A little fright can be fun on Halloween—but there’s a sunnier side to the holiday too. Kids in hilarious getups, school costume parades, and of course, the candy. Oh, the CANDY!
Today we’ve rounded up several Halloween-themed projects that capture the less-scary side of Halloween. Start stitching one today to add a little beauty and fun to your annual celebration—whether it be spooky or a little silly!
Jack Stack Door Hanger from Kim Diehl’s Simple Harvest. Bring a smile to any trick-or-treaters face with a stack of silly pumpkins—just one smile will make your stitching worthwhile! Grab scraps of wool and a little embroidery floss to whip up this happy Halloween greeting.
Jo’s Jammies from Jeanne Large and Shelley Wicks’ ’Tis the Autumn Season. This quilt is perfect for cuddling up on Halloween night as you wait for little ghosts and ghouls to arrive. Combine harvest-hued fabrics and easy Star blocks for a warm and wonderful way to spend the evening.
Three Jacks from Kathy Schmitz’s Stitches from the Harvest. These three little jack-o’-lanterns will lighten up any spooky Halloween night. Small, medium, and large embroidery hoops make the perfect frames for your embroidery.
Harvest Home from Bonnie Sullivan’s A Change of Seasons. Use wool and embroidery to create a pretty framed piece that celebrates the season. Display from now until Thanksgiving—and every year after!
Things That Grin in the Night from Kim Diehl’s Simple Seasons. These Halloween grins always make us grin back! Use Kim’s invisible machine-appliqué method to whip up this little quilt in plenty of time for Halloween.
November row by Lisa Bongean, from Moda All-Stars All in a Row. Are you in your happy place when you appliqué? Stitch a runner that pays homage to Halloween night—but in a beautiful way. Wouldn’t this look great on your autumn table?
Hexagon Scramble from Natalie Barnes’ A Modern Twist. Natalie uses traditional Halloween colors in this hexie quilt, but then she adds a pop of pink that turns Halloween on its head. It’s truly a “Happy Halloween” quilt—emphasis on happy!
Pumpkin Harvest from Jenifer Gaston’s Primitive Style. This charming penny rug can be enjoyed all season, and wool appliqué makes it a breeze to complete. Three stitches take center stage: a whipstitch, a running stitch, and a blanket stitch. Sew easy!
No matter how you celebrate, we wish you lots of fabric fun (and your fill of yum-yum goodies) this Halloween!
What do you enjoy most about Halloween: the frivolity, the frights, the costumes . . . the candy? Tell us in the comments!
Halloween is meant for kids and I love seeing them dressed up and having fun.
—Liz K on October 6, 2017I love seeing the kids in their costumes. The candy isn’t bad either. 😉
—Susan L. on October 6, 2017Costumes, candy and my Halloween quilts.
—Sylvia on October 6, 2017My husband and I love to set up chairs outside the house and enjoy the children.
—jean on October 6, 2017I love the fall season, but we don’t celebrate Halloween as we live out in the woods and there are no children in our subdivision. I love all the wool projects shown. And of course, who doesn’t love Halloween candy.
—Liz Dyer on October 6, 2017Love the decorations and the food! I have more Fall Quilts than any other season. The colors just pull me in. When you had homemade caramel corn, candy or caramel apples, pumpkin anything and apples..,what’s not to love?
—Renee Welton on October 6, 2017My children are grown, but I still love Halloween as part of the autumn theme. I like the rich earthy colors of fall. I use pumpkins for focus, a touch of the harvest theme, and Halloween figurines enhanced with somber lighting for the evening. When Halloween is over, I put away the witches and ghouls and leave the pumpkins until Thanksgiving.
—Kathy on October 6, 2017Although Halloween is for kids, I guess I am a big kid, because I love dressing up, we get our trailer and put bails of hay on it and gather our kids around and a few friends kids and take them from door to door. I love seeing all the kids costumes and how much fun they are having, and once in a while I might indulge and trick or treat a house for a snack on the go.
—Debra Ingle on October 6, 2017The CHOCOLATE! Oh, yes, also the wide eyes and excited chatter of trick-or-treaters.
—Carol Johnson on October 6, 2017Pumpkins are the best, then all the costumes. So much you can do with both.
—Cyndy on October 6, 2017Halloween is my birthday and as a child I loved dressing up and going Trick or Treating. As an adult, I love that it starts all the Fall/Winter holidays.
—Mary Ann on October 6, 2017I love pumpkins. Not stuff made with pumpkin. I don’t actually care for that but somehow the colors and shapes of pumpkins make me so happy. I can look at them all day long so I’m glad they are around for longer than just Halloween.
—Chris on October 6, 2017I love the colors. I also love to see the abandon of people of all ages on Halloween.
—LaVonne Beach on October 6, 2017I love the decorations–but not too scary. And I love the costumes but I don’t want to wear one.
