Merry Christmas!

Music at Christmas

I've participated in the Christmas music program at church just about every year since I was old enough to participate.  When I was ten I was the "official" page turner of our church choir just so I could sing with them.  Even though I'm always a participant, today was only the second time I've been the one who actually put together and organized the Christmas program.  I don't get to do as much with my music these days as I would like, so I really enjoyed putting the program together and starting up a ward choir again.  I love Christmas music, so this was even more fun than usual working with the ward choir.

One perk of being in charge is that I can assign my husband to sing (cue my evil but loving chuckle). He sang an adapted solo version of "Manger of Bethlehem."

One of my favorite quotes from the Christmas program narration:

Sister Jo N. Jepson, former member of the General Primary Presidency taught us how make the birth of the Savior relevant and motivating in our always busy and often distracted lives.  “I believe that each of us can re-create that familiar scene in Bethlehem in our own lives. We can have a star to follow just as the Wise Men did…The scriptures can light our way, and our testimonies can be a light from within. The voices of angels can be the voices of our beloved prophet and His servants. We can kneel at the feet of our Savior just as literally as the shepherds and the Wise Men, but we do it in prayer. The gifts we bring are our talents. We can shout ‘Hosanna’ like that angelic choir and spread the good news by bearing our testimonies. Each new day is an opportunity to bind ourselves to act according to what we know.  By works of righteousness, we can come unto Him each day of our lives just as if we had trod in our sandaled feet the rocky path to Bethlehem, holding a staff or bearing gifts.

“I pray that Heavenly Father will help us be wise men and wise women—wise enough to accept His invitation, nourish His word, and follow a ‘straight course to eternal bliss.’  May we all cheerfully answer, ‘I’m coming.’”

A Mini-Job Update

We thought December would be the big month for movement/news on the job scene, but the timeline keeps getting pushed back.  Here are just a couple of updates:

-Joel heard back from Penn State Hershey, and they ended up having a candidate interview in December, so they won't be deciding on the second round of interviews until January now.

-Joel had a phone interview with Cleveland Clinic over the Thanksgiving holiday and he felt good about it.  They will be finishing up their phone interviews this month and hopefully Joel will be a part of their first round of interviews in January.

-Joel also applied to 3 more job openings:
Mesa, AZ
Detroit, MI
Des Moines, IA
That puts him at a total of 44 CVs sent out.  Nice.

Ornament Time

I love the holidays.  I don't know what it is about a Christmas tree that makes a home feel even more homey (haha- that's probably not a word, but you get what I mean).  Everything feels a little more comfy cozy. 

Here are the ornaments we added to our collection this year:

Little Man: His ornament was actually made of Legos, so he got to put it together (which he loved). 

Little Lady:  Rainbow Dash! 

BB: Elmo!

From our vacation in Minnesota this past Summer:

Little Guy's "1st Christmas" ornament has yet to be purchased.  Sorry, Little Guy.  We'll get on that before it's Christmas - just probably not this week.  I also need to come up with a stocking holder for him as well. 

November Stitches

This month in the Peace Circle we were asked to make 2 Wonky Roman Stripe Blocks.  I've made variations of this block before.  I like them, because they're a good use of strip scraps, particularly left over bindings.  She just wanted a gray background and any bright strips, so it was pretty open.

Our do.Good Stitches Circle is taking a break in December, so that's perfect for me.  We'll reconvene at the beginning of the new year.

For the Want of a Job

I suppose I should update the job search even though I don't feel like there's much to say.

He did go to Penn State Hershey for the first round of interviews.  He was one of about 5 people.  The problem is that we have absolutely no idea how he did, so it's hard to say if they'll call him back for a second interview.  Most pediatricians are nice, so even if it was the worst interview in the world they would still say nice things to you, so it's hard to gauge what they actually think of you.  The only thing for certain is that he should hear back either way the first week of December. 

Besides that, he felt the need to take another look at more possible places to apply.  He sent his CV out to the following places last week:

Omaha, NE
Oklahoma City
Iowa City
Buffalo, NY
Gainesville, FL
Little Rock, AR
St. Louis, MO

He heard back from Omaha and Buffalo.  Neither are currently hiring.
He also heard back from UNC yesterday saying they still don't have a job opening either.

