It's National Watermelon Day!!
I'm celebrating with my newest runner, Whatamelon!
Full of sweet, watermelon goodness, who could resist it???
Yep, I'm a fan of watermelon, especially on a hot day. There's just something about the refreshing sweetness of a juicy watermelon! Believe it or not, I wasn't a fan as a kid, but I sure am now!
How about you? Would you like a slice?
Or maybe you would just like to add some fun to your picnic table - the super easy pattern is available at Etsy.
All yardage given is used for the watermelon, including the melon rind fabric on the back,
and for the binding. It's amazing what a yard will do!
The applique is easy-peasy (on Monday I'll show a fast trick for cutting out multiple applique pieces), and really completes the melon.
Quilting is simple too - a medium stipple works great for the watermelon insides.
Because I wanted the melon ends rounded and puffy, I left that area empty of quilting, except around the lines.
Now I'm all set to celebrate National Watermelon Day - how about you?
My Favorite Patterns
Welcome to my day of the Christmas in July Blog Hop, hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.
My project is this set of Christmas pinwheel placemats.
After purchasing this charm pack of glittery holiday fabrics,
I paired it with this fun holiday fabric I found at JoAnn's.
Being careful to stitch the HST's so that the print all "read" in the same direction,
the pinwheels were finished up, and pressed with spinning seams.
Adding strips first to the right, then the top and bottom of the pinwheels increased the unit's size to 11" tall. With the addition of a background piece on the left, the placemats now finish approximately 14 1/2" x 11".
Aren't those super fun? I am so looking forward to using them later this year!
As for the quilting, I kept it simple. The background is quite busy, so no need to go overboard. Simple stippling does the trick, as does just one curving line to give motion to the pinwheel.
The backside is just as nice. There wasn't enough backing for all four, but with the addition of a red strip, that fun holiday print is all gone!
And check out that neatly machine stitched binding - love it!
Happy Quilting!
My Favorite Patterns
Welcome to my day, which is the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop, hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
If you are looking to link up to Midweek Makers today - it's totally my fault in the scheduling. Truly sorry! But no fear, Midweek Makers will be back next week!
So let's have a look at the Yuletide Fir, a modern style Christmas tree.
Made from strip sets of different greens plus a narrow background strip, triangles were cut using the tri-tool ruler (affiliate link).
After laying out the pieces in a pleasing arrangement, the sewing began, one row at a time.
With the squared off point at the top, the triangles were super easy to sew together, as the proper 1/4" dog-ears happened at each end.
Once the rows were done, they were sewn together, carefully matching points with a few test stitches before the whole seam was stitched to make the tree.
The sides were made by carefully laying the tree on folded fabric to get mirror image pieces. Then the ruler is placed up against the tree to make the cut.
To give myself a bit of wiggle room, the side pieces were cut a bit bigger than needed, then the excess gets trimmed.
And every Christmas tree needs a star!
That star shines brightly, throwing out beams of light in all of the straight line quilting.
The tree itself was stitched-in-the-ditch to let it to pop out of the quilt, with light beams continuing through the branches of the tree,
and down to the ground past the trunk.
This tree would also look great with embellishment, such as clear or colored Swarovski crystals, or tiny buttons on the tree - maybe I'll do that in the future.
Happy Quilting!
