Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

Finding the Perfect Pumpkin

Rack_of_pumpkins istockphoto

How do you pick the perfect pumpkin?  Last year Sara and I went to a couple of local pumpkin farms in the hope that we would find that elusive item.  Dressed in our cutest fall outfits, we trudged down row after dusty row of pumpkins searching for the right ones.  Dodging little kids on school field trips, stumbling over the odd rock or root, we looked and looked.  The pumpkins we saw were small, dirty, oddly shaped, and not the deep rich orange color we sought.  We must have gone to three different farms and it was the same at each one.  Disappointed and empty handed, we stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up the ingredients for a fall themed dinner.

What do you know, but right out in the parking lot of Nob Hill, was an assortment of the most perfect pumpkins you ever saw!  Tall ones, fat ones, long viney stemmed ones, green ones, white ones, many in the deep rich orange in color we sought—there were dozens of perfect pumpkins, each one more wonderful than the next.  It kind of took the mystique out of our pumpkin search, but after all, we’d had our outing and managed to come home with some great pumpkins! 

Front_porch istockphoto

So, how about you?  Have you found your perfect pumpkin yet?  How do you like to decorate your front entrance? 

26 responses to “Finding the Perfect Pumpkin”

  5. I have found the PERFECT pumpkin. It is the most amazing pumpkin in the whole world. Someday you’ll have one like it too and you’ll understand. I posted a picture on my blog so check out the cutest, perfect pumpkin in all of NH, perhaps the whole world.

  6. I have found the PERFECT pumpkin. It is the most amazing pumpkin in the whole world. Someday you’ll have one like it too and you’ll understand. I posted a picture on my blog so check out the cutest, perfect pumpkin in all of NH, perhaps the whole world.

  7. We go out to a local orchard that also has a pumpkin patch. But then again — we take pumpkins very seriously in these parts. We even have an entire festival dedicated to the lovely squash. :0)

  8. We go out to a local orchard that also has a pumpkin patch. But then again — we take pumpkins very seriously in these parts. We even have an entire festival dedicated to the lovely squash. :0)

  9. I always get about 3 pumpkins. I like one very short and very rounded (fat), another one very tall and narrow, and another one that is large, rounded, fat – the middle guy! I have one of 3 for this year, it’s just been hard pickings with our lack of rain and heat wave, the pumpkins are not pretty this year.
    I love your pictures!

  10. I always get about 3 pumpkins. I like one very short and very rounded (fat), another one very tall and narrow, and another one that is large, rounded, fat – the middle guy! I have one of 3 for this year, it’s just been hard pickings with our lack of rain and heat wave, the pumpkins are not pretty this year.
    I love your pictures!

  11. I stopped buying a big pumpkin for the porch after too many years of having them smashed. Instead, I decorate the front entry with my little pumpkin collection which consists of straw, fabric, ceramic, and quilted pumpkins and a few little sugar pumpkins that can be made into soup later. Your pumpkin and bench make me want to drop over for a chat.

  12. I stopped buying a big pumpkin for the porch after too many years of having them smashed. Instead, I decorate the front entry with my little pumpkin collection which consists of straw, fabric, ceramic, and quilted pumpkins and a few little sugar pumpkins that can be made into soup later. Your pumpkin and bench make me want to drop over for a chat.

  13. Your front porch is lovely, Nicole! I’m glad you finally found your perfect pumpkin. Sometimes the search is a bit difficult, but I always go to the grocery store, because the pumpkin patch has been a disappointment too many times for me.
    I just finished making a fabric scarecrow to sit on my front porch with hay bales and pumpkins. Isn’t this time of year wonderful?

  14. Your front porch is lovely, Nicole! I’m glad you finally found your perfect pumpkin. Sometimes the search is a bit difficult, but I always go to the grocery store, because the pumpkin patch has been a disappointment too many times for me.
    I just finished making a fabric scarecrow to sit on my front porch with hay bales and pumpkins. Isn’t this time of year wonderful?

  17. I’m afraid I have a soft spot for the ugly duckling pumpkins. They need a home too and they usually end up in mine. I love your front porch though….and that pumpkin is quite perfect.

  18. I’m afraid I have a soft spot for the ugly duckling pumpkins. They need a home too and they usually end up in mine. I love your front porch though….and that pumpkin is quite perfect.

  19. We Dont have this special time of the year in Australia we have the pumpkin cut out like a face with a candle in it on halloweenbut its not as big as your time in America it sounds great I like your porch it looks great. cheers Mary.

  20. We Dont have this special time of the year in Australia we have the pumpkin cut out like a face with a candle in it on halloweenbut its not as big as your time in America it sounds great I like your porch it looks great. cheers Mary.

  23. Well, the “perfect pumpkins” to my two 15 year old sons are the most oddly shaped, uneven, ugliest pumpkins they can manage to get their hands on each year. They love to see who can get the worst (non-rotten, of course) pumpkin and then carve it into the most magnificent jack-o-lantern known to man…LOL. Each year they do a great job and it is truly amazing to see what they come up with. Beauty, truly, is in the eye of the beholder, no? Yours looks lovely…someday…someday…

  24. Well, the “perfect pumpkins” to my two 15 year old sons are the most oddly shaped, uneven, ugliest pumpkins they can manage to get their hands on each year. They love to see who can get the worst (non-rotten, of course) pumpkin and then carve it into the most magnificent jack-o-lantern known to man…LOL. Each year they do a great job and it is truly amazing to see what they come up with. Beauty, truly, is in the eye of the beholder, no? Yours looks lovely…someday…someday…

  25. That is the most amazing pumpkin in the basket. I don’t know what is going on behind but this side of the pumpkin is true perfection. They just don’t get better that this. Its fun trying to find the best side of a pumpkin. Maybe this year I’ll finally try carving another vegtable! Beautiful photo. Betty

  26. That is the most amazing pumpkin in the basket. I don’t know what is going on behind but this side of the pumpkin is true perfection. They just don’t get better that this. Its fun trying to find the best side of a pumpkin. Maybe this year I’ll finally try carving another vegtable! Beautiful photo. Betty