Watermelon String

I wanted a red and green quilt that looked like watermelon. Having learned string piecing from Diane Rode Schneck, I pieced these on a muslin foundation. What a juicy summer quilt! Except the weight of muslin and all the strings makes this one of my heaviest quilts. Fortunately the back is a red Rose and Hubble print whose fine threads and tight weave feel cool on the hottest days.

It's strictly a complementary color scheme; there is no value difference between the reds and greens as you can see.  Although it started with scraps I combed my stash and finally some quilt shops for enough reds and greens. By the time the center was completed I knew it needed some grounding. White rind or black seeds?  I chose the seeds.

The strings of the inner blocks run parallel and the blocks are ten inches finished. The seeds are 1.5 inches. In order to fit the border properly, the outer blocks finish eleven inches. Just to change things up their strings run perpendicular.

Border quilting detail

The straight line V's in the border were fun to quilt. I marked the center turning point with pins and 

used a walking foot. In the center of the quilt are vines, spirals and some straight lines. I hope you can see them in the photo below.

Center quilting detail

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann