I think I have it! Oh, Maybe I don't?

And the struggle continues, but once again I think I am getting a handle on it? I think? Tomorrow I work a full 7 hours, I really do hope I have a handle on it by then. I have actually had one almost full day doing my actual job and I think I may have it! Okay, Okay, if it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself, I am!

I have started this fast paced, every changing job at a large chain store and I like it, I do, but, I also like to know what I am going to do at work today. With this job...Not so much? I mean I have a rough idea, but not a for sure rock solid idea. There's a meeting in the morning. It kinda goes like - "today we are blah, blah, and doing this blah, blah, and our goal is to blah, blah." Then an hour into the plan "poof" and I am alright with poof .....but the problem is at the end of the day, I simply don't know if I have done my job? Some days I feel as if "I have it and it is conquered! Yay!" Other days I have no idea if I accomplished anything.

I know I should be grateful that I have a job at all, but I would be so much more comfortable knowing I was doing it right. Don't you think? Enough said about that. So there!

I am sitting here writing this while the temperature drops outside and I feel a distinct chill. The kitties are huddling around me for warmth and comfort and so I know, Winter is surely on its way. I have the pellet stove cranking and it is slowly getting warmer. I guess the days of leaving it off so the sun can warm the house are done for now.

I have been slowly adding to Elaine's Garden Quilt.

Plenty of time for handwork projects like Grandmother's Flower Garden and making scrubbies!

What are scrubbies you ask? Well they are the singularly most useful 5 minute crochet project in the world. Around here we make them by the dozens, everybody wants some! I make them for a friend that participates in many craft shows, she can't keep up with the demand all by herself! It's amazing, really!

All you need for some super special scrubbies!
Six strips of Tulle cut in 2" widths and a K hook!

So how do you make a scrubbie, you ask? Well you buy lots and lots of scrubbie material (ie. Tulle), the scrubbier the better  (but not so scrubbie that it takes your hide off while you crochet). My friend and I have a store that offers lots and lots of colors for us to choose from. We buy three yards of each color that we like, I usually end up with 40 + yards and I get 18 strips from each yard, that is three scrubbies when all is said and done, for the 42 yards of material that is 126 scrubbies. It may seem like a lot of the little treasures, but they go like hotcakes round here. I am forever passing them out as hostess gifts and just thinking of you trinkets, people love them!

Once you have your material and your K hook (I like the one with bamboo on the handle), you need to cut all that tulle into 2" strips like in the picture above. I bundle sets of six strips in a roll with an elastic around it, then I put them all into a huge basket and they look kind of pretty just like that! However, we need to make them into scrubbies, so first you tie 2 strips end to end, chain 5, and slip stitch to make a circle. Then you make 2 single crochets in every chain and single crochet until you are at the end of the first two strips. Join three more strips, single crochet in every single crochet until you are at the end of those strips. Add the final strip and single crochet in every other single crochet until there isn't room to do that any more, finish off and tuck any left over tulle into the scrubbie. Ta Da! One scrubbie made! Now make lots and lots and put them all in a huge basket and step back....Are the pretty?

Helpful Hint: I use a shape cutter and an old rotary cutter to make my strips. The shape cutter is one of those tools many quilters have in their collection. Mine is rectangular with slits at half inch increments, I can't remember who puts it out, but you can find one at most quilt shops and JoAnn's Fabrics.

Oh and just a little update on the job thing, it has been a week or so since I started this post and now - yes - now I think I finally have it! Yes, you go to work with no preconceived idea of what the day will be and you say "what are we doing today" to which ever boss you run across and carry on from there. Just forget about the this is my job or I did all of my job today. Just don't even think "This is it! This is my job!" because surely it won't be for long and that's okay, just roll with it! The days fly by and my feet hurt, but for the most part I am enjoying the hustle and bustle of Big Box retail (For Now).

Here's hoping everyone a fantastically, wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joanne

Okay, then? Now what?

Well, okay, I survived my first stretch of days, five in fact. Though thinking about it, I still don't know what my job is? I mean I was trained, but pulled away from the training so many times that I am not sure that I was trained. Then I worked a shift that was supposed to be doing my job, but was told not to do my job. Then, I spent the entire shift being moved from one job to the next, but none of them were "My Job", until 30 minutes before I left and then I was put on "My Job". Curiouser and curiouser???? So near as I can figure "My Job" is to go where I am told and do what is there until I am moved to another job. 

