Have you noticed when you have something you want to photograph the lighting in your home is really bad that day? I should have waited for more light, but I'm excited to show you this calendar I finished today. Last year Lina made an Advent calendar that I loved and I wanted fairies to show up and make me one in the middle of the night, but when I heard that her calendar was being published in Better Homes and Gardens I thought, oohhh, directions! After compulsively checking book stores I found the issue - it's the Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection "Holiday Crafts" 2008. Of course, I waited until the last minute so I could spend hours staying up late and ignoring the computer to finish this in a week.
I've mentioned this before, but I don't know how to sew. I had a home economics class 3,000 years ago in Jr. High, and just last year I had to ask someone how you keep a stitch from unraveling when you stitch with a machine - ah, backstitch at the beginning. After my Mom died, I gave her sewing machine to my Aunt and when she passed away, I asked my cousin for the machine back. So, using her machine gives me a connection to her in a zen sort of way, until the needle jams and I start swearing because all the directions in the owners manual consist of two sentence instructions. I was never interested in sewing when she was around and we could have spent time with a common interest, but that is how things work. So, I think of her when I open the case that still has her old spools of thread and winded bobbins and I know she would be happy to see the machine she loved still being used. At this point she would also say, "enough of this maudlin stuff..."
The calendar is a combination of embroidery and applique. I wanted to embroidery more of the pockets, but time was not on my side. Most of the fabric I used was from my Japanese stash and it felt good to cut and use it. This is one of my favorite pockets because it's simple:
I also like day 1; it was a cross stitch pattern advertisement that I tried to copy from a Japanese embroidery book.
I'm really happy with how this turned out and I want to thank Lina for inspiring me to make something I thought was impossible. It wasn't easy, but sometimes the struggle makes it more special. Now I have to fill it with treats, just in time for our first snow (expected 3-6 inches). I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I'm planning a giveaway sometime this week if I can get my act together - should it be a surprise?
