Tote Mania!

How was everyone's Thanksgiving holiday? Good I hope. Ours was very nice. Spent most of the weekend away from home so today, I'm tired but it's back to work time!

I was off from work starting at Noon on Tuesday last week so I did get some sewing done on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. I'll show you what I was working on.

These are the Claire totes that I did for my Mom and my MIL for Christmas from Punkie. These aren't my Mom's thing but I figured she could carry her lunch it in for work.

After getting all the bits and pieces cut, the tote goes together fairly quickly.

Here's a shot of the inside of one. Love all the pockets!


And MY tote. I started this one back in September but put it aside to work on Christmas projects. I had time on Wednesday afternoon and it was pretty much done. I just had to join the outer piece and the lining together so I got my own tote done. LOVE IT!

Pattern is the Bring Your Own Bag II from Whistlepig Creek and it's really big. Good size for an overnight bag. This one has lots of pockets too. I added a snap at the top as well.

The machine embroidered "J" is from SWAK Embroidery. The WPCreek pattern has you make a circle and then applique a letter in the center but I wanted to be different. And I'm glad I did my own thing.

I brought my bag with me to Thanksgiving dinner to show it off and my SIL wants one, just a little smaller. So after the holidays, I will make her one.

I also worked on another project yesterday that went really quick. I need to take its picture and I'll show you.

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Giveaway Alert!

Vickie (mid Ohio Quilter/Spun Sugar Quilts) is having a giveaway celebrating her 400+ posts with FIVE chances to win!

Here's a picture of just ONE of the giveaways...

Go on over and wish her Congrats and throw your name in the pot! Good luck!!

Enjoy!

Jen :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a happy and enjoyable Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

And if you're going out shopping this weekend... have fun!

Enjoy!

Jen :)

A Giveaway!

Sinta over at Pink Pincushion is having a giveaway to celebrate a few things... her 100th post and her 13th wedding anniversary. So pop on over, leave a comment and try your luck. Maybe you'll be the lucky one! ;)Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

More Fleece Blankets

I put together a couple fleece blankets and coordinating pillowcases for my cousins to give to their respective god-children for Christmas. I gave one to my god-daughter last year for her birthday so now all three kids in the house will have one.

This one is for Katrina, the oldest. I have no idea if she even likes turtles but this is what she's getting. LOL!

And for Julian - pirates. He's BIG into construction vehicles and tractors but we didn't find any suitable fleece for him. So pirates it is! I love the fleece. It's a big treasure map!

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Christmas Sweets

A few weekends ago, Punkie and I got together with my aunt and 2 cousins and we worked on gingerbread houses for some festive Christmas decorating. I know it's not even Turkey Day yet but honestly, it was the only weekend we had free since one of my cousins is heading off for a week-long cruise soon.

We used the Wilton kits because who really has the time and energy to actually bake the gingerbread to make the houses with? Not me! The kits are great too. They come ready to assemble with all kinds of candies and gum drops and a big bag of royal icing - just add water. I was in charge of "construction" and Amelia was in charge of the decorating. She did such a nice job. I helped a little but it was pretty much all her doing.

We also made the gingerbread tree.

Here's all 4 of the houses together.

Couple random pics of my Punkie Pie too. :)


Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

WHY are cute things so ADDICTING?!

How cute! How cute! HOW CUTE!!! Look at my new pin toppers. Aren't the mushrooms adorable?! These cuties were made by Gigi of Pinks & Needles. And I just love them and I can't wait to get more. I joined Gigi's Pin Topper of the Month club. These pins I bought for myself. The club is starting in January.


The cute yellow cupcake one is one that I received from Gigi for my birthday. What a nice surprise and now, I'm HOOKED!

And that cute cupcake pin cushion? Vickie made it for me for a cupcake swap. Love that too. Punkie likes to arrange all the pins by color in each section... if you can tell in the picture. I mix them up and she re-arranges them. Never fails. LOL.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Pin Topper of the Month Clud (PTMC)

Vickie posted this on her blog and I thought that was a good idea so I'm going to spread the word too.

Gigi over at Pinks & Needles is starting up a Pin Topper of the Month club for 2010; open to the first 100 people who wants to join. I must say, I wish I was as talented as Gigi. Her pins are A-DOR-ABLE! I ordered 4 of them a few weeks ago and I got them yesterday. LOVE THEM! I'll have to take their picture and show you.

So? What are you waiting for?? RUN! Don't walk! over to Gigi's blog and post a comment that you want to join too. I don't think you'll regret it!

