Stash busting on-the-go: a scrappy crochet wrap

One of my favorite things about crochet (and knitting) is how easily it travels. Whether I’m on the road in a hotel room, or catching a few quiet moments outdoors, this small project has quickly become my portable, go-to project—and it’s made entirely from the yarn stash. 

Crocheted modular leaf blocks.

Fulfilling my Make Nine “yarn” prompt

Since early this Spring, I had been searching for a stash-busting project to fulfill my Make Nine 2025 “yarn” prompt. I wanted to use up a stash of odd, abandoned balls of yarn that I collected from a swap shop. I’m combining them with an “impulse buy” that never found a home. It turns out that when putting these stash bin finds together… something beautiful is happening. 

The collection of abandoned balls of yarns.

An “impulse buy” from the sale bin at a yarn store.

The Taos pattern

I modified a crochet pattern [Taos by Cristina Mershon, found on Ravelry] to make the leaf-shaped modular blocks. I’m also having to adjust on-the-fly to compensate for the different yarn weights/thicknesses—sometimes holding two yarns together, or crocheting and extra row around the perimeter to get size.

The format of the modular blocks is perfect for portability. The pattern is easy to memorize, and each block becomes its own little surprise when choosing different yarns. I’m especially intrigued with how the variegated yarns play out in these blocks—the color shifts in the skein produce a new color combination every time.

The leaf-shaped centers of these units were created from the same ball of variegated yarn.
They all look different.

My units finish at about 2.75”. While I don’t know the exact finished format and size or the wrap yet, I’m leaning toward a rectangular shawl that I can toss on around my shoulders in cooler weather—something cozy and full of color. The Taos pattern is an L-shape wrap, so that’s an option, too. Either way, my wrap will be a wearable memory of abandoned bits. The yardage of the odd balls, along with the impulse buy, should yield an ample size.

Portable yarn project: tools and supplies in a zipper pouch.

My crochet hook, yarn needle, and yarn stash are packed in a small zipper pouch. For now, I’m just enjoying the crochet process, exploring color combinations, and making bunches of leaf units.

Starting month 9 in my Create Daily Tracker

In January, I started another Create Daily Tracker (my 6th) with the continuous goal to do something creative with my hands every day of the year. No pressure for perfection—just taking a little time for myself, and carving out a space in the schedule for making. 

With over 240 days of making behind me, it’s interesting to see what the year entailed thus far. 

Create Daily Tracker 2025. September 6, 2025.

Over 8 months of creative endeavors 

My creative practice so far this year has included a wonderful mix of mindful stitching tasks, improvisational projects, and a few structured challenges. All were achieved with an assortment of daily short stints and longer inspired binges. Here is a breakdown of the percentages of time spent along with a comparison of the status check from June.

• 2% garment sewing (down from 5%)
• 4% free-motion quilting (down from 7%)
• 47% slow stitching and mending, including the 100 Day Stitch Book (up from 40%)
• 14% patchwork (down from 18%)
• 16% art projects—collage, mixed media, painting, art journaling (up from 11%)
• 17% yarn—knitting, crochet (up from 12%)

Thirty-three entries of patchwork and using scraps paired with 9 entries of free-motion quilting resulted in charity quilts. Sixteen kitty quilts were donated to two local vets early in the year, I’ve made two more this summer, and a few lap quilts got quilted and bound for my guild’s Cuddle Quilt project. 

Free-motion quilting a charity quilt. I attach the binding by machine.

Mending was the uppermost technique during “A Winter of Care and Repair Challenge” and my 100 Day Stitch Book entailed a lot of slow stitching. I found The 100 Day Stitch Book to be a very rewarding project. I learned the slot-and-tab binding method which resulted in the making of two additional textile books of stitched collage compositions from my 2023 100 Day Project. At the suggestion of my students and the urging of my cohorts, I hope to develop a class around soft bookmaking. 

Slow stitching compositions from the 100 Day Stitch Book project.

My art practice included 37 sessions of slow drawing, mixed media, watercolor, and participation in two month-long Junk Journal Challenges—Junk Journal January and Junk Journal July. Following daily prompts, the Junk Journals became tactile, expressive pages with layers of paper, paint, and hand lettering to convey stories and messages. 

Junk journals for January and July 2025.

A few days of garment sewing resulted in a Make Nine finish—a remake of the Siena Shirt using a fun fabric line called Perfect Points. 

Make Nine 2025 worksheet. September 2025.

