Hi everyone! Don’t let the title of this post mislead you. I’m still sewing clothes. I need clothes to wear on a daily basis, you know.

I indulged, however, in the type of sewing normally associated with quilting. I paper pieced these watermelons. The process will end in a summery, fresh-looking table runner. Amid this wintry season I was ready for a fresh summery project. I must let you know that it was 80 degrees today in my town.

The pattern and fabric have been in my stash for a long time, as in years.

The pattern: this seems to be a self-published pattern. The paper piecing diagram is included in the envelope, as are the instructions. I want to compliment the designer for this beautiful motif. Here comes the “but”. But, please be sure to check the final proof with eagle eyes. I do believe that the labels on the pattern below were accidentally switched.

The instructions are also over-simplified, which left me scratching my head for a little bit – and I’m an experienced sewer. I just decided to do certain things my own way. Let’s leave it at that.

 

Fabric: I bought the cotton at my local quilt shop and just handed the pattern to the sales lady to select and cut the appropriate amount of fabric. Which she did with such aplomb! I love what she selected; however, I ran short of the dark green – not the lady’s fault. She was following the recommended amounts on the pattern. OK, whatever. I refused to buy more fabric, and looked into my scrap “collection” to complete the watermelon “rind”. Thankfully, the tie-dye green was with the scraps, leftover from a pillow project, and I used it for the watermelon rind in the middle slice. I think that little snafu turned out for the better!

The placement of the watermelon slices on the main fabric are placed end to end in the picture. But mine seemed too close together. So I staggered the placement.

Other than the above issues, this is a very cute table runner to use on my breakfast table in the spring and summer months. I photographed the unfinished runner on the patio table for this post, because the natural light was gorgeous!

TIP:  Here’s a little tip for sewing curved edges together easily. Press down a 1/4 inch seam allowance on the convex curve, in this case the watermelon center (red).

I used fusible thread in the bobbin and matching thread on top, and ran a line of stitching on the folded edge, with the wrong side down. Press red piece onto the rind piece on the concave edge overlapping 1/4 inch. Topstitch on top of previous stitching line.

Why is it not finished? I have too many projects going, but that is no excuse. I should plan my time a lot better. For that I am sorry. It should be finished in another day or two and I’ll post the finished runner. Feel free to badger and annoy me about it…..

Keep on sewing!

Samina