Monday, September 23, 2019

Let's Hand Piece some Pumpkins (tutorial)

Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin flavored everything so why not hand-piece some fabric pumpkins?

I've got plenty of pumpkin 'flavored' scraps to work with.


Aren't my fabric pumpkins so cute?


Let's review basic pumpkin construction!  (Scroll for tutorials on hand-piecing.)

Make your pumpkins in whatever size matches your fancy (or your scraps).  Each pumpkin requires pumpkin fabric (a), stem fabric (b), 2 pieces background fabric (c), and 4 pieces background fabric (d).

Draw a diagonal line on each of the d background pieces.   Draw your stitching lines on the c background pieces.

Place each d unit on the corner of the a pumpkin unit and stitch.  (Remember all the hand piecing best practices including stopping and starting 1/4 '' from each corner.)

Trim away excess and finger press the pumpkin unit.

Sew c background units to each side of the stem.  Finger press.  Draw your stitching line and sew the stem unit to the pumpkin unit making sure you sew through and not over your seams.  (tutorial)


I'm going to make pumpkins in all different shapes and sizes.  Want to sew along with me?  You can make a runner, a wall hanging or just a mug rug.

My first set of pumpkins will finish in my quilt at 4'' x 6''.  To make your own pumpkin that size you'll need:


  • pumpkin fabric (a) - (1) rectangle, 4 ½'' x 5''
  • stem fabric (b) - (1) rectangle, 1½'' x 2''
  • background (c) - (2) rectangles, 2'' x 2''
  • background corners (d) - 4 squares, 1½'' x 1½''

I will be back later in the week with some more pumpkin measurements so you can make your very own patch.

Please share your pumpkins on Instagram. Let's use the #pumpkinqal

Some helpful tips:



Have a wonderful day! Patty

11 comments:

  1. Aren't those cute?! Hand-piecing them sounds like fun! I'll definitely have to try a few. Thanks for the tutorial, Patty!

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  2. Cute little pumpkins your fall fabrics are very inspiring I need to get a pumpking quilt out and display it for fall.

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  3. Sweet pumpkin and fun little project. I look forward to seeing what the patch is up to as this progresses.

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  4. Aha! I've been looking for a new hand-piecing project. Brilliant! Thanks, Patty.

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  5. Thank you for something to do to commemorate the first day of fall!

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  6. Love your scraps, thanks so much for the tutorial!

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  7. A perfect little accent to the Halloween bags for my grandsons! Thank you for this!

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  8. A nice handwork project that allows you to see your progress quickly.

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  9. A gorgeous pattern Patty!
    I love hand piecing I’ll try a few small ones soon as I can.
    Hugs,
    Barbara xx

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  10. What a fun hand piecing project, thanks for the tutorial, Patty!

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