Bento Box Block

The bento box block is all the fashion now and I thought I would give it a try. It's a very simple block and provides a great exercise in value.


I began with a dark value for the center square. The second round is a light value. The third round will return to the light value.



Here is the first large four square.



Here is the second one. I pressed the seams in one direction each time. I'm using black, white, grey, and yellow for this first quilt and I think it will be about 16 large squares. I'm also thinking that this will be a great block for the baby quilts that our guild is making in October. I'm headed back to make more blocks.

If you've made a bento box quilt, send me a link to a photo, will you?

Revision: 7/31/09 AM
Thanks to an email from a vigilant reader, I removed a link I had posted early because the website had posted Tracey Brookshier's published pattern for a Bento Box quilt. Not wanting to promote infringement of copyrighted material, I have also made some changes to the original post here.