Continuing to make melons . .

Melons 3 and 4 of the Velda Newman Melon Study are now ready to be made.

Melon 3

Melon 4

 Begin by cutting out each fabric melon 1/2" larger than pattern piece.  Transfer the lines from the pattern pieces onto the fabric with a water-soluble pen.  Each melon has a segment that needs to be cut away, leaving 1/4" seam allowance.  Turn seam allowance under.  Place melon segment under whole melon.  Pin or glue segment to secure.

Cut batting to exact size of melon pattern piece.  Spray baste to fabric melon.  Sew melon segment to melon using the applique or zigzag stitch.  Stitch along drawn lines with a free-motion straight stitch.

Backside showing applique stitch

Continue free-motion quilting to fill in center of Melon 3.

Backside of Melon 3

All of the melons are now ready to be painted. 
 

Velda Newman's Melon Study continues. . .

Hello everyone.  It's great to be back.  I was surprised by the blogger withdrawal I have experienced while being without a computer.  I'll continue with the Melon Study I was working on when last I posted.

 This melon was cut approximately 1" larger than the pattern piece.  Batting was cut to the exact pattern size and was spray basted to the back.  Tea-dyed cheesecloth was laid over the prepared melon.

Six threads were pulled every inch in one direction only.  With scissors, slits were cut.  The slits were supposed to be cut in the same direction the threads were pulled.  You can see that I messed up by cutting slits in the opposite direction.  I did cut slits in the correct direction too.  My holes just go in all directions rather than in one.

 The melon was spray basted and the prepared cheesecloth laid on top.  Using tweezers, the cheesecloth was  thenseparated to create various sized holes.  Wavy lines were free-motion quilted over the entire piece in thread matching the cheesecloth color.  Here is the backside of the melon after quilting.

Here is the final product.  Pretty cool, huh?  Glad to be back.  Keep watching.  I will next post melons 3 and 4.

Velda Newman's Melon Study well on its way. . .

Here is my melon study project to date.  All of the components are built.  The highlight and shadow painting comes next.  The building of each melon will be described in the next few blogs.  Today I will begin with the lime green melon in the background.  This melon has cheesecloth added to it for texture.

Begin by cutting the melon pattern out of fabric choice 1" larger than actual pattern and thin cotton batting cut to the exact pattern size.  The two are then layered together.

It's now time to play with the cheesecloth.  Begin by pulling three threads vertically every 1".  Next do the same horizontally.  The above photo shows what the cheesecloth looks like when done. 

The cheesecloth is now laid over the melon that has been spray basted.

Here's a close-up of what it looks like.

Circles are made at the intersections of the pulled cloth.  I used tweezers to manipulate the cloth.

Once satisfied with results, stitch circles, using free motion quilting, around the cheesecloth circles, varying the sizes.  When done, trim the cheesecloth even with the fabric.  This melon is ready to have seams turned under to be sewn to background.


The front yellow melon with cheesecloth texture will be shown next.  Until next time,

Art Quilting Workshop revisits Velda Newman. . .

Our art quilting workshop happened last month but my lemon study project didn't.  It has been put aside probably never to be finished (it seems I have a lot of those lately).  I have been able to let go and move on to this month's project also from Velda Newman, "The Melon Study."  This project goes into the technique of manipulating and painting cheesecloth.

Here is the project layout.  The workshop has decided to make a few adjustments to make it a bit smaller so some of the melons will not be done.

This the project kit with the exception of the orange polka dots.  That is my background.  Each participant will choose her/his own background.

And, having gotten further along this time than on the last project, here is the rough layout with all pieces cut and laid out.  With any luck you will see more completed in the next few days.