She's Back to Blogging Again

I know it has been quite a few days since I last posted to this blog. Although my Grandmother's death was sad, I have tried to celebrate her life. I want to thank those who sent cards, letters, emails and had kind words for me. I appreciate it.
In the days since I last posted, I have been quite busy with doing chores such as cleaning, laundry, cooking, weeding, shopping at the farmer's market etc. I did some quilting and jewelry making for a silent auction to benefit the daughter of a former MSU soccer play who has a rare form of cancer.
This is a Christmas quilted wallhanging for the auction. It is made from a Laurel Burch panel. Linda also made a small quilt for the auction.
These are bracelets that I made for the auction.

I also spent time enjoying myself. I saw The Full Monty at Riverwalk Theatre with Sophie, Lisa, Ruth and Val. The show was great but I think we only got a "partial monty" and not The Full Monty. We all enjoyed ourselves.

I met up with my friend Bob for the Eastwood Towne Center concert with The Lash. Bob and I are working on a fundraiser party at his home in mid-August that will benefit Habitat for Humanity Lansing. Lisa joined us and so did Bob's partner, Mark. I also ran into an old friend from quilting, Bobbie. I haven't seen her for several years and it was great to see her again. Bob brought some wine to share while we relaxed and enjoyed the Irish music. It got a bit cold so we had to bundle up to keep warm.
The following night, Becky and I listened to Rachel Davis and the Scarlet Runner String Band at the Meridian Township Historical Village. It was my first visit there and the evening was perfect. The sky was clear and the atmosphere was very relaxing. We loved Rachel Davis who we have heard several times before. Becky took a liking to one of the String Band members and we enjoyed their music and humor. Becky knitted one of her hats and I did some hand piecing of curved blocks while we sat in our folding chairs listened to the music.

These are some of the curved blocks I am currently hand piecing.
Another look.
And Another.
And another.

Lisa and I went to the Studio 1210 concert in Old Town two days later and saw Edie Carey. She is a wonderful singer and although the crowd was small, it was very enjoyable.

The next day, Julia, Carol Se, Sophie and I went to see the movie, Mamma Mia! It was not quite as exciting as the Broadway show I saw at Wharton Center. However, we enjoyed all the dancing and the singing. I know I danced in my seat and probably sang along to some of the songs as well. It was really funny to watch Pierce Brosnan (former James Bond 007) singing a song. Surprisingly, he is a good singer. Also, my fav, Colin Firth, was in the movie and he played the guitar and sang too. Not bad. Of course, Meryl Streep was the star and she excelled as usual. Don't miss Mamma Mia!!!!
The following morning, Sophie and Lisa and I drove to Ann Arbor to Washtenaw Community College for the Ann Arbor Quilt Guild Quilt Show.

Sophie at the Ann Arbor Quilt Show. This is just a sneak peak of the quilts.
As usual, the show was great. Lisa and I ran into Jane Bajcz.Jane taught us in a class on curved piecing and art quilts. Lisa and I each showed our quilts from the class at the Sauder Village quilt show. See my earlier blog post on the Sauder Village show in May.
I took lots of pictures at the quilt show and will post them soon. We also shopped at the vendors and I started out sticking to my short list of black and white prints with dots/circles until I came across some rolled bundles of Kaffe Fassett fabric. I had to get two of those. Then we found a hand dyer who also printed and silk screened on her fabric. I fell in love with one piece and then Lisa and Sophie fell too. We all bought some fabric from her. We could not resist.
The black and white dots and the Kaffe Fassett fabric I bought.
The larger piece is the hand dyed and printed fabric I could not resist. I bought some others little pieces early on at the show and they magically work with the hand dyed piece. It also goes with several in my stash.
After we saw everything possible at the show, we headed back to Lansing. But, we stopped at the Kensington Outlet Mall near Howell so that I could do some personal shopping for my brother and my nephews and niece. I got Jim his needed dress shirts and then proceeded to the Children's Place and stocked up on great deals for $1.99 and others for 50% off the marked down price. I got shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, and a bathing suit for my nieces and nephews.They will be birthday and other gifts. The clerk even gave me an additional 15% off. I was quite pleased.
My "personal shopper" purchases.

By Monday evening I was exhausted and did not even make it to Block Exchange. I slept away the evening.

This is Terry's block exchange block.

On Tuesday, it was Eastwood Towne Center concert night again and this time the band was Steppin In It. They are a great local group. Rachel Davis, saw her a week earlier, is married to a band member so she also sang a few songs. I met up with Lisa and Bobbie for the show. Lisa brought Claire and Cubby. Cubby had fun dancing around to the music. I ran into my friend Jerry and his wife Kathy during the concert.

My coworker and friend Val, finished making me a bracelet from some dichroic glass pieces I purchased at the East Lansing Art Fair in 2007. I just love it and have worn it a lot lately.

Last Friday, Lisa, Sophie and I saw the movie, Swing Vote, with Kevin Cosner. The movie was hilarious, very little politics and tons of laughs. Don't miss it.

On Saturday, after doing yard work I met Terry and her husband, John, and daughter, Erin, for the play Talley's Folly at the Williamston Theatre. It was a great play but we were annoyed by a woman seated behind us who kept saying "just kiss her" and other inappropriate remarks. The male lead was Wayne David Parker who also played in Jeff Daniels' play and movie, Escanaba in the Moonlight. He was the "Jimmer". It was nice to see him in a more reserved role for this play. The Williamston Theatre is small and very intimate. I really enjoy going there.

On Saturday evening Terry, John, Lisa, Ruth and I met up at the Old Town Jazz festival to hear Sunny Wilkinson and later the Johnny O'Neal Trio. It was hot and crowded but we enjoyed the music and the people watching. Johnny O'Neal is a great piano player. He was featured in the movie "Ray". He was accompanied by MSU professors of Jazz, Rodney Whitaker on bass and Sean Dobbins on drums. Great music. I think they might need to widen the streets in Old Town to make room for the crowds in the future.

Today, I spent most of the day doing chores but did get to finish piecing the quilt top for my nephew Jackson's 5th birthday. He will be 5 years old on August 6th and I promised him a dinosaur quilt.
Jackson's Dino quilt top. I bought this fabric at NQA in Columbus 2007 and just now am getting to making the quilt.
The center of Jackson's Dino quilt. Jackson, what do you think of your new quilt?
I also had time to make a delicious blueberry cake this evening. I stopped Ruth and Carol Se as they were returning from the concert at Plymouth Church and gave them each a piece of cake to take home.

Now to bed to read the book, The Friday Night Knitting Club. I picked it up from the Foster Library branch a few days ago thanks to Linda.