Why do they call it a “soap box” anyway?
Y’all remember earlier in the year when I participated in two block exchanges? I posted in each group that I had just started my quilting journey and was worried about making quality blocks. I was assured that “practice makes perfect” and I was encouraged to participate. I downloaded many 12” block patterns (12.5” unfinished), cut, sewed, ripped, recut, resewed and with each block could see my progress. Some blocks were discarded for a variety of reasons – too small, too large, seams way off, lost points or just plain ugly. I wasn’t always thrilled with my color choices, but each block was assembled with care. I also didn’t repeat blocks as I found that boring and I needed a variety to post on this blog.
I was relieved to send out the last of the blocks in June and was excited to see what each day’s mail would bring. Fast forward to late September. Someone posted on one of the exchange’s Facebook page something along the lines of disappointment in the “quality” of blocks received in the exchange and being aggravated that they had to rip apart and resew received blocks. What? Really? Although not specifically mentioned, I felt targeted in my newness. I knew my blocks weren’t perfect and certainly not on par with an “experienced” quilter, but I would never intentionally send out a bad block (as was insinuated by the original poster). It really sucked the joy out of the process and I probably won’t participate in any future exchanges. Here is my reply in the thread:
“Gotta say – I asked many times if newbie blocks were acceptable. Everyone said yes. I tried very hard to make mine a true 12.5″ but sometimes was off a smidge (less than 1/8″). A couple of times I added borders. A couple were true to size but off center. None were overly complicated, but none were close to perfect. All were pressed, but many didn’t lie flat. I sent them anyway. Did I receive bad blocks? Yup. Would I ever say anything about them? Nope. I know the quality of the blocks I made when I first started weren’t anything close to the latter ones. When do you know that your sewing is “good enough”? I probably won’t do any more block exchanges – don’t want to have to worry about figuring out when my “skill level” is adequate”.
I guess my main point is that no matter how long you’ve been quilting, there will always be someone with a greater “skill level”. It’s not necessary to point these things out on a public forum causing new quilters to second guess themselves. No matter how nicely you form a complaint, there is really no way to soften the blow. I struggled with sharing this with you but felt that the more experienced quilters need to know how much your words can impact us newbies. As Mama says, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!” – especially on Facebook.
– At this point, you are probably wonder why I went off on this long-winded rant – there IS a reason. Readers of this blog know that I bowl with Mama twice a week. Our Wednesday morning league (where we are known as “Balls of Fury”), has a Christmas gift exchange. Girls exchange with girls, and the guys with guys. I have decided to try and give a quilted gift this year. If it comes out, I’ll gift it. If not, I’ll buy something. Either way, I don’t see anyone there complaining about my “skill level”.
– I had the idea of doing a table runner, but found this pattern for the Granny Square Tree Skirt. It seems that it would be easy to convert into a table runner so I really haven’t decided on the final product yet. I know that either way, binding will be my biggest hurdle. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
– As many of you know, I recently had sinus surgery. Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers. I now know for sure that I want nothing to do with boxing, wrestling, MMA fighting or any type of activity that would result in a punch to the face. Bending over causes pressure in my head which is why I’m cutting one block at a time. Today I bent over from the driver’s side in hubby’s car to put a bag in the passenger seat. My nose started bleeding and the driver’s seat looked like a crime scene. Hopefully there will never be an occasion for the police to use Luminol in that car cuz we’ll be in trouble!
– Tales from my bedroom: I suffer from terrible insomnia and have to take Ambien to sleep. I can have full on conversations with hubby and not remember them. After my surgery, I took my Ambien early as I was pretty miserable with all of the packing in my head. I was trying to read a book, so I was pretty sleepy by the time I told hubby I was going up to sleep. The next morning, Number 1 daughter came over as she is helping us flip a house. Hubby was ranting about how I was “crazy” the night before. He had come up to get ready for bed and found me blowing my nose (which was a big no-no). I then proceeded to calmly tell him that I was hallucinating and that the floor was undulating (yes, I even have a big vocabulary when I’m drugged). I then asked him if he could see that a tablet on the counter was melting. He said he finally got me in bed and I promptly fell asleep and began snoring. Number 1 daughter and I thought this was pretty funny, particularly with hubby pacing and flapping during the retelling. He, on the other hand, was not amused.
– Tales from my bedroom – take 2: the next night, I did take my Ambien early but didn’t wait as long to go to bed. When he came up, I calmly asked why the heater vents were “fuzzy” and “glittery”. Full disclosure here – over the years, Ambien has become less effective and I don’t sleep the full eight hours like I used to. I also can recall bits and pieces of my craziness when prompted the next day. Hubby just needs to relax and go with it!
– I also have to say that Hubby has been nothing short of wonderful during my recent health trials. I posted how great he was recently on the NQC Quilt Block Challenge FB page and among the comments was a query asking if I wanted a “sister wife”. I laughingly read it to him and he quickly asked, “Can she cook?”.
– Speaking of the NQC block challenge, the current one is a “Mystery Medallion”. Here is my week one:
See those purple strips? They aren’t supposed to be there. I had to add them to to make the geese fit. What’s supposed to be a 15.5″ block turned out 17″. I have no idea what I did but I’m kinda diggin’ it. Of course, my week 2 attempt came out true to size so the pieces don’t come close to fitting. I haven’t decided how (or if) I’m going to proceed, but as I’m using my stash I’m not out money for the fabric. It’s SO COOL to talk about using my “stash”! It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t even have one!
– I have so much to tell you, but I’ll save it for next time. Puppylove is having a hard time with the time change and is trying to convince me that it’s bedtime. Georgia is beating Auburn in the 3rd quarter. Subscriptions to this blog have exploded and while I want to believe that it’s all my wonderful writing and my quest for fame is being fulfilled, I still fear some of the additions might have been for nefarious purposes. If you get anything suspicious regarding sewknotright.com, please let me know!
– Until next time!!!!!