We were just commenting that he's up to 41 CVs sent out with only one interview so far.  Those aren't great odds.  Joel was joking that I should start checking out street corners here in Columbus to get ours reserved for this Summer in case the job search falls through.  I probably should be more worried, but for some reason a sense of peace about the situation has come over me, and even though it makes absolutely no sense, I feel like it's all going to work out.  I have absolutely no idea how, but in the mean time I'm not willing to let anxiety overtake me.  We'll just keep waiting, keep following up, and most definitely keep praying.

Another One Bites the Dust

Look who has officially joined the ranks of wearing glasses in our family!

I was surprised, but he was excited about getting glasses.  I think he was feeling left out that Little Lady and Mom and Dad all had them.  He's near-sided just like his parents. 

 He particularly loves his glasses because they are blue camo.  When he first got them he kept lifting them up off his eyes back and forth to compare.  He said, "Wow!  I can see so much farther now."

Aperture

This week's photography homework deals with aperture (controlling the size of the opening in the lens which controls the amount of light that hits the digital sensor).  I had to play around with the Depth of Field (distance in front of and beyond the focused main subject).  Basically, the higher the DoF number the more of the picture that is in focus and the lower you go the more the background is blurred.

I practiced with a tree in our backyard:

DoF 36: Just about everything is in focus

DoF 10:  The focus is mostly on the leaves in the front

Here is my actual homework assignment that I turned in at DoF 5.6  (the lowest setting my camera will go without a zoom lens):

I got good reviews.  He suggested that next time I explore angles to see if I could get the background to be a different color than the color of the focused subject, but that the technique was correct. 

Armada Finishes

I had a lot of fun finishing up these 2 quilts.  I like to see how a quilt can be different just by changing a few details even though it's the same basic pattern.

Sail Boat #1:

The wind was kind enough to give you a peek at the backing.  It's a nice stripe from my stash.  

Sail Boat #2:

I used Loopy Clouds again for the quilting of both quilts.  Since both of these quilts are baby quilts, I wanted a bit of whimsy in the second quilt, so I used a whale and crab backing.

Linking up to TGIFF.

Job Search Depression

It's been a month since I've given an update on the job search.  I kept waiting thinking there would be some happy news to share or maybe the next phone interview would pan out, so I kept waiting.  The sad reality is we've had almost all bad news over and over for the last couple of weeks.

San Antonio needed someone right away, and couldn't wait until Joel finished in June, so they were already in the hiring process and are not a job possibility anymore.

Columbus has pretty much said there's no option of staying.

Vanderbilt ended up being a bad option.  Joel heard from 2 separate sources that the working environment is caustic and the reason there are job openings is because people are fleeing the program.  They also haven't got back to him, and Joel felt it was better that way.

Albany is pretty much not an option anymore either.  The job is brutal in terms of hours and work load, so it would have been an absolute last option, but I think the director also realizes that Joel's not all that interested, because he never followed up to schedule an interview.  

Joel also found out 2 programs that never responded back to him at all are interviewing another Fellow he works with, and the guy also has an interview scheduled at Dallas where Joel wanted an interview.  Ouch.

Joel had been praying that Heavenly Father would shut doors, so he wouldn't be tempted to take a job where we weren't supposed to go, but I don't think he was prepared for his prayers to be answered so dramatically.  Within the last 24 hours we've had two huge "no's."  He had a phone interview with Dallas last week, and to be completely honest, it was his ultimate dream job.  It was exactly what he wanted to do at a top Children's Hospital in the country.  As much as he tried not to, he had his heart set on it.  Unfortunately, he didn't feel all that great about the phone interview and it turns out his intuition was correct, because he found out last night they've decided not to extend him an interview.

The bad news kept rolling in.  This morning he had a phone interview with Richmond (also a location he was extremely interested in), and the phone interview turned into more of a questioning about Joel's fellowship at Columbus.  He suggested that Joel should consider staying at Columbus to do an additional year of BMT fellowship and then they'd be interested in him.  It was odd, because the division chief flat out told him they were only looking to hire someone who had at least a year of experience, so Joel's not really sure why he extended a phone interview to him in the first place unless he just wanted information about Nationwide's fellowship program.

Where does this leave things?

Joel has an interview with Penn State Hershey this week.  So far it's his only scheduled 1st interview, so that adds a bit of pressure for this one to go well.

