This fun Jack-o’-Lantern quilt pattern is a free quilt pattern, perfect for adding a bit of fun to your Halloween decor. The pattern is available in 2 sizes, is beginner friendly, and is fairly quick to sew.

Grab your copy today!

free jack o lantern quilt pattern for halloween

Table of Contents

Happy Halloween!

This fun and free Jack-o’-Lantern quilt pattern makes the perfect addition to your spooky decor! Make a mini-sized quilt to use as a Halloween wall hanging or a larger lap-sized quilt to keep you warm on the couch while watching your favorite scary movies!

Why make this Jack o’ Lantern Halloween Quilt

The Jack-o’-Lantern quilt design is super festive and fun! I made the wall-sized mini quilt to hang on the wall behind my entryway table. So cute and colorful, it catches the eye of everyone that comes to the door!
This super simple Jack-o’-Lantern quilt is an easy patchwork quilt pattern that is beginner-friendly. Simple patchwork and all straight lines make it come together quickly
Pre-cut or scrap fabric friendly – Use Fat quarters, a layer cake, charm packs, or all those Halloween scraps you have been saving for the perfect project.
The pattern includes two sizes: mini/wall size and lap size, so you can make whichever suits your needs.
The free pattern includes a printable template for you to save and use over and over, plus a design/coloring sheet for you to print and easily color/design your quilt!

Scrap fabric or Precut Friendly Quilt Pattern

The mini-size Jack o’ Lantern quilt uses almost all 2.5-inch squares, so you can get all the fabric you need from small precuts or scraps. The same goes for the lap quilt – it uses mostly 5-inch squares, so charm packs, layer cakes, or fat quarters all work.

For today’s quilt, I use a mix of scrap and some of the fat quarters I received from the sew colorful fat quarter club from the fat quarter shop. (I stayed active for about a year and a half and was able to really build up my stash of fat quarters. If you are looking for a Christmas gift for yourself, I highly recommend it, lol!)

Jack-o’-Lantern Quilt Details

This Jack-o’-Lantern Quilt comes in two sizes:

Mini: 28 by 30 inches
Lap/throw: 63 by 68 inches

The quilt design is made of almost all squares and just a couple of half-square triangles and 2 quarter square triangles. The design makes it easy to chain piece all your squares, and the assembly comes together very fast.

Pumpkin Quilt Variation:

A fun on this quilt would be to leave out the black eyes, nose, and mouth and make the quilt a pumpkin quilt. Then the quilt would work for the entire fall season instead of just Halloween.

That would look something like this:

I actually love the idea of cutting the squares to 2 inches instead of 2.5 and making a set of three in various fall colors. (2-inch blocks would give you a 21 by 22.5 mini quilt.)

More Simple Patchwork Quilt Projects

Simple Square Blocks Quilt Pattern
Easy Plus Quilt Pattern
Scrappy Heart Quilt Block Pattern
Christmas Tree Quilt Block
Mini Patchwork Pincushion Tutorial
Patchwork Tunic Top (using my free peasant dress pattern)

Quilt Assembly/Sewing Tips:

Press and starch fabric before sewing and cutting. One thing to keep in mind when cutting and sewing small squares and half-square triangles, the blocks can potentially stretch out or line up awkwardly when cutting and pressing, causing your squares to become “wonky.” Pre-pressing and starching helps with this. (Sometimes I starch the fabric, but I did not feel I needed to for this quilt.)
Don’t forget to check your seam allowance before starting to sew! Every time I start a project, I line my needle up using a seam allowance ruler. I also recommend this quarter-inch foot with the guide. (Just choose one that fits your machine.) You can use the seam allowance ruler with this foot, and once I have made the adjustment to my needle, the guide helps keep all my seams perfectly aligned.
Scant quarter-inch seam allowance: When sewing your half-square and quarter-square triangles together, I recommend using a scant quarter-inch seam allowance. This will give you a smidge of extra fabric when squaring up the half-square triangles.
Squaring up your half-square triangle blocks: Do not skip the step of squaring up the half-square triangle blocks! You can use just about any square ruler for this, but there are a couple of specialty rulers I like to use for squaring up my blocks. In the past, I have used this template to square up my blocks, (I love that you can use it on multiple sizes), but for today’s arrow quilt, since there are so many blocks to square up, (140 half-square triangle blocks), I purchased this 2.5-inch ruler from Bloc-loc. This template and my spinning cutting mat made quick work of trimming up all those blocks. (I love this spinning cutting mat! It also comes with an ironing mat that, along with my portable iron, is perfect for traveling! (there are less expensive rotating cutting mats out there, but this one is very high quality, and large. (17 inches)
Nest the seams when sewing the rows together.
Sewing rows together: When sewing the blocks together in a row, I recommend sewing two blocks together at a time, rather than one block after another, after another. If you sew the rows together one after another, the straightness of your piecing can get off.

