Working with your hands is soothing

Let's talk about artwork shall we? I need a break from worry.
Our wee family of two got in the car Saturday and went to three quilt stores on the shop hop. We started at Bear's Paw (sorry no purchases this time despite wanting one of each, please)
The above picture is my hexie quilt, still in progress. My take along quilt that's now King Sized! Final border blocks going on this section.
I pin them in place with safety pins to travel. I bought plastic inserts a long time ago and when it grew so large I began cutting my own templates out of  food lids. I really, REALLY like doing hexies this way.

We moved on to Patches in Mt. Airy and I gave in to the siren song that fabric sings buying these fat quarters

 Check out the dogs! the snowflakes have silver metallic snowflakes embossed. The moons with beads. The most entertaining one is the musical hip cats...

These musicians are cool baby! Hep Cats!
We had lunch at Cracker Barrel and took a long walk in a town we like a lot. Pictures of that adventure to follow this week. For now, more fabric and handwork..
We finished the day, fighting DC traffic to get to Great Falls VA and Jinny Beyer Studio.
This is how it looked at 5:10 pm

welcome and come right in!

"One yard of each please" is what I wish I could say. Jinny and her staff are always kind and welcoming. As if I didn't have enough reasons to admire Ginny... a very accomplished pattern and fabric designer, a business woman, a great teacher, and a kind person... I was reminded of her great love of dogs. She has always welcomed our boy Cole in to say hi to the ladies, and he loved her.

Her eyes are very expressive and she looks at you when you speak... when I told her we lost Cole,  she began to tear up, and then I cried again with the loss of such a good boy.
She took time at the end of a very busy day, at the end of a busy event, to share our love of our dogs. She cried with me.

I asked after her baby, now a three year old black lab. He's "great and so smart" she shared, "he seems to just know where I am in the house at all times"

I did want a yard of all fabrics, and one of each kits but left with these two one yard cuts of sale fabric

Color! Glorious color! And pattern. I also got the little light up magnifier for my purse, to help me see better

A few items I made by hand this week include this bracelet...

My talented friend Cindy showed me how to do the herringbone stitch with beads and crystals.
It feels good to learn something, and wear something I made.
Fall colors, using the leftover crystals from my last bracelet.
A server at the restaurant cooed over it and wanted one too. It's fun to wear something you make.
In fact I'm still toting around my Halloween tote.



 I also got out some fat knitting needles and used this really fluffy hairy yarn. No idea what it would be, and just started knitting. It's soothing to feel soft things. It is too short for a scarf, but could be joined into a circle to slip over my ears on a walk. 

Sometimes making something is therapeutic in the making even though you don't end up with a product.
Know what I mean?
The common thread in these projects is repetition of movement, use of thread, and beautiful colors.
linking today to
oh Scrap Sundays 
 slow stitching Sundays
mollisparkles Sundays