Establishing a new Work-Life-Balance

 

Looking across a section of the lake towards the Roman Cathedral at dusk

The change of job with the arrangement of two weeks there, two weeks with my family has led to a new way of counting time. Not sure how long that will last, but so far I have been going by “1^st phase in Ratzeburg”, “1^st phase home after Ratzeburg”, “2nd phase…” etc. Right now I am in the middle of “3^rd phase home after”, and that means that already half of my probationary period is over. I have arrived at a point where I have the feeling that I have pretty much acquired the necessary knowledge to work the kind of machine I did not know already, I remember mostly where things are and I am no longer itching to follow processes of dealing with patients as they were done at the former place, but am getting used to doing it the way as it is done there. I have begun to understand some of the more intricate dynamics within the team relationships and think I know whom to be aware of. I tell myself that I go there to work, not to make close friends, getting along with them in the working environment is the important thing. The head nurse is straightforward, no fiddling, and so far we have communicated very well, which is rather different from what I was used to before.

One of the reasons why I chose Ratzeburg is the fact that it is situated in lake country. And I wanted to go far a daily swim. Depending on the work schedule I go before work, or on a long and extended walk after work. In January I started by wading in the water up to my knees and thought I would continue to do so until sometime in the spring. But in February, after my return and a first wade I decided to not wait any longer and have been immersing completely since. It is cold, indeed, and the first three times were very very difficult. After that, it has become easier and easier and as the water has warmed up a little – from 2 degrees centigrade to just above 7 last time I was up there – my swimming time has increased a bit, too. 

Bike trip to Schaalsee

 I love the lake, I listen to the birds and use my app to identify bird songs and enjoy the walks. 

 

I have received my rental agreement for the apartment I will be moving into and hope that the windows will really get exchanged soon enough that the moving-in date stated in the contract is actually going to materialize.

Thus I can say that the work side of life is on a very good road. I feel much happier in that arrangement than I have felt in the previous work situation, and I am much happier in that town than I have been in many years where we have been living for the past 19 years.

So far, however, I have not been able to seriously commit to a daily art practice when I am up there, although I meant to. I am making something every day, but often (only) knitting or spinning, because the room in the nurse’s dormitory that I am staying at right now does not really have enough space for creative activities, nor did I bring a whole lot of materials.

But I try to get serious about it when I am home.

I did finish, enter and ship one quilt for the competition of former Prague Patchwork Meeting, now Brno Patchwork Meeting, as I mentioned in the last post. I am going there next month (during “phase 4 after”) with an exhibition of 20 Perspectives and wanted to be a part of the competition “Zero Waste” as well. I also finished my quilt for the Ocean Contest of European Patchwork Meeting in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, which I also wanted to enter in Wide Horizons and will finish the digital entry tonight.

And I need to get going about my contribution to EQA’s challenge “Imagine a Bird” (in Germany we called it “alle Vögel sind schon da” in quotation of a well-known German song). My first idea of a derivation from a photo I took on one of my walks along the lake 

 

has been substituted for already by another and I will see how it works out.

And then there is a SAQA Benefit Auction piece that needs to be made...

Participating in PatCH Swiss Anniversary/EQA Round Bobbin - to be seen in Vicenza in October

 Just before I left for Abilmente recently I had finished the last stitches on a very special piece.

 

In the fall I had decided to participate in PatCH Swiss’s Round Bobbin challenge that had been opened for members of other EQA countries as well.

However, I had taken a very long time to get started because, I admit, I had a hard time figuring out how to go about. Definitely not my usual stuff, to be working along such a list, and it took a lot of pondering to come up with an idea. But when I had decided to stick to one color, (I had been lucky to receive a bobbin in my favorite color, yellow, and therefore stayed in that color family!)

 

to look for composite nouns in German that somehow included whatever cue word was given, I finally got off to a good, if late, start. I stitched line drawings of some of the terms given, 

 but sometimes the part of the compound that would be ‘the other’ part. 

 

Or a chemical symbol. 

 

Or a phrase that includes the term in some way.