He has also applied to a job opening in Atlanta, Georgia, but doesn't expect to hear back from them until mid-November.

One other possibility is Wake Forest (Winston-Salem, North Carolina).  He met with their lead COG guy at a conference in Dallas 2 weeks ago, and it looks like they are in the process of getting a position approved by the board.  He told Joel that would take about 3 weeks, and then they would most likely extend an invitation for a 1st interview to him.  Fingers crossed that this actually pans out!

Other possibilities that are longer shots:
-UNC told him to check back in November to see if they end up having a job opening.
-Pittsburgh thought it might be hiring starting in January
-Fresno also thought it might be hiring later and to check back in December.

The moral of the story is be careful what you pray for.  :)
We're really hoping there's some good news soon, because it's been pretty depressing so far.  

 

Fall Blocks

My productivity continues- wahoo!  I pieced together my Peace Circle blocks yesterday.  We had to make 2 Geese Migration blocks with each block being scrappy in one Fall color.  I love a good scrappy block, and I also used colors I tend to not use a lot in regular quilts, so it was a double win in the land of scraps.

I seriously had forgotten how a person can have so much time when they only have to worry about themselves and their own family.  I cleaned out all of the craft stuff, cleaned the junk drawer, completely organized my fabric stash, and it's only 10 in the morning.  Happy Thursday, everyone!

Curved Deficiencies

Curved Sewing and I have a rather strained relationship.  In fact, I try to avoid it as much as possible.  Wouldn't you know it, the very first block we were given to do as part of the Peace Circle for do.Good Stitches was almost all curved sewing.  I may have whimpered a bit when I saw the instructions.  I cut all the pieces out for the block and then promptly put it off.  They sat there for 2 weeks.  I tried to give myself pep talks, but finally it was the 30th of the month and I had no choice but to piece the block together.

Ya, it looks about as good as I feel about it...not great.  E for Effort, but F for Execution.  It's a large block (18"), so luckily we only had to make one.

If I recall correctly, the worst block I ever made for Wish Circle was the very first block as well, so that gives me hope that things will get better.  In the meantime, I will continue to avoid curved quilting like the plague whenever possible. 

Baby Thompson #4

Typically when I find out if we're having a boy or a girl I go straight to work and have a quilt done for the baby within a week or two.  This time is quite a different story.  I actually found out early what we were having, because of the required chromosomal testing (since I'm over 35).  I've known since the end of May that we're having a boy, but as you well know, I did very little sewing at all this past summer.  I'm now 32 weeks along and have finally finished the quilt. 

Even though I couldn't get my act together to get his quilt done, we're excited about this little guy.   Little Lady in particular cares quite a bit about this one.  She already tells everyone she has 3 brothers.  She is very proud of her status as the only girl.  In her primary class at church they had a lesson on families.  They were given something to give to each of their siblings and she pretty much demanded a third one stating that Baby Matthew needed one as well.  That's actually how her teachers found out I was pregnant, because they couldn't figure out who Matthew was. 

This was a really fun quilt to put together.  The design for the quilting is a new one to me: Loopy Clouds.  It's an easy design that flows a lot like mixing open flowers and loops.  You can see it a bit better on the back.

Now we just have to wait a few more weeks for him to come and use it. 

Autumn

Paints and pastels from this weekend's art class...

Finally! A Finish!

I can't remember the last quilt I finished.  That's probably not a very good sign.  Gratefully, I found time to layer 3 quilt tops this past week and I actually finished one of them, and since my friend had the baby 3 weeks ago, it's a good thing I finally finished it. 

This quilt made me happy, because everything I used, including the back, came from my quilt stash.  It does make me chuckle that after putting together an entire quilt top of scraps that I couldn't even tell a difference in my scrap bags.  Sigh.  I'm trying.  I like to think that one of the bags was lighter.  I mean, I did make a whole quilt top for crying out loud!

I worked my way back into quilting with a simple loopy lines in yellow for a slight contrast to the fabrics. 

Yay, for a finish!  I have the next quilt all ready to be bound, so I'm hopeful to finish that one this weekend while I'm on a roll. 

