Make a Little Pumpkin ornament

Just in time for Autumn, Harvest Festivals and Halloween, (and in plenty of time for Thanksgiving,) let's put together some little 3 inch pumpkin ornaments.  So easy, and quick for a gift tag on a hostess gift, or just a little decoration around the house.  Don't let the little pieces scare you!  We'll be sewing them on top of a larger piece, so they're easy to handle.

First let's get the pieces cut.  Dig out that scrap bag!  Find a nice pumpkin orange 2 x 2.5 inches.  A piece of green for the ground at 1 x 4 inches.  From the background fabric cut a piece 1.5 x 2.5 inches, four 1 inch squares and two 1 x 3 inch strips.  And... for the back of the ornament you will need a 4 inch square of fabric.  I used a Halloween print this time, but anything will do - I often use muslin.  Look through your batting scraps and cut a 4 inch square of batting.  Finally, a six inch long piece of narrow ribbon.  Mine is 1/4 inch width.  In your bobbin, use a color that matches the fabric you picked for the back of your ornament.  It makes the back look much neater!

Ready, set, go!

Start by layering backing fabric (right side down), then batting on top of it.  

Next, place the orange square right side up slightly below center. 

 (I have 1.5 inches of batting showing at the top.)

Place four 1 inch squares, right sides down, in the four corners of the orange fabric.  Stitch through the whole works.  Diagonals on the corner, turn and keep going.  Take about 5 or 6 stitches along the top and bottom to get to the next corner block. Flip the corners back and finger press.  No need to trim anything yet.

Using a 1/4 inch seam, stitch and flip open the top piece (1.5 x 2.5), then the two sides (1 x 3's) and finally the green bottom piece. Now we're getting somewhere!

The next step is to stitch a border.  I use the edge of my presser foot as a guide.  

You can see I've gone down the center of the side and bottom pieces, 

and stitched approximately the same distance from the edge on the top piece.   

 

Grab the pinking shears and let's get this trimmed to size!  

The finished ornament should be 3 inches square.

Fold the ribbon in half and tack the raw edges to the back of the ornament along your border stitching.  The last step is a little free-motion quilting.  Using dark green thread, stitch a couple of curved lines from top to bottom on the pumpkin.  Then scribble-stitch in a stem and tendril.  

All done!

Sharing this design with Judy's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.