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Monday, November 10, 2008

So, the sushi Bento Box quilt is dead in the water. I just couldn't keep up my enthusiasm for it, especially once I realized that the person for whom it was intended (my husband) wasn't crazy about how it was looking. And, frankly, I wasn't either.

Now I'm going to say something here, and it may offend some of you. If you can't handle radical, anarchist quilting opinions, well then just stop reading right here. Ready?

I don't like scrappy quilts.

See, I told you to stop reading, but you didn't listen, and now you're all indignant and going, "Well, I love scrappy quilts - my house is full of scrappy quilts - I was even going to make you a scrappy quilt AND NOW I'LL JUST HAVE TO GIVE IT TO SOME HOBO ON THE STREET." (Well, that's what you would say if you were a member of my immediate family, all of whom take any expression of an opposing opinion as just another way of saying "I hate you, and everything you like is shit.")

Believe me, I am well aware that the entire world loves a scrappy quilt, but I just have some genetic mutation which makes me resist them. The sushi quilt just wasn't cohesive enough, because even though they were all sushi prints, and all had backgrounds in black, white, green, and red, the result was just a mishmash of busy prints. I think I also didn't like that, in creating the strips, the charm of the prints just kind of disappeared. And, see, any other normal person would have still liked it 'cuz it looked all "scrappy" and whatnot. I just had a different aesthetic in mind and when it didn't live up to that vision, I couldn't make myself keep going.

But I'm going to try again, in a different vein. I got 4 of the Moda "Bistro" charm packs, and I've been playing with arrangements on my wall.




I want some arrangement of the blocks that produces some sort of effect with the flow of colors from light to dark, but that may be asking too much of my feeble brain. In the meantime, I'll need to find a use for the squares I made for the sushi quilt. Maybe a tote bag or some square placemats. Pillow covers. Or hankies, to dry my tears of disappointment and despair when I inevitably hate this quilt too.

9 comments:

  1. I am with you. Scrappy quilts are not my thing either. Maybe it is because I am a math teacher and in math everything is pretty much black and white. I like the look of a quilt that is symmetric. I am also not real big on mixing lots of different blocks in one quilt. Keep it up. You will find some use for those blocks. How about making pet beds and donating them to a shelter? Dogs and cats don't really care what their beds look like.

    Karen in IN

    merrylittlequilter.blogspot.com

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  2. I love scrappy quilts but I don't hate you! LOL To each his/her own! You play with charm packs? I throw a bunch together into 9 patches cut in half twice (the old altered 9 patch or disappearing 9 patch as they call it) and put myself a quilt together. I have made about 10 of these in the last 2 months. Love it, you can make them any size you want.

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  3. I love peoples scrap quilts, but am not great creating them myself... I drive myself crazy with trying to balance everything out... I shall try again at some point though... 8-)
    Love your Moda charm packs! Haven't seen that one before.
    You could play "rippit" with your sushi blocks, and recreate them with some coordinating solids separating your prints... Just a thought! 8-)

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  4. I like scrappy quilts but i like people who say what they think more.

    i think that the most successful scrappy quilts arent really that scrappy - planned scrappy. i think a mish mash of busy sushi prints sounds like crap - i think they maybe need to be broken up with plain fabrics or something.but most of my quilts are crappy - the scrappy ones and the non scrappy - so i probably shouldnt weigh with opinions.

    hey maybe we are related because thats what my family says to opposing opinions too.

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  5. I never met a quilt I didn't like, scrappy or not. I do a lot of scrappy quilts but they need something to pull them together like a black sashing or red borders. I have made some that are completely chaotic too but they are not my favorites.

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  6. PS I don't hate you for not liking scrappy! Lol.

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  7. poor megan

    scrappy quilts can be a pain in the ass at times .. sometimes the work - sometimes they don't .. suggestion?? try doing a quilt that is controlled scrappy, pick one colour that will be scrappy and the rest be from yardage .. that's if you want to try again .. if the fabrics are the same hue / tone, then it'll balance out quite nicely ...

    as for me, some i like, some i hate - it depends on how it works, the one i did for my son (his cmas present) i just LOVE, other's they're okay .. it all depends

    LOVE that moda with the kettles on it ;)

    good luck with it!!

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  8. Don't give up!! All you need is some solid colors in there and I bet you will like it!!
    If you haven't already made a ton of the blocks, maybe you could rework them using some solids in them?

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  9. Oh no! I love Bento Box as a pattern ... LOVE!!
    please see my Bento box Set on Flickr.com I have made a couple with a white background, white square. etc,.. I love scappy but I have found that I like a wee bit of order too... I did a BB with Jelly rolls and it was way tooo busy and a horrid mish mash of crap!

    I feeel your pain... I bet it could be fixed... show us pics please?
    I just found you and love your voice and tone..

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