Time....

....is the one thing I wish I had more of lately.  That and maybe some extra energy! :c)

Its been another hectic two weeks here in upstate NY.  Just after I posted last time (about 2 weeks ago), I ended up picking up a nasty cold.  I spent 4 days straight not doing anything but drinking tea, reading and sleeping.  I'm still fighting off a cough from the cold, but it seems to be getting better.

Work has also been crazy the past few weeks.  Its the time of year that we have to do appraisals.  Originally, we didn't need to get them done until the end of April, so we (myself and two other managers) had plenty of time to get things written up and then to hold the meetings with the individuals.  Then on March 10th, HR told us that we needed to have EVERYTHING done by the end of March!  So I have 30 reviews that I had to write up and then schedule meetings and I only had about 2 weeks to do it.

Sadly, the reviews have not been going well.  The prior managers were very generous with the appraisals and the average for the group was 4.7 out of 5.... not really an average.  So this year the manager of the group decided he wanted to "fix" it...so all the ratings are lower.  We have some very unhappy people now simply because the number changed.  The text of the appraisals still say they're doing a good job, but people like to focus on that number.

Needless to say, its been stressful trying to get through these reviews.  I have 4 days (counting today) left of reviews and I'll be done by lunchtime on Friday.  Friday afternoon can't come fast enough at this stage!

I'm hoping that I can get back to some quilting soon.  Due to dealing with the reviews, I have been neglecting my quilting in the evenings.  In fact, I don't really get anything done in the evening but try to relax so that I can sleep at night.

I have some projects in the works.  Not that I needed another project, but I bought this applique quilt kit from Quilting by the Bay.  It looks really cute and I needed something that was fun and not too terribly difficult to piece.  All the appliques are fused, so it should come together rather quickly.  Plus, the overall design has some really great opportunities to do some custom quilting on it.

I also have some smaller projects in mind and a few finishes that I'm almost done with.  I have some binding to sew onto a few things and then they are done.

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring.  Its been cold here in NY still, but we have spurts of spring every now and then.  Hopefully the 50-degree weather later this week will help get rid of the 6+ inches of snow we still have on the ground.


Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

It's Been A While....

...since I last posted.  I can't believe its been 3 weeks already!

Work has been insanely busy the past two weeks as we had visitors from Mexico.  This meant getting into work earlier and staying much later to get everything done.  Plus, most evenings we took them out for dinner or other things, so I wasn't getting home until after 8pm most nights.

I haven't been doing a lot of quilting lately due to the insane hours I've been putting in at work.  However, I did get a small quilt on the frame this week.  Sadly, I think this is going to be one of the most epic fails and will likely be either thrown away or finished up with tying it so my cat can use it.

It started out pretty promising (the 2nd item in the picture below), but yet again, my quilting frame has failed me.


The quilting frame I have is an older generation frame for a Viking Mega Quilter.  It can be setup in 2 sizes, either a 5-foot length or a 10-foot length.  Unfortunately, where the pieces come together in the middle, it has a small step in the joint.  We've spent hours trying to smooth that you and adjust the frame over and over again to get rid of it, but it still lingers.  So when I try to do some custom quilting with it....the quilting ends up looking terrible, which is what has happened with the Winding Ways wall hanging.

I'm not sure at this point whether I will scrap the whole thing or attempt to rip out the stitches that are currently in it.  I'm seriously tempted to just scrap the whole thing and never think about it again...that's how frustrated I am with it.

I would love to upgrade to a better frame and machine.  While I could afford to do it, I still have a hard time justifying the cost, especially if I don't use it for a business or something of that sort.  For now I will do what I've done in the past.... quilt simple pantographs on the frame and anything that needs custom quilting will be basted on the frame and then quilted using my regular sewing machine.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations