Friday Favourites: Tea Towel Calendars

Because the first day of March is the appropriate time to talk about a 2013 calendar.

I am in love with tea towel calendars. I don't collect vintage ones, but I do have my own personal collection and it grows every year. And every year my husband questions why, but then I catch him standing in front of the hanging calendar checking dates at least once a week. It's because they are beautiful and damn handy. All the days of the year in one place. A bit of artwork on an otherwise odd wall of panelling backed cupboards.

Daily pretty.

This year I got my calendar from Jumping Birds. In past years I bought from Michelle Engel Benscko, but with Cloud 9 a booming success she wasn't producing calendars this year. Yay for her, sad (just a teeny bit) for me. But I'm thrilled with this year's version on my cupboard wall. And counting down the days until next year.

Studio Update

There are so many times in the last year where I've wanted to write this post and say that it was all done, I'm in, things are sort of settled, but there are so many details to be finished. You'll see. Not to mention the rest of the house.

To be honest, I think my Hubby worked hard to get me in here so I have some peace while chaos still reigns in the rest of the house. He does like his marriage, after all.

Here are some of the previous states...
Just a chair - when I thought I would be sewing soon. Ha!
Prepping for carpet  - doorway before.
Putting in windows - which let in a tremendous amount of light that make this a glorious space to be in.
Before - well and truly it is hard to believe this sat where my sewing table now sits.

Now? Well now I can sew in here... write... drink tea with friends... play around on my design wall... entertain the tiny, crazy visitors that never leave me alone... hide in the early mornings and not wake up anyone with my sewing... host guests on a rather comfy - albeit firm - flip sofa covered in quilts... and remind myself daily that hard work and patience do really pay off.

 Design wall going up.

Doors leading in.

The Evil Genius created a lair.

A built-in bookshelf to be.

My jars now live on the floor, for full access by little hands.

I started sewing standing up before the real table was in and haven't moved yet.

Guest bed, dreaming spot.

A little girl has been here. (And, my windows need to be cleaned and that drain hose moved come spring.)

These will be part of the inspiration wall.

My new favourite spot, surrounded by love, peace, and colour.

Friday Favourites: Black Books

I cannot live without these two black books. They travel with me (both fit in my purse), they take up precious counter space, they define the days of my life.

Coil Bound Sketchbook 
Over the years I've learned that I am much better if I have only one notebook. At one point I had one for quilt sketches, one for article notes and interviews, one for doodles, and one just for my purse. It became a giant pain in the butt to keep track of their locations at any given time and to search for an idea I had that one time. Now I keep one book only, this one. It holds all my ideas for quilts, articles, books, home renos... All in one place.

Moleskine Weekly Planner
Sure, I've had a smart phone for years. When I worked full-time I lived by my linked phone and Outlook calendar. But to manage the home life, the phone messages, the to-do lists, knowing Hubby's out-of-town schedule, birthdays and more I came to rely more and more on a paper calendar. For the past few years this trusty Moleskine has been the repository of the written details of our lives. I love the weekly planner that has a calendar dates on one side and a blank page for notes facing it. Perfect for capturing everything, including my blog schedule!

Put these two black books together and you have me. I don't keep a journal, but the collection of these two books will tell you more about me than any diary with a key.

Vacation Books (Weekend Reads)

Time for a bit of a vacation. In my perfect world I would stay at home - a clean home - and sew for weeks on end with only myself to feed. This would indeed be a break. But my Hubby wants us, and rightly so, to take a real vacation from our lives. That means no sewing and writing for me and no Blackberry for him.

(Yeah, we'll see how long either of us last.)

So I've collected a few books for some uninterrupted afternoons. Maybe I'll actually finish a novel or two, instead of it taking me 6 months of reading five minutes a day before I fall asleep, book in hand and drool on the corner of my mouth.

If you've got any favourite vacation read suggestions, I'll take them.

In other news, today we tackled the first project in my new basement studio. It isn't quite done yet, but it is clean and is now home to a cutting table and sofa bed. The girls and I made a Christmas present and everything about it was perfect, right down to their erratic hand stitches. Just perfect.

And ready for a vacation.

Happy Holidays to all of you, we'll see you in January!