Year in Review - 2011

I'd say despite our big move to another state I was quite productive this year.  :)  This isn't even everything I made.  Phew...looking at it makes me tired!

Here's to a bigger and better 2012!  Happy New Year!

And don't forget to check back tomorrow to see if you're the big winner of the "Sanctuary" Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway!!!  :)  What?  You forgot to enter?  Well, head on over to this post and leave a comment.

New Year Resolutions and a Giveaway!!!

I'm not a big one for resolutions.  A resolution is a firm decision to do or not do something, and really...how many resolutions are broken every year?  But, I do like to try new things without putting pressure on myself.

This year I'd like to invite you to join me in a quilt-along.  No pressure.  I will be posting a set of supplies in January so you have time to accumulate them over a few months time.  Quilting is a bit of an investment.  Then we will do the quilt along in April or May.  I will open a Flickr group for us to post our pictures and progress in.  I want it to be a learning and sharing experience...as interactive as possible.  :)  And what a sense of accomplishment you'll feel every time you curl up under that finished quilt you made, or see a family/friend's expression when they receive it as a gift.  

So with that in mind...I want to help you get started.  :)  

11 coordinated fat quarters mostly from "Sanctuary" by Patty Young for Michael Miller Fabrics.

I went through my stash and am purging some of my fabrics.  You see when I started to sew it bugged me that I didn't have a lot of fabric choices at my finger tips.  So I signed up for a fatquarter bundle of the month club.  All Michael Miller Fabrics.  It was great, but I did receive some lovely packs that weren't totally my style.  I love all of them, but not all go great in my house.  With that in mind I want to help you get a start.  I'd rather them get some use than sit in a pile in my closet.  So, this is the first of 4 giveaways.  :)  You could even use them in the quilt-along to come if you wanted to.

So, how do you enter the giveaway?  There are a few ways:

1)  Comment about a new goal or resolution you have for the new year.

2)  Join The Cozy Pumpkin facebook page.  Return here and comment that you joined.

3) Comment that you became a follower of The Cozy Pumpkin Blog.

4)  Have a friend join either the blog or Facebook page, and tell them to comment here that they joined and that you sent them here!  :)

ALL comments must be made in the comments section of this post to qualify.  Please include your first name and a contact e-mail in your posts.  You can type your e-mail like so:  thecozypumkin[at]gmail[dot]com.  If you don't include your e-mail you will have to make sure to check the announcement for the winner of the drawing on January 1, 2012.  If I don't hear from you in 3 days a new winner will be chosen.

The giveaway winner will be drawn on January 1, 2012!!!!!  

Best of luck, and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Another year is coming to a close and while I neglected to write a Christmas post... I did have one planned.  But, family was visiting and well, that took priority.  But, the family that was visiting were my parents, and I have been working my little rear off day and night to make a lap quilt for each of them that is completely theirs.  :)

Last year at quilt show I found some fabrics that I thought were soooo my parents and an idea was born.  To make each of them quilts for Christmas in 2011.

We'll start with my Mom's.  It features American Jane's "Punctuation" line and a few other solids and a Ta-Dot in for the border.  Vintage inspired fabrics for the binding and backing and I'm quite pleased with the results.  I need to think of a name for this one.  Thoughts?

After completing my mom's I went in an entirely different and modern direction for my Dad's quilt.  His has fabrics from the new "Echo" line and a few others, but the inspiration began with the Tula Pink "Neptune" line.  :)  On the back I used my Silhouette to make an applique of an anchor.  This is so far my favorite quilt to date.

So here you have "Porthole With a View":

I wish I had snapped a couple of pictures of them with their quilts on Christmas.  Darn!  I'll have to make sure I ask them to take some curled up with them at home and send them to me.  :)

My quilts joined the link up party at:

Knit Cap

Well, my first knitting in the round project is complete, and I must say it was quite fun to see a hat form before my very eyes.  And I love the way the top of a knitted hat finishes off.  I'll have to get a picture of it sometime for you...Mr. G was not being entirely cooperative while trying to take his picture today.  He was a little too excited that it was warm enough to play outside.

For a side note:  I played around with cross processing on this photo on Picnik.  I can't decide if I like how it turned out or not.

Winner Winner!

Well, you won't be getting a chicken dinner, but you will be getting scraps!

Sarah will be receiving the coordinated blue/green bundle and Christine will be receiving the random scrap bundle.  Ladies - please e-mail me your addresses at thecozypumpkin@gmail.com so I can get these out to you.  :)

I really enjoyed stealing reading your ideas for your favorite handmade gifts to give and receive!  They were all such great ideas.  I am now intrigued by the the straw stars, and I need to see a snowman handprint art piece!  :)

And if you didn't win...don't be too upset.  I'm going to be going through my uncut stash in the new year and may be weeding out some Michael Miller fat quarter bundles!  I know...exciting right?!  So keep checking back for that.

Scrap Giveaway!!!

You'd think I could come up with a catchier title than that, but really...lets just state the obvious and get excited about a scrap giveaway.  And to make it more exciting I actually have 2!  Yes 2 scrap piles to give away.

I won't lie...calling some of these scraps is a bit of a misnomer as some of these pieces are quite sizeable.

