In the kitchen

Still feeling in the Christmas spirit? At least these have some pink and red in them, so you can pretend they're for Valentine's. :) I'd been meaning to make a new Christmas table runner for our dining room for I don't know how long, so back in December, I finally decided it had to be finished, and I'd hoarded these Cotton + Steel tumblers for far too long.

Considering just how cute those glasses are on their own and knowing I had a million other projects on my list, I decided to keep it uber simple by just doing a whole-cloth runner.

I always like my runners to be double sided, so I went with these super cute winter foxes (Cool Foxes in Aqua from the Polar Pals collection) for the other side. I only had a fat quarter, so I made up the difference with a red and white dot from my stash. Simple diagonal quilting, plus a Dear Stella red netting, which made the perfect binding for both sides, and I was done.

They make for a wintery side that's not overtly Christmasy, and they've been staring up at us since New Year's.

For part of my sister's Christmas gift, I decided to make her an apron to go with some kitchen utensils she'd requested. I used this fabulous tutorial from Purl Soho. The main part of the apron is Essex Yarn-Dyed Linen in Peacock, and the fun little pocket is Sushi's Antiques from Sarah Watts's From Porto With Love collection. I used webbing for the straps. It's simple but cute and super functional. I predict there will be one of these for me (and, I suspect, the hubs) in my future.