North Side
Meghan Maresh | St. Paul, MN
What Sustains Us
The pieces should catch the breeze and flutter in the downtown winds like summer leaves are supposed to do. These images we hold in our hearts while the cold winter winds whip, to sustain us. Also, notice that the quilt has bugs, flowers and bright colors on it. The pollinators and flowers sustain our food supply for us, too!
The fabrics for this quilt are all secondhand or second-use. The background is a coat’s lining, the bugs adorned a first baby quilt for the biologist Molly Steinwald, the flowers and felt and fleece were all gifts from sisters and friends (thank you, Kate Lockwood and the St. Paul Women’s Co-op!).
Cozy Dedication: “Maker of practical and cute crafts that keep your pens and markers at the ready! Practicute@gmail.com.“
Meet the Maker! Watch video here.
Emma Wright | St. Paul, MN
I’m a self taught knitter and I’ve been at it for about 10 years. In my free time I love making one of a kind winter hats and mittens and selling them online and around town at local craft fairs. I love smaller projects like these because I like changing things up and experimenting with new colors, textures and patterns. Every year at the end of the season I try to find a new project to use up all my scraps of yarn and this year’s project is Saint Paul Cozy! All of the yarn I used in my lamppost project are the remnants from other projects I’ve worked on this year. I love how bright and colorful it turned out and knowing that none of that yarn went to waste.
Missy Parker | Columbia Heights, MN
My husband and I have always loved our home state, Minnesota. In the near future, I’d like to knit Minnesota-themed sweaters for both of us. Making a lamp post cozy is outside of my usual spectrum, as I tend to prefer practical projects over those that are merely artistic and not functional, but I found it to be a fun and open ended way to explore motifs I might include in our sweaters.
The cozy was knit in the round, using stranded knitting (2 colors in a row, except for the muffin tops where I used three colors to include the blueberries), and then cut open as cardigans suit lamp posts better than pullovers. The bottom 2/3 of the cozy are all charts I found of species often found in Minnesota, my favorite being the brightly colored, but poisonous, Amanita muscaria mushroom. These choices were inspired by my interest in environmental science and training with the Minnesota Master Naturalists program.
The top 1/3 of the cozy are the Minnesota state symbols; flower- Showy Ladyslipper, mushroom- morel, beverage- milk, bird- Common Loon, tree- Red (Norway) pine, and muffin- blueberry. Other than the pine, muffin, and Minnesota, which I drew out, the other state symbols were designed by my talented husband (of Unwinder’s Tall Comics). The inclusion of these state symbols was inspired by my years of co-teaching Minnesota Studies with the fabulous costumer Tina O’Connell, in which I would illustrate everything to aid comprehension for English-learner students as well as design and dress up in costumes for the different historical units.
To see more of my knitting and crocheting, I can be found as Miskii on Ravelry.
Breanna Lees | St. Paul, MN
My aunt started teaching me to crochet when I was about 9, and while I don’t do it all that much anymore it’s something I enjoy returning to. This cozy is repurposed from a project I actually began some time ago and was waiting for the right purpose for it. I’m happy for the opportunity to use it!
Sarah M. Risser | St. Paul, MN
To use materials I had on hand. While I’ve done a lot of sewing, I haven’t done anything for many years. This is my first attempt at a quilt.
Meet the Maker! Watch video here.
South Side
Susan McGarthwaite | Oakdale, MN
I wanted to participate in this fun project because I loved the idea of brightening up St. Paul during what can sometimes be a very bleak time of the year! I haven’t crocheted for many years and I wanted a stitch (double crochet) that would be easy and quick. I also wanted my cozy to be bright and visible from a distance and decided this bright, variegated yarn would make a fun cozy.
Meet the Maker! Watch video here.
American Sewing Guild – St. Paul & South East Neighborhood Group | St. Paul/Inver Grove Heights/Cottage Grove, MN
Four sewists from the American Sewing Guild decided to join forces to create a 5 panel quilted cozy. Our only theme was in red or blue colors. Each of us created our own panels from our personal stashes and brought them to our annual holiday party in January. One person gathered the panels, pieced them together and quilted them. We can’t wait to see it on display!
Participants: Michelle Proulx, Mary Anderson, Darlene Hueser, Ann Conteras
Brooklyn Randall | Vadnais Heights, MN
Cozy Dedication: “To my grandma Charlotte Marteness.”
Janet Hawn | Mendota Heights, MN
When I heard about this project I was excited to be part of it. I have been working with fabric and thread and yarn for years so I was happy to participate in a project that will be bring color and whimsy to our city during the Winter Carnival and Super Bowl events. On a recent travel to Ireland I came across a grove of trees walking towards the Blarney Castle that had tree cozies covering every tree. I was informed that the reason for the cozies was to prevent the deer, who ran freely about the park, from eating the bark of the trees. Having seen that, I knew that the Lamppost Cozy project would be fun to see.
Cozy Dedication: “I would like to dedicate this cozy to my brother Bill in support of his continuing battle with cancer.”
Carol Carter | St. Paul, MN
St. Paul Cozy 