No New Job for Me

My interview was not so great. Within 15 minutes both myself and the interviewer knew the job was not for me. I wish they had done a better job of describing the position; it could have saved all of us a lot of trouble. I sat down and looked at this job posting with my current manager, and he agreed that it would be a good fit. Then it was revealed to me that I would be doing financial forecasting and, although the job was called "Associate Production Manager" it became apparent that the position really is that of an account executive. Even if I thought I could do it, I'm not into that kind of responsibility and pressure. I apologized for wasting the person's time, he did not seem the least bit annoyed, and said I should keep the interview appointment with the next person. He called it an informational interview. That actually turned out great. The person already knew I was not suited for the job, but we spoke for an hour. She gave me good career advice and we talked a lot about the state of the company and employment in general. I felt better after that.

I did have a hard time going to work today. I am so burned out and now there is no hope in sight, for the near future, anyway. I don't even care if I make more money, I just want to do something different.

Fairy of the Woods, now on Etsy

Fairy Quilt in Progress

So here is Kate's quilt. We've got a big space to fill at the top, I believe it will be text. I think she wants the words "Fairy with Mushrooms." across the top. I said we could think on that a while. Mainly I want to think on how to go about it.

In other news, my son turns 25 today, happy birthday Drew!

Also, The nice folks at the Schweinfurth Art Center left a message on my answering machine and told me that it really was just one side of the quilt that needed to be 20", so both of my entries are eligible. I wonder if I will get in?

Fashion Diet

I read something in the NY Times that  I found  intriguing. It's about people who have taken this web challenge where you pick six items of clothing from your existing wardrobe and only wear those pieces for a month. (underwear doesn't count) Can you imagine? One of the things I liked about the article was that they showed the people they interviewed and the clothes they picked and their different combinations. I can admit to you that I have a stupid amount of clothes. I lost weight this year and I found that, rather than finding a piece of clothing that looked good and thanking my lucky stars and buying it, I now find many, many things that look good and have trouble not buying them. I am starting to get out of that famine mentality and getting more sensible. Just the same, I think I own about 7 summer dresses, 10 skirts, a million tank tops and t-shirts etc. Even when I've gone on Motorcycle trips with tiny side bags as luggage, I've managed to take more than 6 pieces of clothing. I just went shopping today, as a matter of fact. I applied for a job within the company I work for and I have 3 back-to-back interviews on Tuesday. I don''t own a suit. I hope no one expects me to wear one, because our company went casual years ago. I do have a black blazer and a black skirt. I just bought a blouse that seemed a little more  business-like. I wonder if I will get the job? I wonder if I really even want the job? Whenever I think about getting a new job, I think, "What if I really hate it?" That's just an excuse for not making a change. We'll see what happens.

In other news I have been quilting Kate's Fairy quilt a little every night. I used metallic thread in my sewing machine for the first time. I tried it once and it became a dreadful tangled mess on the back. At that time, my sewing machine was new and I was kind of intimidated by it. I tried the metallic thread again and it is just fine. And sparkle-y! Pictures soon, I swear.

A Very Productive Weekend

I did a ton of art work this weekend. That means I spent way too much time in the basement, where my sewing area is. There is a project going on to make the attic my new work space, but it is all contingent on my husband, and whether or not he feels like working on this project. The summer is a complete loss, he only wants to ride his motorcycle(s) and his bicycle during the summer. He lives to be outside, and he is not wasting any summer day being inside. Unfortunately, he starts getting depressed during the fall, so that also stands in the way when the summer is over. But I digress.

The fact is, I work in the basement. It's dark and damp and here is a new twist, we have CAVE CRICKETS lately. I don't think they hurt you, but they are really scarey looking. The icing on this dreadful cake is that I am a terrible slob. My space generally just gets worse and worse, until I can't take it anymore and then I clean it up. It takes hours and it is hard to spend that much time down there, even doing fun things, much less cleaning a hellish mess.