 

And the good thing was that I could hand-deliver the finished bobbin to Susan Vogel in Vicenza, saving me the postage, her the potential hassle with customs. Now I am looking forward to seeing that exhibition, which will be huge. Susan says she sent out almost 600 bobbins, even if not every single one will be returned… The entire collection will be shown at Abilmente in October. A selection of the Swiss contributions will be presented for the Swiss Guild at their AGM in the end of April, and as far as I know another selection will be shown at the European Patchwork Meeting in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Septemer, as well. So much fun to be included in this, even though I barely made the deadline!

 

 

Returning to and from Abilmente

Many years ago I had my first international solo show at the Abilmente Crafts fair in Vicenza. This year I returned there in my role as International Representative with a group of other EQA colleagues. This is the place where I had that show, up on the pedestal between the columns.

This time around EQA presented and stewarded a collection of two quilts from each European Guild as the organizers of the show want to enhance their patchwork segment of the show.  I arrived too late to help in the hanging, as a special security pass was needed and I did not have one. So I immediately on a short trip to the old inner city, taking the bus just opposite from the hotel.

 

As an honorary member of the SAQA Special Interest Group 'Gelato'
I had to do a testing of this opportunity that arose...

And well that I did take that trip because the next days were long, opening hours from 9.30 am until 6.30 pm., and it rained heavily, which would have made it rather uncomfortable to go into town.

View down onto one of the vending halls from the upper floor
(where there was a very good café with exceptionally good coffee!)

We were given a strategically well placed exhibition space between the two vendors’ halls, a lot of people were passing through! The selection of quilts was supposed to be a couple of the quilts that had been part of the EQA’s 30^th anniversary exhibition “Threads without Borders”. But some countries chose to select other artists to spread the option of exhibiting, or because they had not even been represented in that original exhibition at all.

Here you can see a couple of photos of the exhibition.

 

 

The group of EQA representatives that were assembled were a lot of fun to work with, and I really enjoyed spending time with them. 

 

One suitcase had been lost in transit and arrived only toward the end
of the 2nd day, at which point discussions ensued as to where to put up the quilts
that had been missing at first.

We had many conversations about the future development of EQA and its needs, but mostly ‘on the side’, as the main concern this time was the presentation of this particular show. It was not a working meeting as we used to have in Birmingham.

Of course, memories from my first encounter with the public came back – it was the first place where I had seen visitors pulling trolleys to hold their purchases as on a market at home. Before that I had never seen that at a quilt show in Germany. 

 

But it also brought back vivid memories of the struggle to keep the many many many people from touching, caressing, turning, inspecting and picking on the quilts. The nature of the show is mostly oriented towards vending materials for multiple types of crafting, where, of course, anybody who wants to buy something touches what they are considering buying. The lack of other exhibitions on the premises makes it hard to understand for the mostly-buyers that this particular exhibition space in the hall is a non-touch area. And when they touch, turn over, scratch the pieces it is a sign of interest, I do understand that. But it’s hard to be standing guard there and telling people to keep off in a languge you don’t really know – although those few words necessary I did remember right away. And when quilts with these characteristics are displayed, it is simply asking for trouble!

Wouldn't you want to flip these up, too?

This type of fringes, of course, is asking to be stroked.

Pointed insertions like this need to be inspected, preferrably
by scratching with your fingernails...

 

This one was the most endangered piece - the lower left hand corner,
but also a close inspection of the crochet branches attached...

We learned – bring white gloves next time!

But the food was delicious, 

 

the group vibes fantastic and it should be interesting to see what kind of relationship the EQA will establish with this organization in the long run. Perhaps we will be going to Vicenza on a more regular basis.

And then next time one might consider looking into acquisition of some local special products!

Murano glass display at Venice airport

First stint completed

And just like that the first two weeks of my new job in the north of Germany have passed and I have been back with my family for six days already. Things up north have developed nicely and I am beginning to think that it was indeed the right decision, despite the fact that many people (including my own mother) are more sceptical than as exuberant about the arrangement than I am.

I even found an apartment already - I agreed to take the first one I looked at because it was so absolutely convenient in terms of distance to the clinic and the lake and the town center and the bus stop for the bus to Hamburg that I would have been very stupid had I not taken it right away. It will be a few weeks until they have exchanged the windows, before I can move in. Until then I will stay in the nurses' dormitory, which is nothing to write home about, but a place to stay, and also very conveniently located in terms of distance to the clinic, the lake, the town center. The main question that is still open concerns the ease of commuting as reliability of the German rail system, once known for its punctuality that was even incorporated in a saying 'as punctual as the train', has severely deteriorated during the years since privatization of the organization, and that may be a special training in resilience. But we will see.

