A member of the Operations Team who works across quilting, inner-cotton shaping, pillow making, and inspection. She rotates through the multi-head quilting machine (the diamond-pattern quilting of shikibuton) and the inner-cotton roll-shaping process, and also takes part in pillow making and inspection.
Learning across processes
As a newer team member, my daily rotation covers the multi-head quilting machine, inner-cotton roll shaping, pillow making, and futon inspection. I continue to learn from experienced colleagues across the workshop.
The yardstick of “if I had bought it”
At the moment a finished shikibuton reaches the customer’s hands, “how will the customer feel” and “if I had bought this and it arrived” — I use these two questions to check the one I have just made. The instant I find the slightest doubt I ask a senior — that is the most important posture for a newcomer, and the first thing the workshop taught me.
Wanting to learn more
“The qualifications are appealing, but first the mechanical technique” — that is how I rank my priorities. I can run the multi-head quilting machine now, but when “skipped stitches” or “thread slack” appear, I still rely on seniors. I hope to be a little more independent each month than the last.
A workshop that makes you want to stay
What makes me want to stay — colleagues who cooperate, help that comes before you even have to ask, plus clear craft standards. These “soft benefits” together make one want to invest for the long term more than any condition could. I hope I am still here four years from now.