Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Things I Learned ...

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making my first modified bento box ... (which doesn't look like a modified bento box because I haven't cut it up yet - waiting for instructions from sweet Greta) for the Mod Bento Box Swap.
  1. I need to pin EVERYTHING.  I so want to be one of those people that just whip things together but I have to come to the sad realization that the "whip it together" kind of quilter just isn't me.  To just "whip it together" means to just pick it apart later when seams don't measure up.  So, I have to pin.  It takes more time, that is for sure.  And while we are talking about it, how do these people whip up quilt after quilt after quilt?  It seems like they must have elves helping out or something.  I do not have any elves.
  2. I am also not one of these people that can cut a bazillion layers of fabric at once.  Oh no, not me.  Because why be good at at least 1 time saving technique?  I, rather, have to cut in little bits to make sure everything doesn't go wonky.  Even then, my cutting is sometimes wonky.
  3. I think my first instinct in making this block was to make sure everything "goes" and thus, my bento box turned out too matchy matcherson.  I think there is a "throw caution to the wind" (kind of) component to these boxes.  Not having to plan everything out may make for some gorgeous blocks.  Sounds good to me.
  4. I have a lot of fabric.  It is kind of crazy.  While I believe this will help with the with the matchy problem of above, so much choice has lead to a very big mess in my sewing room.  There will be no pictures of said big mess.  I need to clean it up.  I also need to clean up the rest of the house.  I didn't learn that from making the block.  I learned that from looking around while typing this.  
I think this will be an ongoing list that grows as I make more of these.  I'll let you know.

L xo

[Edited to Add] 

PS - Add to list that I am learning that I may not be good at following instructions.  The reason why I didn't cut the block up last night is because I was unsure whether it needed to be four 7.75" or 8" squares.  If I had gone back to the instructions, I wouldn't have had to send Greta an email or ask the Flickr group (thanks, Meg!) because it was clearly written that the blocks are 7.75" (thanks, Jessica!).  

3 comments:

My Life In Stitch said...

I have just checked out the tutorial on the bento box block and now I have something else on my to do list. Things are getting seriously bad for my sanity with all these goegeous quilting ideas. I wish I could retire from work - alas I need the money - and just sit and sew all day long. Sheer bliss!! :)

Anonymous said...

I, too, am slow because I need to pin, I need to take my time cutting, I cannot sew faster than the turtle setting on my machine (literally, there is a scale from turtle to hare and I am always on the turtle speed).

I cannot do wonky or crazy color combinations very well. Because of this, I have a hard time with scrappy blocks.

I also have a lot of crap fabric and am too weeny to cut into my "good" fabric.

Greta said...

I love you honey! I have to pin too or things go wonky and even then sometimes they still do. And I can't cut more than one thing at a time either. So no time saving here.

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