So far I have been enjoying the lake, and the long walks I take there after early shift.

Stitching has been limited to a good amount of knitting and I have finally finished (the body of) a shoulder wrap that has been years in the making, I am certain it was started before the big plague, and now there is only a long i-cord left to finish it completely.

When that is done I am allowed to start a new knitting project!

I took many pictures when walking along the lake and have decided to use one of them to make my personal entry to the current EQA-challenge on birds.

Although I haven't quite figured out where I am going to include the fabric heart that somehow came along home with me from FoQ last year, and Susan Vogel of PatCh Swiss and I had rashly said we would include those in our contributions...

Since I came home I have finished my entry for Brno, made a decision about how I want to enter SAQA's Wide Horizons (time pressure! deadline!) and made plans for my bobbin for the Swiss-EQA Round Bobbin that I had said I would participate in (but haven't done a stitch for yet - more time pressure!). Sleeves to be sewn on. Things to be sorted... But I am content with my decision and optimistic that things will develop nicely.

EQA (European Quilter Association) at FoQ (Festival of Quilts, Birmingham)

 Last Thursday I got up almost as early as I would have, had I been going to early shift at work. However, I was more fortunate, took the train to the airport, boarded a plane to Birmingham, and got to spend four lovely days at the Festival of Quilts, 20^th anniversary edition. 

 

It was the first time for me in a while as I hadn’t been back there yet after the pandemic, so I assume 2019 was the last time I was there, just before I went on to South Africa. This year I did not enter a quilt myself, as I am still not convinced that shipping to FoQ after Brexit has become feasible again. One member of the German Guild’s report on her difficulties in getting her quilt there on time, indeed, at all, has merely increased this conviction of mine. I was there mainly for the EQA meeting and exhibition, and as writer for the German Guild’s magazine, looking for interesting topics and possible future interviewees.

It was interesting to be back and see the differences. It feels a lot better with the additional space in the aisles between the vendors. The ventilation system must have been improved dramatically because it was almost drafty and sometimes near on cold in the halls, which I don’t remember from earlier visits, which used to be a bit stuffy, very crowded in the vendors’ area, and not a whole lot of space between display walls for the exhibitions of the competition quilts.

A number of the interesting vendors I would have liked to shop with were not there – some of whom I know have gone out of business. Overall, supplies on offer did not fulfill my needs, I only bought a few pieces from Leah Higgins and four African fabrics fat quarters.

One thing I noticed was that there seemed to be fewer international visitors. I believe last time I was there I could hardly move from one place to the other without running into several people that needed talking to, this was not the case this time around. Yes, I did meet some people, but it didn’t seem so numerous. And I must say, I was not particularly impressed with most of the First Prize winners. I am not sure whether that results from the fact that by now I have seen so many quilts in my life that not much will give me a ‘wow’-effect-reaction. Similar as with the yearning to be able to listen to Johannes Brahms’ Requiem or Antonin Dvorak’s 9^th Symphony for the first time again and repeat that feeling of awe and admiration.

But as I said, I went there for the EQA-meeting, and although we had some serious business to attend to, 

 

we had a good time together. 

 

The exhibition had been put up by a few other international representatives, 

 

I came when the festival had already been officially opened, and stayed on to take the exhibition down after the closing on Sunday afternoon. When I remembered the amount of work (and anxiety!) that had gone into preparations for this particular exhibition earlier this year, I was very pleased that the final effect turned out to be so convincing. We were showing a carpet of flowers, and visitors were delighted at the overall appearance.

Taking it down is always so much faster than putting it up!

Finished - Mary Hunter (2nd from left) took them directly to the
airport and proceeded to put them up in Ireland the next day,
i.e. yesterday. That must have been the fastest turnaround of any EQA exhibition
ever.

 The future of EQA-exhibitions at FoQ is everything but certain, and we are trying to figure out how to proceed from here. It will take negotiations with many players, everything burns down to the question of costs, and right now we don’t even know whether we will be able to go back next year. It is rather difficult to integrate the amount of volunteer work, outside effects and appearances created by that in quilting communities – how much of a pull factor is a small quilt hanging in Birmingham for an ‘ordinary’ quilter to come and visit, and does that justify the amount of hotel costs we have been granted so far? – with a strictly business-oriented organization that sets up the festival. We will see.

