need an excuse to add more fabric to your stash, why not buy our gorgeous Riley Blake fabric pack with all 20 fabrics we use in the project, and you can always add your own fabric to personalise it. Just follow the link and enjoy free delivery when you buy our fabric pack. And just because we love you, we have a specially curated Aurifil mixed weight thread collection which is perfect for the project.

Once you get started please do share your progress with us on social media using #redmanorbom – we love to see your creations!