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Where To Get The Jack o’ Lantern Quilt Pattern

The link for the free Jack o’ Lantern Quilt pattern/template is under the materials needed section. Click the link, add the pattern to your cart and check out. (takes about 15 seconds for the process.) A copy of the pattern will be emailed to you.

Ready to make the quilt?

Read on for the fabric amounts, sewing instructions, and pattern templates.

How to make a Jack o Lantern Quilt

Skill Level:

Beginner-friendly

Pattern Notes:

wof = width of fabric
1/4 inch seam allowances used
RST = Right sides together
Press the seams to the colored fabric side

Materials Needed:

Fabric (see list below or specific amounts)
Pattern
ruler
cutting mat
rotary cutter
iron
Basic Sewing supplies

Recommended Tools

When you start out quilting, you will just need a few basic supplies like a ruler, a cutting mat, and a rotary cutter. As you start to get more into it, you may find yourself wanting to invest in a few more tools to make the process of cutting and quilting, faster and more fun.

These are the specialty tools I used in the making of this Jack-o’-Lantern quilt:

2.5-inch template to cut my squares (This is the set I have– I use it all the time, but this little ruler would work as well and it would work well for squaring up your 2.5-inch half square and quarter square triangle blocks.)
2.5-inch ruler from Bloc-loc to trim up my half-square triangles. (or this or this one)
quarter-inch seam allowance foot and seam allowance ruler
spinning cutting mat
portable iron for when I travel or iron right next to my machine on a portable Cutting & Pressing Station.
Oliso Smart Iron with Auto Lift (my regular iron)

Fabric Amounts Needed For Jack o’ Lantern Quilt

If you want lots of various prints for your quilt, I recommend using 12 to 16 different prints of the orange and black fabrics. (amounts are calculated on 43-inch wide fabric.)

Mini quilt:

Quit Top: You really just need lots of scraps that are at least 5 by 5 inches. You will be cutting 2.5-inch squares, 3-inch squares, and a couple of 3.5-inch squares. (See list below for exact #.)
Backing: 1 yard for backing
Binding: 1/4 yard for backing

Lap quilt:

Quit Top: You really just need lots of scraps that are at least 5 by 5 inches, with a few that are 6.6 inches. You will be cutting 5-inch squares, 5.5-inch squares, and a couple of 6.5-inch squares. (See list below for exact #.)
Backing: 4 yards of 43-inch wide fabric
Binding: 1/2 yard for binding.

Jack o Lantern Quilt Sewing Instructions

Step 1: Cut Fabrics

Cut your fabric pieces according to the list below.

Mini Quilt

Cut 84 black 2.5-inch squares.
Cut 104 orange 2.5-inch squares.
Cut 11 orange 3-inch squares.
Cut 10 black 3-inch squares.
1 black 3.5-inch square
1 orange 3.5-inch square

Lap Quilt

Cut 84 black 5-inch squares.
Cut 104 orange 5-inch squares.
Cut 11 orange 5.5-inch squares.
Cut 10 black 5.5-inch squares.
1 black 6-inch square
1 orange 6-inch square

Step 2: Make the half-square triangle blocks

Use the 10 black 3-inch squares and 10 orange 3-inch squares to make 20 half-square triangle blocks. Use a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance on these blocks. (Gives you more fabric to trim.)

Press the blocks and square them up, so they are 2.5-inch square.

Step 3: Make the quarter square triangle blocks.

Use 1 orange 3.5-inch square, 1 black 3.5-inch square, and 1 orange 3-inch square to make 2 quarter-square triangle blocks. These blocks are for the top of the Jack o’ Lantern eyes. (I have made a short video for this process and will add it as soon as I get it edited.)

Press the blocks and square them up, so they are 2.5-inch square.

quarter square triangles for the jack o lantern quilt eyes

(Note: If you are making the larger quilt, you will start with one orange and one black 6-inch square. Make the half-square triangle, trim it to 5.5 inches, then use that half-square triangle and one 5.5-inch orange square, make the quarter-square triangle, and trim it up to 5 inches square.)

Step 4: Decide your fabric layout.

Using a design wall or the floor, lay out all your squares according to the pattern template, so your squares are arranged in a visually pleasing way. (Love my portable design wall for this.)

Step 5: Sew squares row by row.

Sew the squares together 2 at a time. When the row is complete, press the row. Press the seams in between each square in one direction, then when pressing the next row, press those seams in the opposite direction. This will help nest your seams when sewing the row together.

Step 6: Sew Rows Together

Sew the rows together and press the finished Jack-o’-Lantern quilt top.

how to sew a jack o lantern quilt for halloween

The finished quilt top will look something like this:

Step 7: Quilt And Bind As Desired.

If you end up making one of these Jack-o’-Lantern quilts, please come back and let us know what you think!

Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. If you share an image on Instagram, be sure to tag me and use #scatteredmompatterns! You can also share an image to my private Facebook sewing group!

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Yield: 1 jack o' lantern quilt