Welcome fall with this sweet pumpkin quilt made with simple scrappy piecing that starts with a layer cake! Large blocks show off your favorite prints and make The Great Pumpkin a great weekend project.
Every quilt I make is my favorite but I think this one might actually be the winner! I love Halloween and fall and this large throw is perfect for both.
Get The Great Pumpkin Layer Cake Throw Quilt Pattern on my Shop or on Etsy
The Great Pumpkin starts with a layer cake, meaning you’re guaranteed a perfectly coordinated and scrappy look with zero stress over matching colors.
Quite a few of the blocks are left whole or mostly whole so it’s an excellent opportunity to show off your favorite large prints and it works up really quickly!
You can use any fabric you like for this quilt but due to the giant blocks (finishing at 9.5″!) I think it works best with a variety of large-scale prints.
Just in case you don’t have quite enough space to show off your favorite print there is a wide border perfect for large-scale prints!
If you want to make the quilt a little smaller, leave the border off, and if you want to make it taller (I know there are a lot of square quilt-haters out there!) add another row or two of stars.
The Great Pumpkin Throw Fabric Requirements
- 24 Orange 10” Squares
- 10 Contrasting 10” Squares for Stem & Stars
- 1 5/8 yards Background Fabric (includes inner border)
- 1 3/8 yards Border Fabric
- 4 1/2 yards for Backing or 2 1/4 yards of 108”
- 5/8 yard for Binding (8 – 2.5″ strips)
Most of the fabric you’ll need for this quilt comes from the layer cake, the pattern calls for 24 orange squares but it’s very likely that you won’t have enough orange pieces.
You can clearly see in my All Hallows Eve Great Pumpkin Quilt that I used grey and even black squares in my pumpkin. Not to mention, not all pumpkins are orange!
One of my favorite pumpkins is blue and I’m a sucker for a white jack-o-lantern!
In my opinion, it works best if you keep anything that might blend into the background near the center of the pumpkin so it stands out.
When it comes to picking out the background fabric I’m a big fan of choosing a low-volume or tiny print from the fabric line. I get so bored working with solids and let’s be honest, sewing solid black fabric will make your eyes bleed.
2026 Fabric Options
Every year we get dozens and dozens of amazing new fabric lines that tempt me into remaking all of my quilt patterns! Unfortunately, I lack the budget and the space so I try to make do with digital mockups instead.
It’s impossible to mock them up with 100% certainty, you never know how many pieces of each fabric will be included until you’ve got it in your hands, but you should be able to get the vibe.
All mock-ups are made in Electric Quilt 8
Here are a few of my favorite Halloween and Fall options available now:
Coven
Coven is my favorite Halloween line of 2026. I love the orange and blue, the giant roses, and the super-detailed houses. The spiky rose branch stripe is by far my favorite; I’m currently fighting the urge to order lots of yardage and make a quilt just with those.
Pink isn’t my top pick for Halloween (or anything, really), but even I can’t deny how cute this quilt is. My favorite fabrics in the line are the distressed harlequin diamonds.
Freaky Familiars
I almost skipped this one because there aren’t a lot of oranges, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I actually bought a half-yard bundle of Freaky Familars, and I’m currently turning it into a whole bunch of different things.
Winnie the Pooh is super nostalgic for me, especially my boy Eeyore, who was somewhat of a mascot for my childhood. There aren’t a ton of fabrics in this line, but with a little planning, you could end up with an adorably sweet Halloween pumpkin quilt.
Have I inspired you to sew up your own Great Pumpkin? I’d love to see your quilts, the best way is to tag me on Instagram @CSNYSewing and use #TheGreatPumpkinQuilt
Check out my Quilting page for more info or start here:
