This is it! Today -- Day 3 -- is *my* day for the Pick a Pumpkin Blog Hop and a giftaway!
Of course, there is a whole lineup of bloggers participating today, so be sure to visit them all:
Count it *all* JOY! (you are here!)
If you know me at all, you know that I absolutely adore pumpkins. So when I saw the post announcing this hop, I jumped right on the pumpkin train! That being said, many thanks to Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks for organizing this happy hop!!
Before I introduce my project, I wanted to keep up my runof the past few days and share another pumpkin-themed Kindle freebie. Today's offering is Pumpkin Desserts Super Value Pack I – 450 Recipes For Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Bread, Muffins, Torte, Fudge and More (The Ultimate Pumpkin Desserts ... Desserts and Pumpkin Recipes Collection 1), by Pamela Kazmierczak. This one is new to me, but I loved the cover, so I grabbed it. Oh my goodness -- there are TONS of wonderful pumpkin desserts, including cheesecakes, brownies, muffins and SCONES! Grab a hot pumpkin spice tea and bake a pumpkin scone! ♥ 
This book is NOT a freebie, but I have the hard copy of this pumpkin book, and my daughter and I have absolutely loved it! The Pumpkin Cookbook, 2nd Edition: 139 Recipes Celebrating the Versatility of Pumpkin and Other Winter Squash by DeeDee Stovel. Though it's not free, it's a pretty palatable $2.99 as a Kindle read, so I just thought I'd share it as a bonus, today. You're welcome!
Also, in keeping with my two prior Pick a Pumpkin posts, here's your pumpkin joke of the day (because I know you'd be sad without it, and laughter does good like medicine):
Q: Why was Cinderella not very good at softball?
A: Because her coach was a pumpkin.
Hahaha! I think that one may be my favorite!
And today's fun pumpkin fact: Most pumpkin varieties take 85 to 125 days to mature and about 80% of the U.S. pumpkin supply is available in October. Hooray for October and pumpkins!
Whew ... got all that out of the way, now let's get down to PUMPKIN BUSINESS!
I wanted to do something fun and a little funky. I knew I had a pumpkin project in me--oh yeah, I knew--but I wasn't sure where I was going to land. Then I happened to visit Carole at From My Carolina Home and saw the cute pumpkin blocks she featured in her Autumn Jubilee quilt along! I opened up my trusty EQ software, resized the blocks, and made something a little more in keeping with our RV home . . .
A window valance! I love changing up our decor (especially seasonally) and especially enjoy covering the RV 'window treatments' with quilted projects.
This four-pumpkin valance was just the perfect size to hang over my window. I thought about doing the pumpkins Andy Warhol style, but decided I liked the ratio of one purple pumpkin to three oranges ones. I'm the purple pumpkin. LOL!
I even managed to label it with pumpkins ... many thanks to Janet for the prim pumpkin labels! It was a perfect fit. :)
But somehow, just a valance wasn't enough. (I'm a procrastinator, a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants crafter, *and* an over-achiever. Do you know what kind of storms that combination causes?!) Carole to the rescue again; she had also featured some maple leaf placemats in her Autumn Jubilee series. So again, I opened up my trusty EQ and replaced the leaf with a . . .
Pumpkin, of course!
One purple and one orange ... one for me and one for Todd! These placemats are really clever . . .
They have built in silverware pockets! Isn't that nifty?? So fun and easy!
I finished both projects pillowcase style -- no binding -- which speeds things up a bit. I also added ribbon ties to the valance -- that way if Todd and I are having dinner on the new deck, I can tie our valance to the rails and put out the placemats and we eat al fresco in pumpkin style! (It was too dark when I got in last night -- and again too dark when I left this morning -- to get a deck pic, sorry.)
So there you have it -- my picked pumpkin(s) -- color me done! Except for the giftaway -- interested? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite thing about pumpkins, a pumpkin joke, or a tried and true pumpkin recipe, and I'll randomly pick a winner on Sunday (11/11) for this fun trio of Harvest teas from The Republic of Tea, including Pumpkin Spice! Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! ♥
So, be sure to comment and be sure you visit with the rest of today's participants and have a blast; tomorrow's the last day!
:)
I wanted to do something fun and a little funky. I knew I had a pumpkin project in me--oh yeah, I knew--but I wasn't sure where I was going to land. Then I happened to visit Carole at From My Carolina Home and saw the cute pumpkin blocks she featured in her Autumn Jubilee quilt along! I opened up my trusty EQ software, resized the blocks, and made something a little more in keeping with our RV home . . .
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| EQ Rendition |
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| The Actual Finish! |
But somehow, just a valance wasn't enough. (I'm a procrastinator, a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants crafter, *and* an over-achiever. Do you know what kind of storms that combination causes?!) Carole to the rescue again; she had also featured some maple leaf placemats in her Autumn Jubilee series. So again, I opened up my trusty EQ and replaced the leaf with a . . .
 |
| EQ Rendering |
:)
