Posting because it's time

The new job has totally jumbled my schedule and I'm still learning how to live in an 8-5 world. I don't know when to take relaxation time, when to work on chores, or when to work on projects. I don't know when to post to my blogs. I'm trying, but life hasn't quite fallen into a regular in rate and rhythm.

My life is in atrial fibrillation.

At least it's not in a fast re-entrant ventricular rate. It's just irregularly irregular.

That's nursing humor. Heh.

I finished quilting the first kids quilt and it came out very nice. Now, I'm working on the second one and I hope to get it done over this weekend....or at least the quilting part. For my quilting, I stitched in the ditch along a few lines to stabilize it, and now I'm adding vertical lines of loops.

A little bit of hand applique got done and that's good. Soon I will post a picture of my latest Aunt Millie's Garden  block, which I call "Liberty Flower and Tulip."  After I'm done with this block, I will certainly be good at acute angle points and oval leaves!

Oh, and I just realized! This is my 200th post!

More on the new job, and a few ramblings

I started the new job last week and I survived the first week. It's actually very nice and I like it a lot so far. Change, for me, is difficult, so I'm trying to be kind to myself during this transition - not too much pressure to be productive in my non-work hours. I may not be able to post as much as I'd like.

And now, the ramblings...

I saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love this weekend. I totally enjoyed it and I think they did a nice adaptation of the book. I started rereading the book....and I'm addicted again. I'm so into self-awareness and self-actualization.

I participated in a quilt workday on Saturday in which I made two tops. I was a total goof when I attempted to make one of my quilts in the "simple" manner by stitching around the edges and turning it inside out. When I turned it inside out, the batting was on the outside and the backing was on the inside!

So, I thought I'd do the right thing and rip out the stitching and do over. 

And then....I did the same damn thing! I stitched, turned, and ended up with the batting on the outside AGAIN. What a dork.

Since then, I took it home, fixed it for real, and I've been quilting it in a pleasing zig zag pattern. It has come out quite nice. The fabric selection in the kit was very contemporary - mauve, plum, orange, pink and white in retro-modern . It sounds strange, but it really works!

Here I am with a four patch, part of the second quilt top I made.

A New Job

Today I started my new job. It's a desk job. It's back in my comfort zone.

I think it will be awesome. No, really! The positive energy in that office is palpable. There's enthusiasm, even if they're over worked. They're friendly and relaxed, and they do team builder things.

I was nervous about the job - will I like it? Will it end up frustrating me? Will I be happy? Is it too much?
Oy, I'm responsible for 16 units - more than any of my coworkers have assigned.  I will serve on committees. I will attend meetings. I have a pager and I have my own phone number.  Back to professional-land.

I'm glad my first day went well. My new boss even hugged me - now that's something else.

Maybe, just maybe, I've found it....where I belong.

What does a quilter do in Charlottesville, VA?

I visited some family in Charlottesville for the past 4 days. Naturally, as a quilter, I can't stay away from the fabric shops entirely, and indeed, I got a lot done on my Aunt Millie's Garden applique. I'm starting on block number 5, can you believe it?!?!

The main quilt shop in Charlottesville is called Cottonwood. It is located across Emmet St from Barracks Road shopping area, more towards the north end.

In a town where Talbot's clothing might be considered a little too edgy, Cottonwood toes the conservative line on traditional style quilts and fabrics. Their fabric selection is extensive, focusing on traditional colors and patterns. They have a small but well-chosen selection of children's prints.  Moda is well-represented in their collection. I was impressed by their tasteful Holiday selections for Christmas and Halloween, and they featured some nice fall themed bolts at the front of their store.

They connect to a Bernina store, and I assume that is where they hide the thread. I didn't see any in the main shop.... and I didn't venture to the Bernina side. Didn't want to risk being accosted by a lonely salesperson, then I'd be forced to confess I'm a Pfaff user.

Cottonwood offers a well-curated selection of patterns and books, including some fabric purses and non-quilt projects. They have a little, but well-stocked section containing wool for felting, hooking, and applique. Their notion section has the essentials, but it should be noted for the excellent selection of needles for hand work (betweens for quilting, applique needles, all in the better brands). There is a spacious room for classes in the back.

I've stopped in this shop on previous visits to Charlottesville. I like it, and you never know what you're going to find. One time I found an adorable purse pattern by Lazy Girl Designs, and I've made that purse three times already. (It's the Veronica Pocketbook.) This time, I bought two fat quarters of green to add to the greens in my applique. Additionally, I was intrigued a display they had including some Moda canvas fabric in black, gray, white, and chartreuse, accented in fuschia pink. I think this color combination might be  "the next big thing."

