The Popular Pumpkin

I bought my first pumpkins of the fall today. Even though they were picked from the pile in front of Dillons, I still enjoy selecting the best ones!

I do miss the trips to the pumpkin patch with the kids and grandkids. And my pumpkins will never become jack o’ lanterns; it is much more fun watching grandchildren carve than actually doing work!

My pumpkins and chrysanthemums’ sole purpose is to decorate the steps to my front door and to add an autumn vibe to Wilke Family Life Center for the Quilt Sale. In December they will be deer food on the banks of a local creek.

As I loaded the pumpkins into my car, I wondered how pumpkins became the symbol of fall and what would people in a third world country think of me putting a perfectly good squash out to decorate and not to use it as food. And when did we start craving pumpkins for Halloween?

Pumpkins are old fruit/berry, over 10,000 years old. Pumpkin seeds were found in ancient tombs in Mexico. The Spanish took seeds to the old world and the Pilgrims brought seeds back to the new world. They were harvested in the fall and would last long into the extremely cold winters. Pumpkins pies were very different from the ones we enjoy at Thanksgiving–no crust and the custard was cooked inside a seeded pumpkin on the edge of the hearth. It was the Irish who started carving scary faces into pumpkins. Turnips had been used in Ireland to create “jack o’ lanterns”. When the Irish came to America, the abundant pumpkin became a substitute for the turnip to scare away the spooky spirits. During the middle of the 1800’s, pumpkins and the food made from them were a symbol of the abolitionists movement, because it was a crop grown in the northern states by non-slave labor.

And by one source on the internet, if you dream of a whole pumpkins it is a symbol of “openness to new possibilities and an encouragement to try new things! I dream very detailed, complex and colorful dreams, but never have I dreamed of a whole pumpkin. But I will be watching!

We have several pumpkins of all sorts for sale on our blog and at the Sale.

The decorated pumpkins would march up and down your table all fall. 16″ x 52″. $45

This rustic felt appliquéd wallhanging/table runner is 18″x 37″ and $60.SOLD

Happy pumpkins? Dancing pumpkins? Make you smile pumpkins? 17.5″ x 52″. $75

This pre-printed panel is cross-hatched machine quilted. The plaid fabric cut on a bias is a prefect frame for this harvest theme wall hanging. 18.5″ x 22.5″. $50. SOLD

Bright orange pumpkins are a favorite to embroidery on tea towels. All our tea towels are a strong cotton muslin. Most are in the range of $7 to $10.

Just like at the pumpkin patch, it is difficult to decide which one will be yours! But at least you didn’t have to walk through mud or carry a 15 pound pumpkin a mile back to the checkout stand. (and yes I did!)

Posted several new items on all three photo galleries this week. We also have received two vintage quilts–one a Grandma’s Flower garden and one that is registered with the KS Historical society. Both will be displayed for sale at the Quilts Etc. Sale on October 20-21.

We are very proud the workmanship and the creativity seen at the Quilt Etc Sale. Even if you are not in the market for a quilt, you are welcome to come and admire this art form and who knows you may see the perfect little gift for that special someone who so difficult to buy for at Christmas