Christmas Spirit

I always boycott Christmas until we've gotten past Thanksgiving....I think we have a tendency to skip this very important family holiday before the madness.
That being said.....

Yay! It's officially the Christmas season!Here's a Christmas freebie for y'all, sorry we haven't posted one in a while. Happy holiday crafting!

To unpack or not to unpack......?

Addendum to the last post about the new house....
Seems as though the cold water situation was not due to my lack of planning! Yay me! After quite a few handy fellas looked at it, an actual plumber needed to spend a few hours under the house rerouting some water lines and uncrossing hot/cold lines. It all seemed quite dire until he finished and presented us with a very small bill. We now have scalding hot water and I've never been so happy to take a shower!
Most everything else has been going smoothly. We ordered our gas stove and it will be delivered Wednesday.....just in time to cook Thanksgiving dinner :) We have so many boxes the house looks a bit like a maze, but I did get the couches cleared off so we can lounge as needed. My cat seems to be calming down somewhat. Those of you who know me also know my cat is a tad neurotic. There is still a load of "stuff" at David's that needs to be magically transported to the house in the near future.....anyone volunteering? Nearly every inch of the house needs some sort of weatherstripping/sealant/caulk and it's getting colder, so we'll have to address that pretty quickly. Otherwise, we're looking good.
I have to thank James and Fairlle for bringing a movie and their great company last night. We wanted to relax a little and they kindly provided much needed entertainment. I hope everyone who helped us move (ahem...broke their backs) knows how much they are appreciated. We know we have the best friends and family! Thank you so much!
Now.....to unpack before Thanksgiving so the pictures look perfect? Naw! Good food with people we love will be just fine. Who cares if we use paper plates and sit on the couch?!

The...ahem...not so seamless transition to the dream home

After the excitement of finding the home of our dreams comes the inevitable backlash....moving in, finding quirks (good and bad), miscellaneous repairs, etc.

We closed on the house mid-week. Our work schedules didn't allow moving until the weekend, so we decided to "camp out" that first night....stake our claim, so to speak. Fun, right? No furniture, just a blanket and pillows, and very excited homeowners.

Our first night as "dream home" owners was spent not sleeping on a very hard floor, freezing and miserable. Together, but miserable. In a fit of organizational pique, I made sure all the utilities (gas, water, electric) were properly set up and operational before closing. I just neglected to have the gas furnaces lit. Ooops...It was 32 degrees that night. Forgot the hot water heater, too. Try an icy shower after freezing and sleeping on the floor all night :-/ Dang it, we have a claw-foot tub and no hot water!
Big sigh.
Dream home.
Oh, did I mention we only got one key? One lone key, and the real estate agent gave us the code for the lock-box and told us to get it ourselves! Still can't get the lock-box off the doorknob, but that's ok because the doorknob doesn't actually work! Thank goodness the deadbolt does. The back door doesn't even have a door knob to complain about.
Big sigh.
Dream home.
Then there's the mirror situation. We have three bathrooms and none of them have mirrors. The only spot to get ready for work seems to be in front of the mirrored door in the den.....it faces the front porch and an enormous picture window. Very pleased to face the neighbors in the morning. Not a closet rod in the place either.
Big sigh.
Dream home.
The second night in our dream house will be accompanied by every stick of furniture we own, approximately 1000 books, working heaters, comfy beds, HOT WATER, and.....
Big sighs....
of contentment and happiness :)

We did actually have fun eating peppermint oreos on the floor under a quilt, walking from room to room making plans for the future, being grateful for our very very good fortune. There will undoubtedly be more days that make us scratch our heads and wonder what possessed us to buy an 86 year old home, but it will always be
Our Dream Home!

Home of PunkinPatch

Welcome to the new home of

PunkinPatch

CraftDesigns!

We are more than a lil proud to show off our new home! Finally we have enough room, personally and professionally....15 rooms should give us sufficient space to create :)

Forgive us if we interject personal updates (decor and home renovation stuff) amidst the craft, pattern, and show updates.
For all our friends, here's the rundown.......

1922 Craftsman/Arts and Crafts/Prairie style, two story home with glowing hardwood floors, two living rooms, two fireplaces, formal dining room, six bedrooms, three baths, a sunroom (aka David's watercolor studio), an adorable sleeping porch/balcony, a six foot cast iron claw-foot tub, the sunniest laundry room ever, and various and sundry period details that make me smile like a fool.

Everyone is welcome to smack us if we grin too terribly much.
And you're all invited to Thanksgiving dinner!



*Vive le potiron!*

The Art Monkey Gets Beaten Mercilessly (or Adventures with Quilting Ninjas)

So, I'm minding my own business drawing sugar skulls so i can be cute and creepy at the same time, and my Irish taskmaster (taskmistress?) hits me with a whip across the back (and not one of those sexy whips, either. Long, awful barbed thing...) and tells me to write the Fall post quilting show blog. I tried to pretend senility, it failed. My next gambit was to convince her that I'm illiterate. Fail. I forgot she knows that i know how to type.
Blog. Blog blog blog blog *CRACK* owowowowow.......
The quilt show was soo much fun. I love the drive in unloading thing at Will Rodgers. It made set up easy. Of course I let the smart one do the actual display, so i was the work monkey and little more, completely ignored unless my back is required. So, unappreciated and abused, beaten and ridiculed, I decided to walk about and check out the quilty stuff.
Understand, this is my first exposure to this kind of show. The art is amazing, the discipline is awe inspiring, and I have to admit that I was honestly awestruck by the sheer ability of the quilters who displayed their works.
I have to give a huuuge shouted 'thank you' to the ladies of the guild, they made it fun and easy for the newbies like us. I was nice and polite at all times, to those of you who know me and was wondering about my behavior. There's a staggering amount of razor sharp things hanging in easy reach everywhere, and I'm more than sure that there's more than one husband surgically dissembled at home in the freezer.....
*CRACK* owowowowowowowow
We did sooo well, it was just perfect and I got my cheeks pinched by dozens of wonderful grannies and aunties, and my butt pinched at least twice. We made a small but excellent bank, and had a great time and we were thoroughly impressed. Needless to say, we have decided to find more quilting shows to display at. There's a good chance we got more wholesale customers, and people interested in carrying the punkin flag for us so we're really looking forward to a long term run and lotsa fun along the way.
Next show is L.D. Bell, first week of December. It's a craft show, so we expect Heather's stitchery to do as well as it always does, which is extremely well. Maybe I can talk her into stitching a few sugar skull if I can convince her to stop beating me long enough to finish this one..... owowowowow..... d.

Where to find us online

We currently sell patterns and stitched goodies online. In the future we will be adding prints, paintings, and who knows what else!

Check us out:

etsy: punkinpatchcrafts.etsy.com

ebay seller id: bowheadgavin

patternmart designer id: Punkin Patch Craft Designs

Or email us with special requests at:
punkinpatch13@yahoo.com

Trinity Valley Quilt Show

The Trinity Valley Quilt Show at Will Rogers Memorial Center
starts Friday Sept. 19th!

Come by and visit our booth (#56)
and check out all the new patterns.

Show times are:
*Friday 19th (10-5)
*Saturday 20th (10-5)
*Sunday 21st (11-4)

Thanks for your support :)

*PunkinPatchCraftDesigns*