I don't know if this is the way the job always is or not, but I'm sure it is not for me to be moved around in an ever changing circle. I have always prided myself on my ability to work independently and this new way of working is very strange and disconcerting to me. I guess I like to know when I get up in the morning what I will be doing for the day. I mean, how do you measure success when you don't know if you are doing "Your Job"? I mean am I doing what I was trained to do? Or am I so clueless as to what needs to be done that I have to be told what to do? I am relatively sure I am doing the job(s) well as I keep getting thanked by the bosses, but it is something to adjust to for sure. 

Luckily, I really enjoy the people I work with and although the work is hard, I do enjoy doing it. I will just have to acclimate to the new environment and enjoy the benefits of working physically hard while leaving independence in neutral. This is a good exercise for me, working as a member of a closely knit team. These experiences will add greatly to my knowledge and my life. After all, everything put in our paths is an opportunity and I am grateful for this.

Luckily for me, I haven't been just readjusting to life, I have also been quilting!

I have been working on Bonny Hunter's Pineapple Crazy,
from the book String Fling!

This is one of the 200+ blocks that have 45 five pieces. Luckily
I have lots of friends who have been generously providing me
with lots and lots of different scraps!

I printed the 200+  foundations for these blocks on any scrap paper I could find. I tried everything from phone book pages (can you say massive paper jam) to old yellow legal pads cut down to size (they worked surprisingly well).

Other projects I have been working on are a memory quilt for my great niece Ash.

These don't look like much, but they will be big flower
petals that will be the focus in the center of the quilt.
These petals are all made from her baby clothes.

I have also been working on signature blocks for a guild project. Our guild, Mystic Quilting Friends are making enough signature blocks so we can all make our own quilt.

Three down and a dozen or so to go!

I also found this neat cigar box at Goodwill, instead of cigars it had six "Hanker Chiefs" rolled like cigars.

I don't know yet what I will do with the Hanker Chiefs, but
the box holds my signature block parts perfectly.

Another guild project, it is all the rage
with our girls!

This technique was introduced by one of our guild members to use up our scraps. I can see lots being made for charity projects. This one is going on the back of my sofa to keep us warm in the coming Winter!

And finally, the almost finishes, the quilts to be quilted!

There are 8 or 9 quilts in this pile!

The top quilt in this pile is one I call simply "Bright" as you can see from the one under it I usually work with my quieter colors, but when my client was making her final journey I felt the need to work with bright hopeful fabrics. 

Well there, that was a long post! I guess, although I was not posting, there was still much going on. I hope you have enjoyed my little tale.

Have a great day! 

Joanne

On Keeping Calm and Carrying On

Wow, it has been almost a year since I completed a post! What a year it has been? Today finds me rattled and nervous. Why you ask? Well, I have been on a roller coaster ride for about 2 months and I am not sure I am happy with where I am ending up.

Let's start from the pseudo beginning, the point of separation from "My Life", in short I lost my fairly well decent paying job. The job that paid all most of the bills and kept me in a sort of "Real My Life". You know I could buy some fabric and do a little me shopping for clothes and such, but primarily it paid for food, shelter, and the other costs of living. It allowed me a regular schedule I could count on and had provided a sort of balance that was doable in this ever worsening economy.

Now it was no one's fault that this job ended, it just ended. You see I am a home care provider for the elderly and those jobs end very abruptly. "Bam" and it is gone and so is my beloved client! So I absorbed a double blow, a lost job and the loss of someone I care very deeply for. I am not alone in this, it is simply just the way it is. Not really fair, but there you have it.

Okay, so now I am wondering why I am writing this? On one hand I would love people to understand the incredible work home care workers do and on the other hand I am, yes, feeling sorry for myself and trying to find my way back to solid ground. So, as for the home care workers, I say "Bravo". You sacrifice a great deal to provide this service and in doing so have no network of benefits or support. You go, you provide and when the job is over, you leave and that is it. It is up to you to hurry up and find more clients and enough income to carry on. And so I will take a pass on feeling sorry for myself and I will carry on - proud of the work I have done, happy for the rich experience I was allowed and the wonderful supportive family I became a part of.

Now at this point, after careful consideration and waiting for suitable clientele, I have decide to look elsewhere, everywhere, anywhere that there maybe vacation time, sick time, and retirement. After all, do I want to find myself in this situation again in a year, a week, a month from now? It is time for true stability, a job that lasts, a job that I can count on being there until I retire. Until then, I will make do. Until I find that elusive balance once again I will - "Keep Calm And Carry On" ! Well, at least I know I will "Carry On" and I will keep quilting!

Some of the many projects.

And quilting!

Have a wonderful and smile!