Marvelous Melons!

Next up on my Secret Garden project is the inner border that goes between my four story blocks and the center block. I love this border and the pattern calls for an X shape with four leaves radiating from the center. But I saw another made by a member of the Esther Aliu FB group that had similar leaf shapes (similar, but larger and I will calling them “melons”) and I knew I wanted melons!

Here is what I know: My inner border will have the pale denim grunge background. Melons will be sized and cut to fit this border and I will use as many of the fabrics in my story blocks as I can fit in.

I wind up using 22 different fabrics to make the melons. Rather than sew together blocks, I am cutting each border size as a continuous strip.

Because I am making SG at 75% and I want a good sized section of fabric to handle, manipulate and sew on, I cut my border strips (which will finish at 3″) to 4.5″. I will trim them when I put the blocks together later. Each section is 3.5″ wide and I draw a grid, using ceramic marker pens to define the middle, the seam lines top and bottom and the sides of each “square” of the border.

Solid appearing and printed batiks are alternated through the melons and rather than “try” to make them random, they are simply arranged by color progression (hmmm, this one has burgundy in the print – I will put the deep burgundy next to it) and alternating dark/light through across each strip. Very unscientific.

Rather than many thread changes, I decide to use a blue/green/purple variegated thread for the applique that was used for the dark leaves and the narrow stems of the Robin Block.

These melons need a center piece and I experiment with circles and with buttons. I find a packet of square abalone buttons and I like the squared shape contract again the melons. The thread in the center will be gold.

Happy sewing all!

Lennea