Deb, sorry you had so much trouble with the binding on my MR. Just do what's simple and easy.... I machine stitch all my bindings, but you can't tell from the front. I never did 'get' why bindings had to be hand stitched or the quilt was "defiled" (LOL, JK). If the rest of the quilt is machine stitched, why not the binding? You can get it looking nice that way too.
On the topic of themes, "Harvest" is a lovely alternative to halloween. We choose not to celebrate halloween at our house, but we love that time of year and God's bounty and beauty that is all around us.