Warm Colors for the Wall and Table: Top 5 Small Fall Quilt Patterns

By October the summer quilt on the back of the sofa starts to look out of place, all sky blue and lemon yellow, while the maples outside turn rust and gold. A small autumn quilt on the wall or the table brings that color indoors without redecorating. The fall quilt patterns below are all small: wall quilts, a mini quilt, a topper and a narrow banner.

Two of the five are harvest pieces with no Halloween in them, another is a geometric star quilt shown in autumn batiks, and two belong to October with black cats, ghosts and pumpkins. None is a throw or bed-size pattern. After the shortlist come notes on which ones can stay up until Thanksgiving, fabrics that look like autumn, using up scraps and keeping a seasonal quilt looking fresh from year to year.

Five Fall Quilt Patterns, from Harvest Blocks to a Black Cat

Patchwork pumpkin PNGs, quilt-print digital paper and laser-cut pumpkin signs are not sewing patterns, so they are not here. I also left out maple leaf and turkey blocks covered in the quilt block roundup, so the picks here are small finished projects rather than single blocks.

TL;DR: Five small autumn projects: a harvest piece with candy corn, acorn, pumpkin and leaf blocks, a geometric star quilt in autumn batiks, a 12 inch black cat mini quilt, a Halloween topper that can hang on the wall and a 22 x 6 inch HOME appliqué for a hanging or runner.

• Thinking of Fall – Best harvest wall quilt
• Fall Stars – Best star quilt
• PDF Pattern for Black Cat Mini Quilt – Best Halloween mini quilt
• PDF Pattern for Halloween Table Topper – Best topper that hangs
• Autumn Pattern PDF HOME – 22 X 6 Inches – Best narrow hanging

Quick Comparison

Halloween Quilt or Harvest Quilt?

Fall decorating runs in two waves. Black cats, ghosts and jack-o’-lanterns come down on November 1, while pumpkins, acorns, leaves and stars can stay up through Thanksgiving dinner. If you only make one, a harvest design like Thinking of Fall or the HOME banner covers both months.

The pattern itself rarely decides the season; the fabric does. A star block in red, white and blue looks patriotic, and the same autumn quilt in rust, gold, deep green and cream reads as harvest. Fall Stars is sold with exactly that idea: one design, a new palette for each season.

Batiks, Flannel and Plaid for an Autumn Palette

Batiks suit fall quilts because their mottled color looks like turning leaves, and Fall Stars is shown in them. Flannel and plaid add the cozy, cabin feel many quilters want once the weather cools. Flannel shrinks more than quilting cotton, so prewash it before cutting, and keep plaids for larger pieces such as borders or the pumpkin body, where a slightly crooked stripe is less obvious.

For contrast, give the background a clear light or dark value. The orange pumpkin on Thinking of Fall stands out because the background is pale; on the Halloween pieces the purple background does the same job for the black cat.

A Good Home for Autumn Scraps

Small leaf, acorn and pumpkin pieces may work with scraps, but check the templates before discarding larger remnants. Autumn designs are often suited to a varied scrap palette. On an appliqué piece like the black cat mini quilt, each pumpkin can be a different orange print. On a pieced quilt, sort scraps by value first, then by color, so the shapes still read from across the room.

Two of these double as table pieces. Fall Stars can be made as a wall hanging or a table runner, and the Halloween topper includes a rod pocket. A piece that lives on the table is likely to be washed more often than a hanging, so prewashing its fabrics makes sense. Choose the batting by the pattern’s notes and by how much shrinkage you want after washing.

Fall Quilting Questions

When should I start a fall quilt?

Late summer, if it should be on the wall for the first cool days of September. A small hanging involves less surface area than a bed quilt, although appliqué and paper piecing can still take time.

Can I make a larger autumn quilt from these patterns?

The black cat template also fits a 12 inch quilt block, so it can join other 12 inch blocks in a sampler. You could adapt the Thinking of Fall motifs into a larger layout, but the listing does not provide that layout.

Can I sell what I make from these patterns?

It depends on the designer. The HOME listing says personal use only, then allows selling finished items with attribution, so check the current license wording before you sell; for the others, read the license on each listing before you make extras for a craft fair.

Keeping a Seasonal Quilt Fresh Year After Year

A quilt that comes out every autumn deserves a little care between seasons. Hang it away from a sunny window, since light fades and weakens textiles over time. When November ends, refold it along different lines than last year so the same folds do not take all the stress, and store it in a cotton pillowcase or a breathable bag rather than sealed plastic. Stored clean, dry and away from direct light, a wall quilt sewn from one of these fall quilt patterns can return to the same spot each September. For more autumn shapes to piece, see the maple leaf and turkey blocks in the quilt block patterns.

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