—Katherine Stange on October 6, 2017I love the colours, scents of the fall a baking g spices, &it’s getting cozy time with the shorter days
—Sandi Kelly on October 6, 2017I love the costumes. I have had to make 32+ costumes for my daughter for Halloween. She loves it. In addition, I have also made a marching costume for her dig on many occasions. Yes. She’s almost 33. Still trying to get her to learn how to sew. She is just starting to do so
—Marguerite Namdar on October 6, 2017For me it’s all about the little ones! Love the excitement and the joy in their faces!
—Pam C on October 6, 2017I love it all—-the scents, the colors, the decorations, the kids in their costumes trick-or-treating in our small town.
—Kathie Feller on October 6, 2017The costumes! Especially the homemade ones.
—Sharon Groves on October 6, 2017The little ones in their costumes, they are soooo cute! And so timid to say "trick or treat"!
—Diann DoBran on October 6, 2017The candy most definitely!
—Mandy on October 6, 2017The candy and seeing my grandkids all dressed up
—Renea on October 6, 2017I just love Halloween! I love the old black and white movies. Anything Edgar Allen Poe is for me.
—Denise K on October 6, 2017I’ve had Halloween dinner parties with spooky food, EAPoe birthday parties, and even a Make and Take Halloween in July party.
The candy and the various baking ideas of others.
—Judith Campo on October 6, 2017I have not been that active with Halloween since I retired as a Speech Therapist for a local school board. Last year, I did a little bit more now that my health has improved, so I will dress up again to meet and greet the little ghosts and goblins knocking on my door. To answer your question, my favorite part of Halloween was and still is when working at the 1st job after I graduated from college. All the teachers would dress in costumes and the entire day was a Halloween party. Even though each Teacher chose a character that could relate to him or her and still the children had a hard time trying to figure out who was who.
Now what character would be the best for the school’s Speech Therapist? To this day I will never know how I came up with this…but I was a MIME! Not able to speak or make a sound.
—Debi Jimenez on October 6, 2017WHAT FUN!
I love this time of the year, when weather is getting cooler and leaves are falling. It is such a fun time, especially growing up trick or treating. I love the decorating with pumpkins and beautiful fall colors.
—Donna Harry on October 6, 2017Its the 200+ kids with/without their parents that walk through out neighborhood, laughing, visiting and having a great time – all dressed in the costumes whether homemade from an old shirt or one bought from a store. My little dogs get dressed in their costumes and greet all the trick or treaters – its a delight.
—Gale P on October 6, 2017I love Halloween candy and fall decorating. It’s getting to the season where all things are pumpkin. Can’t wait for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and candy corn in the shape of pumpkins of course.
—Frances Claassens on October 6, 2017I love decorating my home for Halloween. I also really enjoy seeing the creativity of the costumes, especially when they are homemade.
—Karen on October 6, 2017And, of course, the candy corn!
I like the colors black and orange with the modern twist of adding purple and lime green.
—Sharon on October 7, 2017The spookiness of walking down our country lane as a child to trick or treat our few neighbors, the homemade treats, the colors and smells of the falling leaves. No wonder I love Halloween and orange is my favorite color. Even though my kids are grown, I still decorate and this year I have a quilt to add to the decor!
—Linda Towers on October 7, 2017I like making quilts in Halloween fabric.
—Linda Christianson on October 7, 2017I love the fall colors and projects. Not really a big fan of Halloween but love the candy especially if it’s chocolate!!!
—Melba on October 8, 2017For me the best part of halloween/fall are the colors. I love the warmth and homey feeling I get with every project I make. It’s the best time of the year!
—Mary Smith on October 8, 2017The costumes! Oh, the costumes!!! We’ve had a great time, over the years, making our own. Everybody in the family, adults and kids alike, gets super creative at Halloween. So far this year, I think I’m going to be involved in dressing Cinderella and Iron Man. One year my grandson was a volcano! (At least my daughter made that one!) So much fun!!!
—Linda Braley on October 8, 2017I love the smells of Autumn and Halloween is the perfect night to enjoy such, with all the children buzzing around in their excitement, the crunch of leaves and all the beautiful colors of the season!
—Anita Jackson on October 9, 2017The kids, I just love to see their faces and excitement when they are trick or treating. Running as fast as they can to the next house to receive there treats. I have a new grandson this year, 10 months old, can’t wait to see him in his costume. My daughter and son- in- law can’t decided which costume he will wear so they are purchase a few, funny! Henry was born on Thanksgiving,I think he should be a turkey, Right? We have so much to be thankful for, in so many ways. Life is good!
—Delia on October 11, 2017It’s finally Fall!
—bookboxer on October 11, 2017All of the above. What’s not to like about Halloween, fall, crisp air, happy children in their very best costumes, ever, apple cider, pumpkin faces, all aglow…oh, I could go on and on…..
—Donna on October 17, 2017I love the colors of Fall, especially the reds, browns, oranges and golds and would love to win this book. It’s calling my name.
—debby on January 19, 2018I love the kids in their costumes! They are all so clever and cute. I love seeing them when they come trick or treating.
—Brenda Montgomery on October 9, 2018