Patchwork Pumpkin Pillow

It seems that after Halloween, retailers jump right to Christmas. Anything fall related - leaves, pumpkins, etc. - goes on clearance and the ornaments and lights come out. Thanksgiving tends to get a little passed over; and yet it's probably my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas decorations too, but the fall leaves aren't completely gone yet.

So hold off on your Christmas decorating, here's another project for fall.

I got the inspiration for my pillow from Knock Off Decor - a great place to find ways of making your own, less expensive version of name/store brand decor.
In this post, they are showing off Angie's pillow that was inspired by a pillow she had seen at Pottery Barn. If you would like to see the pictorial for Angie's no-sew version, just follow the links above or via the photo on the right.

While I absolutely love both of these pillows, I decided that I wanted some color in mine. I got additional inspiration I needed from Etsy when I found this patchwork pumpkin clip art from CherriesArtsnCrafts -


I just thought this patchwork look was too cute to pass up; and I already had some great prints to work with for my fabric pumpkin. I couldn't wait to get started!


I probably could have hand drawn a pumpkin shape faster than it took me to print this one, but I really liked the shape of the one I found at donteatthepaste.com.

First, I cut out the whole pumpkin shape in the solid orange material; then I cut out the sections of the pumpkin to use on the patterned prints.

I'm a huge fan of Heat-n-Bond for crafts like these, so I applied it to the material and then cut out the shapes and ironed them in place on the orange base.

I also cut out a green print stem and ironed it onto the front of the pillow case. Rather than using the Heat-n-Bond to attach the whole pumpkin to the pillow case, I did a quick stitch around the edge. If you want to keep it a no-sew project then the Heat-n-Bond would work just as well.

Finally, I was ready to apply the twine - my favorite part of the pillow I'd found at Knock Off Decor!
Using fabric glue, I slowly positioned the twine a little at a time and added glued it down. This part got very messy and I had to keep getting up to wash the glue off my fingers.

The end results were definitely worth the mess and time spent - I even decided to add some leaves on the vines with the same green print I had used for the stem.

A perfect patchwork pumpkin pillow!

As they say at Knock Off Decor, I hope this inspires you - and if you make your own, I'd love to see it!