Supervising & Quilting

Supervising

I have been replete with my blogging duties. I hit the ground running when I came home, doubling my hours at work and learning my new Supervisory Duties. It is so much fun, but it is taking a while for my body to get used to standing/running 32 hours a week. Ah, sometimes I pine for the young body I used to have, but I am thankful for Ibuprofen - that keeps the pain at bay. . .

Of course, when I was younger, we couldn't afford for me to work for such small pay. . .

For those who care. . .I have been learning how to "open," "close," stock, display, supervise, make deposits and do special orders. I have been put in charge of ordering "fleece" for the time being - which is no small job, since we sell numerous bolts of it every week. We have the largest and best selection in this area.

Yesterday, I listed the tasks I thought that needed to be done around the store as well as a few the store manager and other supervisor listed and assigned them to the day workers in addition to the regular tasks of cutting fabric and running the register. It was fun. I got to pitch in and help where I wanted, pulled some bolts of fleece off the storage wall shelves and put them out. We rearranged some Home Decor, put out new bolts of fabric, and moved around displays. We got a lot done the past 2 days.

Tonight I work the evening shift, which is usually less demanding - except when customers come in right before closing and are looking to outfit their new homes with curtains for various rooms. . . I am planning to take a quilting class in the morning to learn some of the new quilting techniques so I can better assist customers in that area.

Quilting

Most of my quilting expertise was learned growing up. During the summers, I would quilt with my mom, her sisters and their mother out in the shade next to Grandma's house. Most of the cutting, piecing (putting the smaller pieces of cloth together), and or embroidery (for quilts that had embroidered blocks) were already done. So I didn't do those things until later. I have made several quilts through the years of different kinds, but I want to learn more about cutting the fabric with the use of the cutting mat and various plastic guides that make the piecing quicker and the quilts more exact. (Growing up, we used cardboard for "patterns." My Grandma Smith made star quilts for each of her 40 something grandchildren, and traced her pattern over and over. Since there were several cousins between the ages of my sister and I, by the time she made my sister's quilt, the diamond pieces used to make the star had grown in size by nearly a third, making her star and her quilt much larger than mine.

When I was in my early 20s. I cut my "patterns" from clear lids to avoid the distortion one gets from using a cardboard pattern over and over. I would place the lid over the pattern and trace it with a permanent marker, then cut it out using industrial scissors. I was proud of my ingenuity, but my crude "patterns" are nothing compared to the precise pattern one can get from the factories these days. Additionally, I had to trace and cut each piece out individually, which was very time consuming (but I found rather relaxing.) With cutting mats, rotary cutters, and the plastic guides, one can cut several layers of fabric with one "swoosh" of the cutter, and cut 10s and 20s of a piece in the same time it used to take me to cut one - all without tracing anything.

But for now, I will go. Many things to do before work tonight. I have found it easier to catch up on reading blogs than writing - but I will try to do better on my day's off. . .