Bread with every meal • Quilt #207 • 24″ square
Ta-DONE!!!
With great relief and happiness, I present to you: Bread with every meal.
The title comes from the back of this quilt, a tea towel my sister gave to me when she was doing the Great Purge and downsizing her life. 
And in that grouping of statistics about what was eaten, was this phrase, “Bread with Every Meal.” Weird to take this for a title, I know. I don’t usually like to be that obtuse in the naming of my quilts.
But it reminded me of the dailiness of quilting, for me. That nearly every day I am at a small feast at my “table” — my sewing room — partaking of the goodness of cloth and patches and stitching. It makes me happy, and so it’s not a far leap to think of this as my daily bread.
Even when I intensely dislike what I’m doing.
Yes, making this quilt was one moan after another, working on it, wadding it in the corner, avoiding it. These are not my kind of fabrics, and making teensy 1-1/2″ half-square triangles is not my favorite thing to do. But I adore the designer (Lisa Bongean) and so I was determined to be a Brave Girl and finish up this quilt.
It won’t win any awards for piecing, or for that matter, quilting, but it will win prizes for being DONE. So now I can post this:
Yep, seven down and five to go.
In other happy news, we had Camp Create last weekend. For years a group of us had gotten together regularly, the first Friday of every month for the Good Heart Quilters. It came time to end that monthly gig (no short story on this tale, so I’ll skip the telling), so we went out with a bang, with Camp Create.
I put up a bunch of photos on Instagram, but for the historial (hysterial?) record, I’ll post them again here on the blog.
Amy, in the green shirt, above, teaches classes on handmade books at the local art museum, and came to teach us the Coptic Stitch and how to make a book from scratch. I could go on and on about her, but she is waaaay talented, as are all the ladies above. She anchored the first half of Camp Create, held in Leisa’s (air-conditioned) garage.
All our books. One of my favorite lines of the day was when one of us hadn’t finished up our binding and laid it down with the rest. Amy carefully tucked the threads underneath saying, “We can hide our secrets.” Yes, indeed. Mine is the green one with the butterfly (click the link for the video). Amy had the best papers from which we could choose.
Then we had lunch and switched gears to screen printing. Both Simone and I had taken Karen Lewis’ class at QuiltCon, and Julie was also experienced at this technique, so we taught the technique to these fine crafters.
For those of you wondering where to get the screen printing cloth, I found this “utility fabric” at JoAnn Fabrics, and it seemed to work great. It’s not 100% cotton, but I did all my printing with this and I’m happy with it.
In other news, I’m making progress on my Hexie Flower quilt, a design by Sherri McConnell. (More info on her blog.)
And here’s my contribution to Hexie Lore: punch a hole in your paper. You can anchor your hexie with a straight pin while you stitch (so the fabric doesn’t move around), and at the end, insert the tip of your scissors into the hole and pop it out. I use the basting method where you don’t take out your stitches, and I use a hexie template to cut out the fabrics.
Lastly, we had some visitors. I set up the grandchildrens’ beds downstairs in the dining room, and Maddy’s bed was taken over by their dog, Cookie. Really, it’s more like their younger sibling, Cookie.
A summer treat: frozen yogurt. We miss you already–come again!!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
Thank goodness I didn’t buy any of those cute little tins!
Wow! So much happening in your world: hexies and screen-printing and cake and Cookie and the biggest garage I have ever seen that is not in a fire station or commercial building (or is it?).
Hurrah for finishing the tiny triangles. I have visited the kitchens at Hampton Court Palace. The title makes perfect sense to me. 🙂
You win the patience award with that little 24″ piece – it would have remained in the corner had it been me!!! But it turned out great and what a wonderful name – it’s so true that sewing is like “bread with every meal” and aren’t we glad it comes with no calories?! So happy you enjoyed the screen printing (which is still on my list since my class was stamping with Karen Lewis and SP was full) – did it make you want to do a bigger piece, like fabric to sew with?
i am loving the Hexie quilt! I need some handwork for 2 upcoming trips!
I am so proud of you for sticking it out with a project that did not thrill you from the get go, much less the tiny piecing.
The “booking” and screen printing looks like a lot of fun and I’m sure it was with those gals.
Is that your daughter’s family? She looks so much like you. Family times are the best!
I like the idea of using the tea towel, sometimes I see a cute or beautiful ones but I restrain myself because they’re not the most practical for daily use.
About the 1.5″ square triangles, I feel your pain! I am making a quilt using Elizabeth Hartman’s “Greenhouse” as the basis (I’ve never been one to follow a pattern exactly). Lots of 1″ and 1.5″ squares to cut and turn into half square triangle blocks. Lots of envelopes to hold the pieces!
I certainly admire your perseverance in getting your frivols done even when you aren’t inspired. The idea for the name is really clever with how you make a nice tie to your daily quilting. I also must say that is one heck of a garage! looks like you all had a good time.
Congratulations on another completed Frivols, and I really like the name. It does make me think of getting in creative time every day. The group creating time looks like a lot of fun and I really like your tip for hexie papers. I’d probably put a small nip of an earplug on the end of the pin to not poke myself. 🙂
So many fun happenings here! Well, perhaps not so much for you with that Frivols quilt, but I sure admire you for sticking to making them, even when they’re not up your alley. This “bread one” sure had a lot of piecing!
Your book-making retreat looks like fun. Something different, a little messy (paint), hanging with young people, and enjoying treats… looks like it was a great day. But I didn’t see any pictures of you! 😦
Cookie is a cutie, and obviously knew a soft spot when she saw one. Happy for you to have spent time with family and kidlets. They’re the best.
I think you deserve a medal piecing that Frivols mini! I’m not sure I would have had the tenacity or inclination to keep going with fabric I did not like! Well, you are over half way now, so its all downhill to the finish line! I now want to learn how to make a hand made book! Yours looks lovely!
Congratulations on finishing your “Bread with Every Meal” quilt :)I had such a wonderful time at Camp Create! Thanks again for the invitation and the shout-out (you are too nice!).
Bringing Good Heart to such a memorable close – still learning, still being together – is a useful lesson in how to lay down respectfully something that has had so much meaning.