Small quilt works

 Whenever I need a bit of inspiration I sit down by the machine and stitch a few scraps together, cut and stitch again, until I have pieces big enough for some mug rugs. I always have a pile of batting scraps and some larger scraps for batting at the ready, and before you know it there is a finsihed pile of 6 x 8" mug rugs ready. Handy little presents to have at hand.

My sister has a thing for owls, and I made this little card  with a pocket for her birthday money on the back, inspired by this.

I made this little wall hanging some years ago, but it felt a bit dull. It is supposed to be a stylized rendition of an Art Nouveau town, but something was missing. After reading Art quilt collage by Deborah Boschert, I decided that embroidery was what it needed. So I added some doors and windows in the Art Nouveau style to give it some more interest.

I'm not entirely sure that it was enough, but we'll call it progress, why don't we...

Pouches and buckets

I made some Open Wide pouches as gifts for summer visitors. I have made several of these over the years and I really like them because the extended zipper gives you a good view of what's inside. 

While I was at it I also stitched up some fabric buckets - one for my mother and the big coffee teamed one to store my tubes of coffee capsules. I've had those fabrics lying around for ages, and it was great to find some use for them.

Knitting in 2018

 2018 hasn't exactly been a year for blogging, but I haven't been totally idle. There has been quite a bit of knitting, for instance. My first finish was this scarf, Cinder, pattern by Brooklyn Tweed. It's not easy to take pictures of a long narrow scarf, but at least you get an impression of the pattern.

 The vis-a-vis cowl was a challenge I couldn't resist. I found the pattern on Knitty. Starting with a picking up stitches along a zipper was something I'd never tried before, but I didn't find it too hard. I ended up with a cowl that can be used either open like a looped scarf or zipped up and used like a cowl.

 Then there was the Hitchhiker, a pattern that I have been hearing about for years. It was quite a success in this soft variegated yarn and an easy knit.

And finally the Islington, found on the Loop blog. I loved both the starry borders and the lace bit.

More details about the different projects on my Ravelry page.