So what do you do with 72 melons? You put them in a patch, or nine.
The melons were sorted into nine piles of eight similar colors. Who says you don’t need math to quilt. Given the fabric was a gradation (thus the name of the pattern), it was a bit subjective as some of the melons could have been in one pile or another.
Then, the melons were placed in a circle on the background fabric and fused in place according to Sue’s instructions. After fusing, I sewed a blanket stitch around each melon, using a black thread to match the background fabric.
You may noted that two of the squares have lighter markings than the others. That is because I was 7/8th of the way around the ring, when I realized there were two squares stuck, now sewn, together. Needless to say, I was slightly distracted when I started sewing. So, I spent a few hours with my seam ripper, in front of a good movie, taking them apart. The added handling removed some of the marks. Lots of lesson learned today!
Happy Quilting
Laureen