First Job Options

We've finally entered into the beginning of the job-hiring season.  Joel scheduled his first official interview!  The really funny part about it is that it's where he went to medical school: Penn State in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  He had a phone interview and then he's scheduled to fly out there the end of October for the first round of interviews.  We thought that job was a long shot since so many things had to line up into place for the opening to exist, but lo and behold, he got a phone call!

Joel also had a phone interview for Albany, New York this afternoon.  This is a completely different type of job than in Hershey.  The hospital in Albany is a much smaller program and requires a lot more clinical hours and call.  There's almost no research element.  It is a huge change from Joel's previous experiences at large hospitals, so the director wants Joel to take some time to think about whether this is something he would like to do or not.  He's meeting with him at a conference they're both attending the beginning of October and if Joel feels good about it then they will officially schedule an interview in Albany.

There isn't anyone who specializes in Joel's area of interest and research at Hershey, so he would have a nitch there.  Albany doesn't even have the program he does, so he would get to start up the treatments basically from scratch and be THE person for the program.  Both offer interesting, but very different opportunities.

Richmond (Virginia) also got back to him this week.  The division chief is brand new, so he's trying to get settled, but he told Joel there will definitely be openings.  Joel's supposed to contact him mid-October once the chief has determined the exact needs of the program.  Then Joel can decide if any of these openings fit with what he would like to do.

Other hospitals who are supposed to be contacting him in October:  Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt (Nashville), Winston-Salem (North Carolina), Dallas, and San Antonio. 

Fresno does not currently have an opening that matches what Joel does and Columbus is not looking very promising in terms of being able to get a job approved by the board.  If we haven't heard back from the other places he applied, we currently consider them as not an option.  He has a couple of promising leads right now though, so we're excited for this next phase. 

The Boys in the Boat

This month's book club read was The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Source

The summary:   

"Daniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled  by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together—a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.

Drawing on the boys’ own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant." 

I was surprised by how thoroughly interesting I found this book.  I was completely drawn in by Joe Rantz's difficult life story and also by the process of rowing.  I really knew nothing about rowing before reading this book, but even the descriptions of some of the races were nail-biting to read.  The book also gives some really fascinating insights into the workings of the Nazi party and their use of the 1936 Olympic games as propaganda leading up to WWII.  If you like nonfiction this is a really great read!

Sail Away

The hubby had to work Friday night, so I decided to get my act together and get some quilting done.  I finished the last 3 blocks (tutorial here), and then pieced together the quilt top.  Wahoo for some progress!

A Long Forgotten WIP

It's been so long since I did a Work in Progress that I'm having a hard time remembering all the projects up in my closet.  Now that school is back in session I have the desire to clean out and get organized.  I cleaned up all of Little Man's old therapy stuff yesterday and this morning I tackled the garage.  Now I need to figure out what's going on with my sewing.  I find throwing things away and organizing myself to be rather cathartic, so it's been a good week so far.

I'll start with the easy stuff.  I finished my August blocks for do.Good Stitches this past week, and now that it's September I'll need to complete the next set of blocks.

1- I've pieced together 6 blocks and need to piece three more boats.  Then I can put together this baby boy quilt top:

2- Quilt tops that need to be layered and quilted:

May Wish Circle Bow Tie Quilt:

The always-on-my-list-but-never-gets-done Christmas quilt top sampler:

Notice the snow from...eh...two years ago?  Ya.

Other ongoing projects:

Building Blocks Quilt Along- I haven't touched this in over a year either.  I'm about half way done with the blocks.  (I had to actually look up what the quilt along was called it's been so long- not a good sign)

Projects on the near horizon that I haven't started yet:
Another baby boy quilt
BB's pillow case
Baby Girl Quilt
Need to sew together 4 baby blankets for a friend

WIP Stats:
New this week: 0
Completed this week: 1
In Progress: 5

I'm holding myself accountable and linking up this week here.

Good Bye to Wishes

These are my last blocks for Wish Circle.  Kirsten asked us to make 4 checkerboard nine patches in red and white.  It's an extremely easy block, but it actually worked to my disadvantage, because somehow I managed to not pay attention quite enough.  I cut two rows a 1/4 inch too small.  Luckily, I caught it before I pieced the rows together, but it was a rather silly mistake.  I think I'll blame it on the ruler. 

