Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffet and Cross Stitch . .

My oldest DS won a VIP package to the Bon Jovi concert on Monday night. I must have raised him right because he took him mom! He said he didn't know anyone else who was a bigger fan. We had seats that were center stage about 10 rows back. Not only did we get to go up on stage for 3 songs, we also received a $100 web bucks good for Bon Jovi merchandise. This week marks the 25th anniversary of Bon Jovi -- they were the opening act for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden 25 years ago. Bon Jovi's opening act for this show was The All American Rejects. Okay so I am showing my age as I had heard of them but really didn't know what genre they were. Turns out they are a punk rock band and Monday night was their first gig at Madison Square Garden. We had a great time and Bon Jovi puts on an awesome show!! He is even cuter in person!!

Between yesterday afternoon and this evening I flew to and from Toronto for a few meetings --- the flights were actually on time which is unusual for the Newark / Toronto route. During my flights I was able to read the newest book by Jimmy Buffet "Swine Not". It is an easy read about a pig that lives in an apartment in Manhattan. It is a good summer read :)

I even managed to find time on Sunday to finish stitching the top of a mattressbox pincushion. It is done in counted cross stitch and all that is left is the assembly. I will post pictures once it is complete.

Not bad for the start of the week - floor seats for Bon Jovi, having the time to read a book and some time to stitch.

Market Tote Bag

As mentioned in a previous post, below is a picture of the market tote bag I made just before the trip to VQF. What I love about this tote is the drawstring top. I picked up a toggle to easily open / close the drawstring. This one is going to my LQS as a class sample. Hmm guess I need to make a second one using some of the fabric I picked up in Vermont.

VQF, 4th of July, etc.

Bet you are wondering if I made it back from Vermont. I did make it back. However, I came back to work just in time to deal with month end and half year reporting which is almost as intense as year-end reporting. Some days I wonder why I chose finance but then I remember that my full-time job supports my hobbies as well as other necessities in life :)

The festival was wonderful and a great time was had by all who went. It is so inspiring to see the quilts on display and browse through the vendor booths. At the show I picked up a book on the quilts at the Shelbourne Musuem. I was able to see some of them on display when we went to the museum. In addition to the quilt exhibit there was a handbag exhibit. One of the handbags was made from a rubber rainboot. Another was made from flip tops from aluminum cans.





Haven't had too much time to quilt the past couple weeks but I have picked up some of my handwork in the evening. With the longer days I enjoy sitting outside and stitching. The lighting couldn't be better and it is nice to spend some time outdoors after being inside all day.

I have joined Caryn in her pincushion mania. We met on Saturday afternoon at a local needlework shop to look for cross stitch patterns. We both picked up some patterns, fabric and threads. When I got home I started working on one of them. DH made the comment "so you are starting that again". I just smiled and said "yes dear". It could be worse -- I could be starting an entirely new hobby and need to invest $$$$ to start . . . .

Happy Stitchin'