Missing Week

I am not sure where the time has gone.  I wish I could say I spent it happily quilting but that was not the case. The past two weeks was somewhat of a roller coaster that made me question just what my goals are. 

I wrote in previous posts that I was going to treat my job like a job and not a career.  I have been making an effort to do so but I still fall short sometimes.  I guess it is the work ethic I was raised with.  I will do the best job I can and I will spend the time necessary to do the job right.  But I am trying to make my quilting my ultimate career. So I need to make time for that.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a recruiter about some job opportunities.  Only one was in commuting distance and the recruiter thought I would be perfect for the job. It would be a step up in responsibility and in authority.  It would also double my commute.  I spent two days updating my resume and contacting my references. I submitted my resume with the thought "it can't hurt to see what they have to offer" I did submit my resume but as of yet I haven't heard back from the recruiter. I have also heard from 3 other recruiters.  I gave them all my resume but made it clear that I wasn't interested in relocating. 

This past week I have been highly involved in a major audit of my current employer.  This is our annual 3rd party audit and is very important. I spent a lot of time and energy on this audit.  This is the first year I've been totally involved.  Plus in another week I will be going to Illinois for a week for work.  This is the first year that I have been involved in the Quality managers meeting.  So I am finding more responsibilities in my current job.

All of this has had me focusing on everything other than quilting. I am considering the possibility of doubling my commute which will definitely take away from my quilting time. More responsibility will take away from my quilting time.  I really need to determine what my work/life balance is going to be.

I did finally get the blocks for Winry's quilt made. I finished the last four blocks today. A single block is composed of six half triangle units. The quilt calls for 48 blocks. Funny thing, I did more work than I needed to.  You see, I only perused the pattern.

I was confused as to what constituted a block. I was thinking that the block was two of he actual blocks sewn together. So as I was sewing the blocks, I was also sewing two blocks together. So I have a head start on finishing the top. But I had a panicked moment when I realized that I wasn't going to get 48 of the double blocks out of the half square triangles I had made.

The real extra work came from making the half triangle units. The Ribbon Dance quilt pattern is designed for 10 inch squares. I used 5 inch squares.  Which was fine since the 10 inch squares were going to be cut into quarters anyway. What I didn't do was read how may squares I was going to need. The pattern called for using 36 ten inch squares to make 288 half square triangle units. I used 168 five inch squares and made 336 half square triangle units. I ended up with 48 half square units left over. I will have to set them aside for a doll quilt later on.

I do really like how this quilt is coming together.  Hopefully this next week I will get more done on it.  That is somewhat doubtful since we are having company for the fourth. But I can try to carve some time out this next week.

Hopefully work is not interfering with you quilting goals.  Have you got a work/life balanced worked out?  What works for you?