If I lived in C'ville, likely I wouldn't shop there exclusively, since it's not precisely in my taste. It's one of those quilt shops you count on being there - while you might not find the latest trend, you will be sure to find high quality fabric and something in every color. But you know, I bet you could put together a thoroughly modern color pallette / pattern grouping if you chose from among their collection with an innovative eye and unconventional spirit.

Charity Quilts

As I've said before, I am chair of the Charity Quilts committee in my guild. It's fun and frustrating all at the same time.

The fun part is the treasure hunt in the charity quilts stash. We have a ton of fabric, lots of crochet thread for tying, some notions, and a few quilt kits. Some of this fabric is high quality. Lots of it is unknown quality, some is crap.  It is semi-organized by color and fabric type. Some of it is very old. When you search through a box, you never know what you're going to find.

The frustrating part is managing how much fabric there is and developing ways to get people to use it on charity projects. Additionally, no one seems to like to quilt these projects - that's the bottleneck. We can get people to make blocks, make tops, and bind quilts. We have a backlog of about 50 tops with backs that are ready to be quilted.

I'm trying to organize some projects out of the gigantic stash.

I have a committee who helps me with the organization and putting projects together. However, what this group really needs is vision, direction, and motivation. That's me.

Yesterday, my bee members came over and helped organize the stash, as much as we could in two hours. We got so much done! Yet, at the same time, it was frustrating because no one wanted to throw out anything. Lots of statements like:

• "Oh, you could use this in a nine-patch!"
• "You could fussy cut this little piece."
• "This would be a nice Amish quilt."
• "Oh, don't break up that collection of fabrics! It could be such a nice quilt!"

Then they lovingly place it back in the box. Well....? Who could make that nine-patch? Who could communicate the vision? Who could design a quilt that uses the fussy cut blocks?

The implication is that I'll do it. Well...? Phooey! I'm going to work on the projects I want to work on because there are too many projects in the stash for one person to organize. It was a little annoying to have them return the burden all back on me and suggest that I'm not efficient or creative enough to come up with a project for every little scrap.

I know, that's not really what they were saying. They weren't wrong in their suggestions, just not supportive of my point of view. We have too much fabric to handle in a practical way, we don't have a good method for organizing and storing it, and we don't have enough labor to use it efficiently.

Some of these fabrics have copyright dates in the 1990s and earlier!! One kit was a shop-hop project from 2000. If no one has touched it in 10 years, then I think it needs to be broken up and added into the stash, not be kept together as a kit. And it's easy for them to say keep it when 20-30 boxes are not in their houses.

OK, I've had my rant. As long as I'm strong in my viewpoint, I'll be fine, and I will definitely have some fun with this office.

I have made a mystery quilt project and a fun Curious George project. There are copious strippy piece blocks to be made. Yesterday, we picked out 7 quilts worth of yardage to give to a Girl Scout who is doing a quilt related Gold Award project. Last night I found a collection of 10 inch squares - "Layer Cake" size! New project!!

This office appeals to the quilt designer in me. Let's see what I can come up with!

Job

I got the offer, finally.

I asked a few questions. They answered them.

I accepted the position.

No one (at work) knows yet.  It will become public on Monday..... oy.

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Equilibrium upset!! Change! Oh no! Nervous! Excited! Scared! Relieved!

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The salary in the offer was a little better than I expected. I tried to "do the right thing" and talk about my desire the change jobs with my supervisor at work before I accepted and she was informed via HR. It was an attempted courtesy. Yet, she was not available most of Thursday and all day on Friday. So, I went ahead, accepted the job, and will wait for Monday to let the world know.

I have butterflies in my stomach already, and it's only Sunday afternoon!!!

Guild day for July

Today was guild day, and it was such fun. The reason it was fun was that I gave of myself and it was received well.

This year, I'm chair of the Charity committee. We make quilts for clients of a shelter for victims of domestic violence. We have an extensive and overwhelming stash of fabric. My instinct is to try to organize it, but it's really too large to organize before moving forward. Organizing will come in steps as we do more projects.

The committee came over a week ago and we put together kits for guild members to take and make. Kits are much more fun, and much less intimidating than a whole pile of fabric. We have block kits and top kits and quilting kits and binding kits. Something for everyone.

At the meetings, Charity Quilts usually sets up a table with displays and projects. I worked very hard on this display yesterday and it came out quite nice. I used one of those tri-fold displays boards you can buy at Wal*Mart and used some scrapbooking techniques and materials to create an overview of the committee and the projects. Color, organized display, a touch of design: it all worked. People are getting interested.

I got lots of positive feedback from members. They respond to the positive energy.

The other major activity at the July meeting is the garage sale. I got rid of several things and I picked up a few bargains. I had the top bid on a Thimbleberries quilt kit called Snow Garden Wall Quilt, which someone had bought and then decided not to make. Only $10!

Another find was a pattern for a kimono by Folkwear. Check out that site - a very different collection of patterns. You don't find them every day.