Gray (Or is it Grey?)

Only a tiny bit of quilt-related posting today. Last time I posted I was trying to decide on a gray for the background of the Big Quilt. Well, I finally did what any quilter would do: I ordered more fabric than I needed. Specifically, I ordered both Moda Bella Solids Feather and Kona Silver. The Moda Feather arrived first. I like it, but it's not quite right for this project. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's sort of the color of newsprint. It will find its way into another quilt. Today, the Kona Silver arrived (along with other additional fabric I needed for this quilt). I think it's the one. It looked tawny to me on my swatch, but next to the Feather, it's definitely more of a true pale gray. (Or grey--I can never decide how to spell that color, and the funny thing is, I picture gray as more blue and grey as more beige. Who knows why.)

So here is my new fabric (Silver on the left, Feather on the right. Gray/Grey?): 

And now I can get on with the project (after I do a couple of days of volunteering at my old school this week).

Other than that, nothing to show this week. The reason? My husband's birthday was on Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day in the US. So we decided to run away for a few days to Michigan's little finger (if you think of the the lower peninsula of the state as the shape of a mitten). Love it up there. The rest of this post is pictures if you're interested in a little travelogue.  Here are some of our favorite stops along the way:

Little Point Sable Lighthouse

Mission Point Lighthouse
 (Michigan has LOTS of lighthouses--more than any other state in the US.)

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Leelanlau State Park (Lake Michigan)

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Warning sign at dunes

Water is 400 ft below

Fog rolling in

Trillium

Sunset from our hotel in Traverse City. 

Best place for whitefish in Michigan (Ludington) 

Best place to eat that fish--the park across the street on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan

Best place for fine chocolates (Empire, Michigan)

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Rural Historic District

Okay, I'll stop now. But I love sharing pictures of my beloved state. Pure Michigan. There are lots of vineyards and wineries in the area we visited (we didn't go to them--we're more "explore outdoors" people.) There are also lots of orchards (mostly cherries). They were just starting to blossom, and I couldn't get good pictures--I will someday. Spring is the other color season up north, but this year it's been chilly so bloom times and leafing out are a bit behind. No matter. It's always beautiful. 

I'm linking up today with Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday, Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social. Buttons are to the right. 

I hope to have lots of progress on the Big Quilt to share next week.