Quilting

I have never taken on a quilting project. My great grandmother quilted. She would make a quilt for family members as a wedding present. It was one of those traditions that many of my family members looked forward to. It was a rite of passage almost. She always quilted by hand. Every stitch was time and love. They were beautiful quilts, still cherished by our family. I, unfortunately, will not receive  such an heirloom since she passed away in my early teens. However, I remember all of the love she put into those quilts. All of the good wishes she would send in those quilts.

My mom took up quilting awhile back. Her hobby, it seems, is collecting crafts. She did not have the patience for hand-quilting, nor do I. I am a bit of a immediate satisfaction kind of person. So I approached my mom to see if she would teach me the art of quilting. She said that she had wanted to start a new project as well. So we took on the project together. 

We are starting with a simple chevron pattern (looks like zig zags).

Lesson 1: cutting the fabric

Iron the fabric first. She says the washing the fabric is suggested, but she never did. So we aren't going to either.

Then cut into manageable pieces. Then into the size the pattern requires. This is tedious work already. It is also not all that inexpensive. The sewing machine, thread, cutting mat, plastic ruler, rotary cutter, fabric, etc. It adds up. Then add time. 

I took a photography class and in the advanced class the teacher taught us how to price our work. Figure an hourly rate, lets say $10. Then take the time to develop  the film, print, framing, taking the picture, and cost of materials. The picture really started to get expensive. 

If you are quilting for money, the quilt is going to get expensive (we are talking $100's). If you are quilting for love, then the expense is totally worth it.

So that is where I am at now. Ironing and cutting fabric squares with my mom. So far, it is a labor of love and a great time with my mom.

Baking

I love to bake. I grew into loving to bake. I didn't start truly loving it until I was 25. When I moved to Florida, I started to miss Sunday dinners at my grandparents' house. My grandma would have a whole table of great food and multiple desserts to please every palate. I didn't think much about the tradition until we moved 1200 miles away from it. 

So on a trip back to Indy, I hit my grandma up for some recipes. I got some of everyone's favorites. My dad's favorite jelly roll, family/world favorite sugar cookies (top secret and you will never see published), great-grandma's bread, etc. The time gathering these recipes was precious to me. The care taken to perfect each recipe over time. The little handwritten notes in the cookbooks. The family's little secrets. 

I love to bake. Cooking is cool too, but I love to bake. I love the family time, the gift of a baked good to someone you love, the time it takes to take ingredients that don't really taste good on their own and make it into magical deliciousness. It is kind of like family...they work as a team and in the end magic happens. It makes life slow down a little bit. In life, slowing down every once in awhile is important and anything important is worth the time. Baking is worth the time.

Today, I made Banana Bread. It was a new recipe. I decided to double it because I have this notion of freezing it for later (we shall see). It barely fit in the biggest bowl, but I was careful. My mom was there every step of the way working in tandem. We are a great team. We have that relationship many people dream about. We are friends. Best friends. Friends bake together...they just do.

Anyway, back to the bread. For a first attempt, not too shabby. When I try a new recipe, I always go directly by the book. I respect the recipe maker's vision. After the first run, I start changing things. Maybe nuts next time. Maybe some cranberries. Switch it up a bit. 

I am not giving a recipe here 1) because it is not my own 2) getting back to basics is just about the act of getting back to basics. It isn't about a certain recipe...it is about the journey. 

So take some time and find something you would buy, be it bread, cookies, brownies, cupcakes. Find a recipe and try it out. See what ingredients go into it. Compare it to the packaged version. I am sure you will see a few ingredients on the package you won't find in your pantry. For example, my box of pancake mix includes "sodium caseinate"...spell check doesn't even know what that it. "Sodium" I understand, "caseinate" I don't. Not sure where I will find that in my cupboard. I digress.

Bake it. Share the experience with someone else. Be it bringing them in the kitchen chaos or bringing them the fruits of your labor. Food used to be a social affair and we sometimes demonize it. 

Get back to the basics. Bake something.