Sadly, after 3 years of wonderful sewing together, the Wish circle is being dissolved.  Technically speaking most of us are being melded into the Peace Circle since they lost a lot of members recently and the head of our circle is stepping down.  Starting next month I'll start another sewing adventure with some old and many new friends in the Peace Circle of do.Good Stitches. 

Viritual Shower Take 3

This seems to be the year of The Babies in my Do.Good Stitches sewing circle.  Baby #3 is due the beginning of September.  Kelly's having a boy, so I decided to make some Basic Newborn Pants.  I don't know about you, but I always had a lot of onesies for my newborns that were typically solids that could use some fun pants, so I decided to throw caution in the wind and go with some crazy patterned material I had in my stash.  This is what I came up with:

This also happens to be a great beginner project for someone wanting to make clothing, but is scared to take the leap. 

Job Search Update

The response from the last 10 hospitals has been slow in coming, so there's not a whole lot to report.

Three more "We're not hiring" responses:
Norfolk, VA
Portland, ME
Denver, CO

All three had a lot of really nice things to say and explained the situation in their departments, so they were soft blows.  Hahaha.

Two more hospitals have posted jobs that he's applied to:
Fresno, CA
Albany, NY

We've had a few other hospitals suggested to us that we're looking into as well, but mostly we're just waiting for September since a lot of the places start earnestly looking to hire at that point.

The Medical Job Process

If any of you know my husband you know he's a bit of an overachiever in the sense that he's extremely intelligent, so he achieves at higher levels than most of us mere plebeians.   He never mentions it, and you probably wouldn't even notice except for when conversing with him: his large vocabulary and uncanny ability to memorize and recall information give him away.

Joel is now in his last year of Fellowship and ninth year of medical training.  Joel told me that as a ten year wedding anniversary he would get his first real job.  Never were there more romantic words spoken!  He doesn't finish until June 30th of next year, but the applying for jobs started two weeks ago.

It's kind of a crazy process.  Since more than half the hiring is done without ever posting a job opening, a lot of it is word of mouth and randomly sending CVs to hospitals.  Since his focus is Oncology he needs to apply at Children's Hospitals.  Most states only have one or two Children's Hospitals unless it has a larger population.  We went through the states and determined where we felt we could afford to live on a pediatric salary (it's a third of adult specialties).  This pretty much cut out the major cities along the extreme coasts (ie. all of California, NYC, Boston, DC, etc.).  We also cut out a couple of cities we really didn't want to move to with young children or that were known for particularly poor schools.  This left us with a list of 30 hospitals.

Since each hospital is on its own time schedule in terms of hiring it's hard to coordinate interviews and job offers.  We could interview with one hospital and receive a job offer before hearing back from one we were more interested in, so you then have to weigh if you want to pass on the offer and hope something else comes up or not take any chances and take the offer.  For this reason, Joel and I decided to divide our list into Tiers.

Tiers 1 & 2: We knew about the programs, we're happy with the location, cost of living, school districts, and would have no reservations saying "yes" if we got a job offer.

Our original list:        

Tier 1:
Kansas City, KS
Columbus, OH
UNC, NC
Charlotte, NC
Duke, NC
Wake Forest, NC
Richmond, VA

Tier 2:
Syracuse, NY
Hershey, PA
Cincinnati, OH
Indianapolis, IN
Rochester, NY

Tier 3: We either didn't know much about the Oncology program or had some reservations about the location, climate, schools, etc.  Some of these also fell into this category, because I didn't like how far away they are from family.  We also weighed pretty heavily in our decision how far away an LDS Temple is located from each city (for example, it's 3 hours away from Pittsburgh).  For Tier 3 we would weigh really heavily whether or not we accept the offer before interviewing at other places.

Tier 3:
Charleston, SC
San Antonio, TX
Dallas, TX
Milwaukee, WI
Salt Lake, UT
Ann Arbor, MI
Norfolk,VA
Cleveland, OH
Dayton, OH
Louisville, KY
Grand Rapids, MI
Albuquerque, NM
Denver, CO
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, ME
Akron, OH
Minneapolis, MN
Vanderbilt, TN

The job search process has been particularly hard for Joel.  For someone who's usually successful at just about anything he decides to do, it's hard to continually get rejection emails.  It's really the first time he's repeatedly received the response of "no."   He sent CVs to the top two tiers two weeks ago and then sent out Tier 3 this week.  He has already received a "We're not hiring" or "We're not interested" from 10 of the 30 hospitals.