Despite everything, art was made. I wonder what I would be like if I had a lovely, well-lit space? The really good news is that I got Kate to make a quilt. It is hard to get her going, and she does not seem to be able to get it together enough to self start a project like that. I began by inviting her to make something. I pointed her to her small stash of fabric. She has some novelty prints and a few otherr fabrics that she has picked out. She also has unlimited use of my fabric. She picked out a fairy themed fabric, and she was off and running. We chose some background fabric. I usually make suggestions like, "You will need a fabric for the background. " and let her pick, then I will say, "What else do you want to put here?" She decided she wanted mushrooms with her fairy. So we went through the process of picking fabric for those, then she drew mushrooms in her sketch book, and we copied them to the back of the Wonder under and she cut them out and ironed them on. Then she decided she wanted logs with moss. I did not think it was such a great idea, but she definitely wanted it. She also angled the logs in a way that I would not have done it, but I have to let her have her own way, because otherwise, I might as well make the thing. In the end, I think it turned out great. I will do the machine quilting, but I will get her to do some hand work. She has sold three little quilts in the past on our etsy site, but hasn't sold much lately. I have no pictures right now but I will see what I can do this week.

I noticed that I have a couple of new followers on this blog (which is a miracle, since I hadn't posted for 3 months) so, for those who don't know, my daughter Kate is developmentally disabled. She is a member of the ARC and a Special Olympic athlete. She is nearly 27 years old, has a job and travels to it on public transportation. She doesn't read or write very well, but has really taken to Facebook. In some ways it is like having a young teenager in the house forever.

Garden 2010

QAQ entry

Today I am shipping a CD with images to QAQ: Quilt = Art = Quilt. I have never entered a quilt competition before. Someone at work gave me an entry form months ago, but I had until August 20 to enter. Usually I find out about these things two weeks before the deadline, and I don't have anything that meets the criteria.

So, I got my act together and prepared an entry. Right as I was about to ship, I read over the entry form once more and realized that the requirement for size, 20 inches, must mean that each side of the quilt must be at least 20 inches. At first I had imagined that at least one side must be 20 inches. Looking back, I have no idea why I thought that. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped and tried to find something else to submit, I would end up just not doing it. I wrote a letter to the judges explaining that I realize that one of the entries is not eligible and thanked them for considering the other. That's it.

Where to Begin?

I was finished with college classes on June 11, but it has taken me a long time to get "back," so to speak. I have 2 draft posts that I never finished or published.  I really jacked myself up but good this past spring. I took 2 college classes and one of them was very intense. Also, it is very busy at work that time of year. And, it's hard-core garden time, at least if you expect to enjoy flowers over the summer. So, long story short, I was busy. But, things are good. I began easing myself in by reading whatever I wanted, not text books. I had 2 Quilting Arts magazines that were still in plastic. Then I went to the library and got random, interesting-looking books. Then I started looking at my sewing machine. I started poking around in the unfinished project pile.

I went on vacation. Joe, Kate and I went to the Adirondacks and did some hiking, swimming and kayaking. We also visited good friends that live up there. We had a blast.

This is us on top of Porter, one of 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. If you climb all 46 peaks, you are a  46-er. Joe has decided we should be 46-ers, but as of now we have climbed 2, Cascade and Porter. That took us 8 hours. We were so whipped at the end, but I am happy we did it.

We came back on Wednesday, and everyone went back to work on Thursday, except me. I had 2 delicious days to myself! That's when I started to sew. By the weekend I had 2 new pieces to put on Etsy, plus something I finished months ago and never got around to putting up. When I posted, I got a message asking if I wanted to post directly to facebook. That must be new, right? So I did.

Now I am back at work. It is some kind of gift that this place is dead quiet. Usually, when I go on vacation I am greeted with chaos when I return. I have virtually nothing to do. OK, now here is a very cool thing. I met someone in the hall here at work that I am friends with on facebook. She saw my Etsy stuff, went to my site and bought something! I haven't sold anything since March. Today is such a good day, and it's only noon.

New Work