White Pumpkin Fall Table Topper Quilt

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Quilt size: 23″ x 24-1/2″ (59 x 62 cm)

Skill level: Easy/Beginner

The original pattern and tutorial for this charming little table topper quilt comes from Lindsay Wright at the Fort Worth Fabric Studio blog. I thought it would be fun to make mine in black and white instead of the traditional orange. 

I also enlarged the pattern so I could use some of my large stash of 5″ white squares instead of cutting smaller pieces, and appliqued the stem onto the pumpkin, instead of piecing it.

Fabric and Supplies

• Sixteen 5″ squares of assorted white prints for the pumpkin.
• 1/2 yard of background fabric. I used this black celestial fabric from Hoffman International.

• Cut the background fabric into one strip 5″ x 23-1/2″, two 5″ squares, two strips 3″ x 18-1/2″, and one strip 2-1/2″ x 23-1/2″:
  
  
• 1/4 yard of binding fabric, cut into three strips 2-1/2″ x the full width of the fabric from selvage to selvage.
• Green fabric scrap for the pumpkin stem. My scrap was 3″ x 5″.
• 3/4 yard background fabric, cut into one piece 27″ x 25-1/2″.
• One piece of batting 27″ x 25-1/2″.
• Wash-away fabric glue or fusible web to glue the pumpkin stem to the quilt top.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Use twelve of the 5″ white squares to make twelve half-square triangle blocks.
   Need help making half-square triangle blocks? Learn how to make them from fabric squares.
   
2. Use two 5″ white squares and the two 5″ background fabric squares to make four black-and-white triangle blocks.
   
3. Trim the triangle blocks to 4-1/2″.
4. Using the diagram below as a guide, lay out the triangle blocks into four rows on your work surface. Put the black-and-white triangles at the corners to form a pumpkin shape.
   Pay special attention to how you place the diagonal seam lines in the triangle blocks. Lindsay arranged them to create interesting secondary patterns inside the pumpkin that add a lot to the interest of the quilt. See her original pattern for a diagram that shows this very clearly.
   Once you have the blocks arranged in a way you like, go away for an hour or two, then come back and look again to make sure you’re satisfied with the layout.
   
5. Sew the blocks in each row together, then press the seams. I press each row so the seam allowances on the back sides of that row face in the opposite direction from the surrounding rows. This makes it easier to get nice-looking seam intersections when you sew the blocks together.
6. Sew the rows together. Align the seams and pin them together at seam intersections.
7. Sew the left and right borders onto the center section and press.
8. Sew on the top and bottom borders and press.
9. Layer the quilt top, batting, and backing fabric and smooth away any wrinkles. I don’t usually bother to baste a quilt this small.
10. To add the stem, start with a rectangular(ish) scrap of green fabric. My scrap was a 3″ x 5″ rectangle left over from a pillow I made last Christmas. Slice off one corner to give the stem a jaunty, natural-looking angle, then fuse or glue the stem to the quilt top.
11. Quilt the layers together. Here’s what I did:
    * Sewed down the stem with simple straight seams and green thread in the needle and a black thread in the bobbin to match my backing fabric.
    * Stitched in the ditch. I sewed all the seam lines in the white pumpkin section with white thread in the needle.
    * Echo-quilted the pumpkin section. I started about half an inch from the outside of the pumpkin and worked my way in, using the edge of my presser foot to separate the lines of stitching. I sewed straight seams with white thread in the needle and my sewing machine’s walking foot engaged.
    
    * Free-motion quilted the borders with a spiral motif and black thread in the needle, because I’m out of practice when it comes to free-motion quilting and didn’t want to draw too much attention to my wonky spirals.
12. (Optional) If you’d like to hang the quilt on the wall, add a hanging sleeve. I like to sew on the sleeve as part of putting on the binding.
13. Make binding and sew it to the quilt. Here’s my favorite binding technique (no hand sewing!)

Here’s the finished quilt:

Find easy quilt patterns in my Etsy shop