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

OOOOOO! I can't wait to bust it open!

Oh. I got one. Delivered yesterday...I can't WAIT to open it! Well, I have opened it and peeked at a few of the fabric squares. I already have my list of fabrics that I want to get in bulk once they are available next year.

I think I need another. Just to look at.

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Birthday/C-Word Gifts

I will not mention the dreaded "C" word but it's fast coming upon us. I have two cousins (sisters) that both have birthdays in December (a day apart from each other) and the birthdays fall two weeks before the dreaded "C" word.

They admire the few totes that I've made for myself so I thought this year, I would make them each one as a combined birthday/C-word gifts. I'm also going to make them each a pink Yankees fleece blanket since they are both Yankees fans AND I stumbled upon the pink Yankees fleece at my local "we have everything" fabric mill store. I searched and searched for the pink fleece over the summer with the blanket idea. Come to find out, they had discontinued it. But I found it so I bought 4 yards of it. I digress... back to totes...

Kris made some very cute totes over the summer that I really liked. One is in her blog header that I totally copied but she knew in advance so it's okay ;) and another called the "Practical Bag" that she shared the pattern with me.

Here's my Cotton Blossom pinwheel charm tote for Cousin #1. I too left off the cuff from the original pattern. The tote looks MUCH better without it. I also added a magnetic snap and I forgot to do the inner pocket! Oh well. Who's gonna know?!


Next up... the awesomely purple (but you can't tell from the picture) Practical Bag for Cousin #2.

The purple fabrics that I used are awesome. They remind me of the color of grape Kool Aid.

And since I loved the pinwheel tote so much, I made one for myself! I used a Hushabye charm pack. I used the tote on an outing on Saturday and got lots of compliments on it. Again, I added a magnetic snap and forgot to add the inner pocket.


Here are all three together.

I've decided to make two more totes as gifts. From Punkie to the Grandmas. I picked Claire from Lazy Girl Designs. I figured my mom can use it as a lunch tote and my MIL can use it as a tote/purse. I bought my fabrics for it over the weekend and started cutting all the pieces out. I'm going to start those this week (I hope).

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Quilt Kit Giveaway

Judi at GreenFairyQuilts is having a wonderful giveaway of one of her quilt kits - Morning Bloom. The kit includes everything for the quilt top and binding. GREAT giveaway.

Go on over and try your luck!

Enjoy your day!

Jen

Giveaway Alert!

Seems like I'm doing more postings about giveaways happening on other blogs than posting anything happening in PunkiePie Land. Well, nothing is going on right now. Work is busy so I'm busy working. I'm actually working now but needed a break so I went blog reading.

Mary at QuiltHollow is having a giveaway of a very cute mini quilt. Perfect for a table topper or a mini christmas tree skirt or even decorating a wall.

Isn't it CUTE?! Pop on over and give your luck a try. Maybe you'll be the big winner. OR maybe I will be!

I do have a couple things to post about. I just have to find the time to get my thoughts organized and the pictures off my camera.

Enjoy your night!

Jen :)

I Love Giveaways!

Julie at jaybirdquilts is having a very generous giveaway for her 100th post. She giving away some goodies she brought home from Market.

Awesome! Go on over and try your luck. I think this one is going to have LOTS of entries!

Good luck!

Enjoy your day!

Jen

Happy Halloween!

The weather held out and we got to go out Trick or Treating. Since we live out in the country, we went to my grandmother's house to do our candy collecting. That's where I went as a kid. She lives in a decent sized neighborhood and it's easy to walk from house to house.

We were joined by my cousin's kids. Nicholas and Abbey. Amelia and Abbey are 2 years apart and they are becoming fast friends.

This year was another homemade costume by Mama. I convinced Amelia to be a black cat. I bought her black fleece pants and a black shirt. Added the fur boa stuff to the cuffs, ears and a tail and viola. A kitty. I'm going to take the boa stuff off the pants and shirt and she'll have clothes to put into rotation.

Unknown between my cousin and myself, Abbey too was a kitty. So she and Punkie matched somewhat.

Nicholas, my godson, is 12 and is getting into music. He decided he wanted to be Gene Simmons from KISS.

And a group shot. My aunt (Nicholas and Abbey's grandmother) dressed up as a witch and stayed home to give out candy.

I have big ideas for Amelia's costume for next year! I hope she will indulge me one more time and let me make her a costume again.

I hope everybody had a great Halloween! And now it time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)