Committed

I'm committed to lots of things.  My family.  My friends.  My crafting.  But right now, I committed to finding a job closer to home.  I had a miserable ride in to work this morning.  It took me 40 minutes to go the final 4 miles of my commute.  I'm not exaggerating.  I wish I was.  Altogether, it took me an hour and 50 minutes just to get to work.  I was soooo very frustrated but many of my co-workers were stuck in that traffic too.

I'm committed to finding yet another route to work tomorrow, even if it means driving through Ypsilanti to do so.  I'd much rather be moving along through its downtown at 25-35 mph than sitting at a complete standstill on the so-called expressway.  And this was in perfectly good, clear weather.  What's it going to be like when the snow starts to fall???  I hope I can come up with an alternate work situation before then.

Good Deeds

This past Thursday was our GLHQ guild meeting.  We had Jacquie Gering as our speaker and she was wonderful.  I loved her quilts and she is so friendly.  I'm sorry I didn't sign up for her workshops but I'll look for her in the future.

I showed my Keeping Tabs quilt even though I hadn't finished sewing down the binding.  Truthfully, I barely started sewing it down but I wanted to show it anyway.  One of our members is getting up there in years -- she's 88 and such a dear.  She asked if she could finish sewing down my binding for me as she's 'just sitting on the couch anyway these days.'  At first I hesitated because I wanted to do it but then I realized that by allowing her to do it she was feeling productive and helpful.  I thanked her profusely and gladly handed over my quilt.

Isn't nice when you can allow someone to do something for you and it makes both of you happy???!!!!  I tend to be pretty independent and don't often allow others to do things for me but I am really glad I 'let' Lee do this for me.

Catching Up

Last week was a really long one for me at work.  Three days were 11+ hours long and one day I made a trip to Lansing from Ann Arbor after work for nothing.  Long story, I'll tell it soon.

I've been moaning and groaning about this new job, saying I'll never last 6 weeks, but I have.  One day last week I recalled that I said the same thing about my job at MetLife, more than 29 years ago and look how long that lasted.  My new director was in town last week and commented on how confident I sound, compared to when I first started there.  Duh.  I must have said it a hundred times while job hunting, that I can learn any database given a little time to wander around and play with the system.

I haven't stopped looking for another job because it sure would be nice to be closer to home.  For now this will do.  I'm hoping for a lighter week ahead because I really want to get home early enough to get some sewing done.  I sewed the binding on my Keeping Tabs quilt and have to sew it down by hand now, hopefully before the guild meets on Thursday.

As my friend Sue would tell you, I'm spending my paycheck at the quilt shops near my office.  So much great fabric out there - so little time!  I started a new Hexie project today with some beautiful Art Gallery fabrics I picked up yesterday at Creative Quilt Kits in Brighton -- had to check out their new digs.  I really like the new spot and when I have more time to browse I'll be back.

Keeping Tabs Reveal

Last Monday I took my quilt top, backing, and a new-to-me cotton batting called Soft and Crafty (hope they didn't mean crappy...) to the folks at Quality Quilting in Ann Arbor.  It happens to be less than 5 minutes from my office -- that's one convenient thing about this job.

I got the call from them on Thursday that it was ready to be picked up.  I jumped in my car and zipped right over there.  I am amazed at their turn-around time.  After work, I stopped by Pink Castle Fabrics because a) I could use their large cutting table to trim up my newly finished quilt, b)They were having a 30% off sale, and c) I had yet to choose a binding fabric.

After trimming up the quilt I scoured the bolts for the right binding fabric and after auditioning many different options I ended up finding none that worked just right.  As luck would have it, I have enough leftover fabric from my backing fabric to do the deed.  I hope to have the binding sewn on by the end of the week.  Phew!

Control

Does your life ever seem to get out of control?  You feel like you can't do anything you WANT to do, only things you HAVE to do?  That's how I've been feeling lately.  Mostly, I suppose, because I don't have any control over what's going on at my new job.  And it's not going well.  When you test software you have to have guidelines, expectations, and consequences.  I'm not feeling that at my place.  Still on the hunt for something better for me that is closer to home.  Every day is at least an 11 hour day including my commute, and some days are closer to 12 hours.  All work and no play makes Suz a sad girl.  And tired too.  Too tired to be crafty when I get home.  Maggie is lucky to get a well-deserved walk when I get home.

It's all temporary, I just know it.  Soon I'll be returning to my crafty self.  I did manage to make a super cute little bear to auction off at the quilt guild's Holiday Bazaar in December:

The pattern comes from a cute book, Sweet & Simple Handmade, by Melissa Wastney.  It's full of great projects, many of them upcycling items around the house.  I used minty green linen/cotton fabric from Pink Castle Fabrics (conveniently around the corner from my office -- thank GOD for something pleasurable!)  for the body, with a bit of cotton from my latest quilt for those cute ears, a little grosgrain ribbon, and #5 embroidery Perle cotton for the face.  I've bought a lot more colors of linen so I better get sewing!

AWOL

I've been busy and the blog's been quiet lately.  I promise I'll be back soon will lots to say and a few pictures, too.

Multi-Tasking: 1885 Technology Meets 2013 Technology