A bit of 20 Perspectives was thrown in as well – 

 

Allison James (left) and Ildiko Polyak (middle)

and I met Joe Cunningham in his exhibition, whom I will visit in his gallery in November, 

 

so it was a time with many different and interesting encounters.

Shipping News

View from my window last night

 

People who know me know that I am an avid writer of letters. I love to send parcels and packages. And to receive them. Well, the latter two I think I must now say "used to". Readers of this blog probably have read previous rantings of mine on the topic of sending internationally, mostly quilts - cost increase, customs regulations, you name it. Repeatedly I have stated that the fun of sending things either to friends or to exhibitions that are not within EU territory has definitely become a costly and very nerve-wrecking enterprise. I don't want to go into great lengths about it, here, again - but...  

For one thing, I bought a children's book used to send to a friend in the US. The book (plus shipment to me) cost me a total of €3. Sending it to the US cost close to €20. Not that I regret doing this, I knew it would be outrageously expensive, compared to the material value of the book. But do you understand when I say it is no fun anymore? This was a not so serious story.

My quilt "Everyone has the right", 

 

Everyone has the right (text messages)

which traveled with SAQAs "Forced to Flee" exhibition for more than three years was sent to me via FedEx  - which refused to accept my documentation of how the quilt had been in my possession, more so: made by me, but more than three years ago. Bill Reker from SAQA talked to FedEx people in the US, but those in Cologne would not accept that SAQA was paying all costs entailed and wanted me to pay for re-entry. It finally got sent back, and Bill and I have arrived at an agreement that a private carrier will bring the quilt to Festival of Quilts at Birmingham and I can pick it up there. That's one serious story.

The other story is that DHL, with which I had set up an address for delivery of numerous quilts either for exhibitions for the Patchwork Gilde's AGM or the annual EQA challenge, just so that my husband would not have to face opening the door for approx. 80 different deliveries, changed the setup of the automated P.O. box just recently. It doesn't recognize my app-registration anymore, and what used to be a relatively easy and well working arrangement has turned into a nightmare and extremely stressful situation. I know there are currently at least three parcels waiting for pick-up in that box. But so far I have not been successful in retrieving them. I spent a large section of my birthday this past week trying to figure out what was going on, talking to a 'service help' in Bonn, who, unfortunately was absolutely not help at all, "I don't know why it is not working, you will have to file a comment online", managed to catch and talk to the parcel delivery person who promised that the parcels would be taken out of the box and delivered to our door step within one to three days (we are currently between work days two and three), one of them has come. Another one has been announced as 'in the box', so there are still three parcels out there. I feel terrible. I figure I am responsible for these quilts as people entrusted me with taking them to the AGM or collecting them for FoQ. I need to document and measure them and fill out forms so other members of the Guild's board can do their job filing insurance values etc. - I am letting them down - 

I haven't slept well in several days and the whole situation is completely blocking me. That was a second serious story. Currently with an open end.

I haven't been able to calmly sit down and do some stitching, I jump up after a few minutes, doing this, fuzzing about that. The only thing I managed to do, after finishing my son's birthday quilt (which he liked well enough, not going into a frenzy of excitement, but I suppose that would have been too much to expect from an 18-yr-old) was that I started a "Sweater, somewhat slanted" after a pattern by "a field guide to needlework"'s Sarah C. Swett. Despite the current and still valid regulation that I may not cast on anything new as knitting project until at least two more have been finished... but this sweater starts with a single slip knot as a first stitch, which in my opinion doesn't count as proper casting on. 

 

There is a story behing this project which I will talk about at some later date. The first time I saw this sweater on Sarah's feed I thought I would have to try this, but I was going to figure it out by myself, and I was going to start from the lower end of one sleeve and knit it all in one piece from there. For a specific reason I have now gone ahead and bought the pattern proper, and knitting it in between studying sessions (I have a small exam coming up next Thursday to show that I have learned the necessary basics about dialysis etc.) and fighting against metal postal boxes it is a soothing activity indeed. 

 

Using up stash yarn, another regulation these days.

And tonight I will attempt once more to retrieve those quilts... keep your fingers crossed for me!