A log of 40 entries creating with yarn resulted in the stack of hand knit dish cloths. Pattern research last month unearthed a scrap-buster project for my Make Nine “yarn” prompt, so lately, I’ve been heavily engrossed with crochet. I’ve completed 8 out of 9 prompts on my Make Nine list and the last prompt, “yarn,” is well underway. 

Why the Create Daily Tracker works for me 

My Create Daily Tracker is more than just a checkbox system. It’s a gentle accountability partner that helps me: 

• celebrate small wins that might have otherwise gone unnoticed, 
• stay focused on a daily practice—even when motivation wanes, 
• document my makes,  
• make space to honor the act of creating, one day at a time. 

If you’re on a creative journey or want to develop a daily art practice of your own—no matter what your medium—a daily tracker might be helpful. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just a simple document to capture successes, new techniques, and creative risks, such as mine shown above will work. Ease of use is the key.

Reflecting on the Simplest Things Challenge: A 5-day drawing journey

This week, I took on the Simplest Things Challenge, a 5-day slow drawing Challenge with Amy at Mindful Art Studio. The Challenge encourages the exploration of making simple marks and seeing where the process leads. 

Day 1 prompt: Closer

Simple supplies

I’ve done the Simplest Things Challenge a couple of times. Sometimes I draw in a sketchbook, sometimes on small pieces of card stock or watercolor paper, and often the compositions become fodder for pages in my art junk journals. 

As I was traveling earlier in the week, I packed a small 4” x 6” sketchbook and a few Micro pens in my travel bag. This weekend, I opened a small palette of watercolors and pulled out a paintbrush. So, even the supplies for this Challenge are minimal! 

Day 2 prompt: Squiggle

Daily prompts

I like the low-pressure nature of the daily prompts. There are only 5 of them! It’s a short, easy Challenge to do. Responses to the prompts can go in any direction.

Another version of Closer (Day 1 prompt) with Dots (Day 3 prompt).

Another version of Day 2 prompt: Squiggle. Watercolor and line drawing.

Day 3 prompt: Dot

The prompts offer an opportunity to let the mind wander while interpreting them. The slow drawing makes you present and in the moment.

Day 3 prompt: Dot

Day 4 prompt: Branching

Day 5 prompt: Smash

The simplicity of the prompts makes the Challenge accessible to any skill level. If you’re looking to spark your creativity without feeling overwhelmed, the Simplest Things Challenge is a perfect way to dive into drawing and mark making. Use any art supplies you have on hand—pencils, markers, paint pens, watercolors, anything!

Day 4 prompt: Branching

This Challenge is a reminder that sometimes, art isn’t about complexity—it’s about slowing down, showing up for your art practice, and seeing the beauty in the smallest and simplest of things.

Scrappy charity quilts and free-motion fun

There’s something satisfying about turning a pile of leftover fabrics into something cozy and full of heart. Easy patchwork, fun sewing, and a bit of therapy at the sewing machine—it doesn’t get much better than that. 

Kitty quilt with improv patchwork and free-motion quilting.

I brought two “kitty quilt” [charity quilt] tops to my Intro to Free-motion Quilting workshop at the Folk School earlier this month. I used them to demonstrate basting and the Kwik Klip tool. 

Demonstrating basting with the Kwik Klip tool on a charity quilt.

Students also got a chuckle over the “franken-batting” I made by zig-zagging leftover batting scraps together.

Pieced batting using up batting scraps: “Franken-batting.”

Using up scraps, the patchwork for these quilt tops (as well as the batting) is simple and improvisational. These tops are the perfect canvases for some easygoing, free-motion quilting. One top was used in class to demonstrate free-motion zig-zags. 

Two completed charity quilts for the Cat Clinic.

The quilts are finished with scrappy bindings that are attached with a machine zigzag and a variegated thread. 

Scrappy bindings applied all by machine.

Bonus: the flannel trimmings from the quilt backings were pieced together for the back of a future kitty quilt! Hooray for more scrappy improvisational patchwork!

Making do: fabric trimmings were used to piece another quilt back for a future quilt.

In addition to quilting the kitty quilts, I also pieced a cuddle quilt top for my guild’s charity. 

Charity quilt top ready for basting and quilting.

Scrap quilting is always a joyful process for me. It’s a great reminder that even small, forgotten pieces can come together to make something beautiful and meaningful.

Can you envision a scrap-buster quilt in your future? I hope so.