No:
Kansas City, KS
Charlotte, NC
Duke, NC
Syracuse, NY
Rochester, NY
Charleston, SC
Milwaukee, WI
Louisville, KY
Akron, OH
Minneapolis, MN

It's not completely unexpected, because we were told to expect about 4 interviews from the 30.  Most of the interviews begin in the Fall, so several hospitals have told him to contact them again in September or are still just collecting applications.  If they're not hiring it's not really personal, but it still doesn't feel very good to get rejection after rejection with only vague hopes of something working out somewhere else.

The following 10 hospitals have responded to Joel with varying levels of possibilitY:

Tier 1:
Columbus, OH- there's a possibility of creating a job specifically for him, but it's a long shot, because it has to be approved by the division chief and then pass through the hospital board

UNC, NC- there's possibly an opening, but they're not sure yet. He's supposed to check back in the end of August.

Wake Forest, NC- there's a possibility of an opening, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.  If there is one Joel has a good possibility of an interview.

Richmond, VA- they're getting a new program director September 1st and will be actively hiring, so he's supposed to contact them again mid-September.

Tier 2:
Hershey, PA- they're a long shot, because they're looking for someone with 4-5 years experience for the job they currently have open, but it they can't fill it then he'll be considered.

Indianapolis, IN- they haven't figured out their 2016 needs yet (which means there's not a pressing need, so this one is also only a slim possibility)

Tier 3:
San Antonio, TX- they have an opening they are actively collecting applications for that fits exactly what Joel wants to do, so he's really hopeful about this one.

Pittsburgh, PA- they will be interviewing later in the Fall, so they will contact Joel either way in a month or so.

Vanderbilt, TN- they are actively hiring and collecting applications, so he may get an interview request at some point.

The program with the most promise of an interview so far is actually Dallas, TX.  They contacted Joel right away and said they were hiring and asked him what his dream job description would be, so they could discuss if it was a possibility.  The program director cc:ed the scheduler on the email which means Joel most likely will be asked for at least a first interview.


This leaves 10 hospitals he still hasn't heard from.  Most of these hospitals he just barely sent his cover letters out to, so we probably will hear something in the next week or two.

Most hospitals go through a two interview process, so it's often long and drawn out.  Contracts aren't usually signed until late Winter/early Spring.  The truth of the matter is this process is going to drag out for several months, so I'm trying not to let it stress me out, but having a daily rejection email for the last two weeks has made the process a bit more ongoing in the painful process.  I'm hoping things will settle down once we've heard back from everyone and then can start to weed our way down to actual interviews.  I feel certain it will all work out, but the waiting and unknown factors tend to wear at me.  I'm feeling a bit calmer about the process at this point and am hopeful for things ahead.  I guess we'll see what happens as the process progresses.

Wonky Stars

This month I was asked to make 2 Wonky Star blocks for Wish Circle in do.Good Stitches.  She asked for white or low volume stars with black or navy backgrounds.  We could make them scrappy if we wanted and Erika also said we could make the stars different sizes and not necessarily centered. 

This is the tutorial for the regular wonky star.  I made one regular block, but the temptation was too great not to try one out at a different size.  I made the second star an inch smaller in all of the cuts and then added borders.  I love wonky stars and I absolutely loved being able to use my plethora of white scraps, so I enjoyed stitching these blocks immensely. 

Bordered Bow Ties

I got the borders put on the May Wish Circle Bow Tie blocks last night.

The thunderstorms are supposed to roll in around noon, so I ran outside to quickly get a couple photos this morning. 

It's a good morning, because the quilt top is done and we're also getting our garage door fixed as I type this.  The spring broke on the door during the holiday weekend, so we've been without a garage for several days.  It will be so nice to be able to park in the garage again!

Rainy Houses

It's raining again today, so I had to make do with an indoor picture of these blocks. 

I squeaked in these June blocks for do.Good Stitches.  This month we had to make 2 houses using this tutorial.  I appreciate using all scraps, but for some reason when the background is supposed to be scrappy I don't like how they turn out.  The houses themselves are cute, but I'm not in love with these blocks. 

One good thing came out of it though- it forced me back to me sewing machine, and now I already have 2 projects I want to work on. 