So first up...the yummy fabric.

Giveaway 1:

Neptune by Tula Pink, some Joel Dewberry, Echo by Lotta Jansdotter, some Basic Grey "solid" and a few other random grabs from the quilt shop.  So many yummy fabrics in hard to get colors.

Giveaway #2:

This is truly a bundle o' scraps for few of these really go together.  Some pieces are huge.  Some are small.

Punctuation by American Jane (lots of charm squares in this one), some Halloween fabric, dots, pretty brights, some stripes, some solids, Tiny Tots by The Vintage Workshop, some paisley, and some sweet flowers.

So, how do you get your hands on these?  Easy peesy.  Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite handmade Christmas gift is to give or maybe even receive.  :)  If you want to enter more than once comment if you joined my blog.  Comment again if you join my facebook page.  And comment again if you get a friend to join the blog OR facebook page.  (Then your friend can enter too!)

Okay everyone!  Can't wait to read your comments.  I will draw names on December 19th so enter by then!  :)

Happy Crafting!!!!!

A Bit of This, A Bit of That

Isn't it funny that Christmas is such a fun carefree time when you're a kid?  Making cookies, watching Christmas movies, decorating the tree....  And then you grow up and you're the one assembling the tree, cleaning up the mess from baking cookies, wrapping all of the presents, and trying to find a Christmas movie that everyone will be happy to watch.  Ah, good times.  ;) 

Things get even more fun when you have a little helper to drag out all of your crafting odds and ends...

She's cute so I let it slide.

 This year my sewing machine started getting very cranky as I was finishing up one particular Christmas gift.  I was so upset with it.  So, I decided it needed some time at the spa to recover from all of the hard work I've put it through in the last 13 months.  But, now my sewing table is feeling lonely...

In the meantime I've been doing a little shopping for myself.  I hope to decorate the sewing side of the office this coming year so I invested in a few things while visiting the Deluxe Indie Craft Show, in OKC, last weekend.  If you've never been, it is fabulous!!!!!  I got some great ideas for my own personal projects and bought some things that just struck me as lovely or fun.

First up we have this cute little married rabbit couple from 3 Bears Studio.  Really fun isn't it?  I got it for my daughter's room and she thinks it's a hoot!  On the right we have Anne.  Yep, Anne of Green Gables.  I just love those books, and the movies.  So when I happened upon this at Heather's booth, Audrey Eclectic, it had to be mine.  :)  She had lots of great folk art paintings, and she does a great job on the eyes.  They just capture you.

I scored some yummy soaps (not pictured) from Goodies Unlimited .  My personal favorite is the Green Tea.  So calming!!!  Nice after a long day with the kiddos.

And then we have some fabulous metallic print photos from Samantha Lamb Photography.  Those strawberries with milk are just stunning in person and are going to look tremendous in my kitchen.  And come on...aren't those spools just calling out to be in my sewing room???!!!

 And a recent find, but maybe a month old or so now is this sweet little milk pitcher I bought from Kelim Pottery on Etsy.  She is located in Israel and I just have to say I have never received something packaged with more protection than this little pitcher.  I love it for holding my knitting needles...so earthy, petite, and sweet.

Sorry about the dimly lit photos.  I have been waiting for a sunny day for a while now and well...it's just not in the cards right now.

Happy crafting!!!  (Be on the lookout for a scrappy give away in the next day or so.)

Something New

Hello friends!  I am so sorry for the lack of posting.  I am heavy into the Christmas gift making, and I can't post pictures of that stuff until after Christmas.  But, I won't leave you without a bit of eye candy.


First up in the eye candy category we have the fabulous new blog design courtesy of Erika from The Fairy Blogmother.  She was tremendous to work with and has a real talent for bringing peoples visions to fruition.  A huge thank you to her.  Some of my favorites...the quilted pumpkins on my side bar!  Makes me want to make a quilt with appliqued quilted pumpkins...hmmmm!!!!  ;)  I also love my little facebook, RSS feed, and  Pinterest links.  And I'm also excited to have a link back button.  Feel free to add that to your own blogs to more easily navigate back to mine if you're a frequent visitor.  But, I just love it all to bits.  She really did a great job of capturing that handmade vintage feel I was going for, but being able to keep it warm and inviting at the same time.  If you ever want a professional blog design you seriously would have a hard time finding a more reasonably priced and fantabulous (that's a word right?) person to work with than Erika.  :)  Thanks, girl!


And just to prove that I'm not being lazy...here is a ribbed scarf I made, modeled by the handsome Mr. G.

Currently I'm learning how to knit in the round.  Lets just say I really love working in circulars, using my stitch markers from Twice Sheared Sheep, and looking forward to using double pointed knitting needles.  I'm making a basic hat for one of my kids.  :)


Somewhere I need to squeeze in present wrapping.  Where are Santa's elves when you need 'em?


Hope you're making holiday present progress?  Any handmade items for gift giving this year?  I'd love to hear about them and I can't wait to share with you what I've been making via blog.  (Sneak over to my facebook page if you can't wait to see.  Unless you're my parents...in which case...forget that last sentence.)


Happy crafting!