The Magical Mystery Tour

My dad kept telling us he was putting together a Magical Mystery Tour for our trip to Los Angeles.  It took on a life all of its own.  After the funeral services we had a luncheon at John Fusano's home.  He was my Grandpa's best friend for over 50 years.  They met through work.  John owned an olive vineyard and was GG's olive supplier at Vons.  The rest is history.  They hunted and fished together up until the final years of his life.  We had heard about Fu Fu (GG's nickname for John) our whole lives, but this was the first time I actually met him.  Here's a picture of my family at the Fusano's home before we left on the mystery tour:

Magical Mystery Tour:  My dad put together a list of all the old Stuetz hauntings in the Los Angeles area.  I'm the 5th generation of Stuetz's to be born in Los Angeles, so as you can imagine there is a lot of history there for our family.

221 East Pico Blvd.

This first place doesn't exactly exist anymore, but the building for rent is where my great-great-grandfather Edward Stuetz started the California Staats-Zeitung & Printing Shop.  It was a German newspaper that started after WWI.  (The Stuetz line immigrated here from Austria).  When he passed away my great grandfather Ray continued the newspaper until his retirement in the 70s.

2121 Portland St.

This Edward and Helen Stuetz's 3rd home (circa 1930) that was within walking distance to the German newspaper.

2122 West View St.

This is the home of Ray and Gertrude Stuetz where my Grandpa grew up in the 20s & 30s.  Up the street is the market where GG met my Grammy. 

Their second home is the one my dad fondly remembers growing up.  Ray and Gertrude built the home in 1952.  The siding is all brand new to look modern, but it's still the same back yard.  I know this because the couple living there was kind enough to invite us in and talk to us about the home.  They are both art professors.  It was a really rare and nice experience. 

1932 Roscomare Rd., Los Angeles

The pool, shed, and large avocado tree are all originals to the home.  We have some great pictures of my aunt and dad swimming in this pool when they were children.  I'll spare my dad the embarrassment of showing off his little black speedo.  The view up the hills is breathtaking.  It's such a peaceful area.

The last two stops were actually the homes of my dad.  The first home was built by his parents in Torrance where he was born and lived there until he was 7.  You can tell it was built in the 50s.  :)

4227 West 177th St.

The second home in Whittier is where my dad was raised, and where my grandparents remained until GG retired and they moved to the Bay area.  I actually have a few memories of this home.   My parent's first apartment (where I was born) is only a couple minutes away. 

10347 Maybrook Ave.

Honoring GG

In his later years, my Grandpa was fondly referred to as GG (Great Grandpa).  He even signed most of his emails as GG.  This past weekend we traveled to Los Angeles to bury and honor his life.  During his funeral services I was again reminded of what a hard working, inspiring man he was.  He had a way of driving straight to the point and definitely wasn't afraid to tell you like it was, but he was also really funny and incredibly proud of his family.  My fondest memories of my Grandpa are fishing with him up in the Adirondacks even though I know we drove him crazy, because we didn't have a clue what we were doing.  I  also loved his foodie nature.  Having spent his career in the grocery industry, he had quite the sophisticated palate.  We always loved going out to eat with him, because we knew it was going to be really good food.  He loved to watch you try new things.  I always enjoyed watching him order the food and his deliberate instructions to every waiter he ever came across.  You didn't mess with Don and his food.

This was his obituary in the LA Times:

My dad and his sister Sherry

It's fitting that the bushes along the wall are gardenias.  They were Grammy's favorite and it's the smell that reminds me the most of her.

Cousin Brian and his son

Grandpa's parents are buried right next to them

 I don't think there is a more beautiful setting for a cemetery being nestled up in the Hollywood Hills. 

 My Grandpa was a war veteran and extremely patriotic, so it seems fitting that he be buried right above the Washington monument and just below the American freedoms mural.

It seems odd to think Don (also lovingly known as Captain Elwood) isn't around anymore.  He's the last of my grandparents to pass away, so I've lost an entire generation for the time being.  Even though I was sad to see him go, I also know it was for the best.  He was 92, in a lot of pain, and extremely lonely.  Grammy passed away 20 years ago, so he's been on his own for a while now.  In this case it was more of a celebration of his life rather than a mourning for his passing.  He's in a much better place now without his physical ailments.  It was also wonderful to be together with family.  We love you, GG!