Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop: Watermelon Plate

• • 52 Comments

Watermelon Plate is a simple, traditionally-pieced, geometric block featuring a secondary pattern when tiled. It goes together fast and I'm showing it in two quilt layouts.

I chose to use Coral, Chartreuse, White and Lapis Blue for my block. You'll need a fat eighth of each color.

Cutting Directions

  • Fabric A (Coral): Cut (1) 4.5-inch by 12.5-inch rectangle.
  • Fabric B (Chartreuse): Cut (2) 2.5-inch by 12.5-inch rectangles.
  • Fabric C (White): Cut (2) 2.5-inch by 12.5-inch rectangles.
  • Fabric D (Lapis Blue): Cut (4) 4.5-inch squares.

Piecing Directions

Sew all seams with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance. My seams are pressed open, using a shortened stitch length of 2.0.

Step 1: Piece together C + B + A + B + C to create a 12.5-inch square striped unit. Press all seams.

Step 2: Mark each square (D) with a line on the diagonal.

Step 3: Attach each square (D) to a corner of the pieced square from step 1 by stitching on the marked line.

Step 4 (optional): Sew a second line of stitching 1/2-inch from your first to the side toward the corner. This will create a bonus HST unit that can be used in a border treatment for this quilt or for another project. (Quilting tip: Whenever I am attaching a square to a square/rectangle in this way, I sew the second line of stitching before trimming my fabrics. This alleviates sewing bias edges together later to use the leftover triangles.)

Bonus HSTs created from one block when doing the optional step 4 stitching.

Step 5: Trim excess fabric. Cut 1/4-inch (toward the corner) from your first/marked line of stitching (or between two lines of stitching if you did step 4, shown below). Press seams.

 

finished block

Finishing

Option 1: Straight set of blocks.

Option 2: Straight set of blocks, alternating horizontal and vertical placement.

Edit: I'd love to see project if you use my block. You can use #watermelonplateblock on IG. :-)

 

2015 Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop

Fabri-Quilt provided fat eighths of their Prairie Cloth Solids of each color from the Watermelon Summer color palette (Chartreuse, Turquoise, Coral, Aqua, Lapis Blue, and White) to the over 60 bloggers participating in this week's blog hop. Each blogger has designed a 12" x 12" (finished) block to share with you. Our finished blocks will be put together by our hosts to create at least three charity quilts. Please check out today's other hoppers:

Josi @Avocado Quilts
Stephanie @Quilt’n Party
Cristy @Love You Sew
Shelly @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts
Jayne @Twiggy & Opal
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Adrian @Making It – Family Food Quilts Crafts
Julie @Pink Doxies
Sarah @123 Quilt
Jane @Jolly and Delilah Quilts
Carrie @The Zen Quilter

Thanks to our blog hop hosts for organizing. They are linking to each day's participants. And they are each offering a Fabri-Quilt giveaway. Please visit them.

Monday, August 31 – Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl

Tuesday, September 1 – Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

Wednesday, September 2 – Stephanie of Late Night Quilter

Thursday, September 3 – Terri Ann of Childlike Fascination

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52 thoughts on “Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop: Watermelon Plate”

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thanks, Jenn. Can you just imagine how fun it would be to be playing with layouts for dozens of those little HSTs? :-)

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Julie. Now I really want to make a bunch of the blocks so I have a ton of the HSTs to play around with. :-)

      Reply ↓

  4. Lisa

    This is a very nice bold block Sarah I can see it in a quilt with one or two vertical rows of blocks surrounded by lapis blue.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Oh! Thanks for the idea. I didn't even think about setting on point. I'll have to play with that layout as well. Thanks for visiting, Leanne.

      Reply ↓

  8. Sarah, I love how a simple block can look awesome in combination with many more of the same block. The alternating vertical and horizonal placement looks so cool, and I could see me making a quilt with this design. Did you use EQ7 to create Option 1 and 2? I've only seen it online and have thought I might want to purchase it to experiment with quilt design down the road. Take care, Mary.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Mary. I did use EQ7 to make the layout designs. I haven't used EQ7 very much. I don't find it very intuitive and haven't spent enough time to learn it. (I need to find some time to watch EQ7 tutorial videos.) I'm encouraged by the fact that people who love it, love it.

      Reply ↓

  10. Very nice! I love the name of the block. Seeing the chartreuse with the coral in the middle makes me think of a slice of watermelon..yum. Great job on your tutorial.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      My initial sketch had the alternating layout. That's what kept drawing me back to this design. Thanks for visiting, Diana.

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Cassandra. That's the version that I'd like to use to make a large quilt. (We'll see when I have time. ;-))

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Oh, that's an interesting idea. I'll have to keep that in mind while I'm surfing around to the other tutorials. There's so much good stuff, but I've only had a chance to do a quick pass through day 1 so far.

      Reply ↓

  14. Sarah... this is such a great modern, watermelon block. I love the layout suggestions you provided. I've been using that trick for extra half square triangles, it's a great way to have future options and not waste fabric.

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      I have quite a few HSTs in my misc. blocks and bits bin. :-) I think a big pile of these HSTs would be fun to play around with since they have a more interesting graphic design than a regular HST. Thanks for visiting, Stephanie.

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Silvia. I don't use a lot of solids, but I'm really tempted so I can just go nuts with some free motion quilting.

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thanks, Margo. I want to play with some other color ways and perhaps mixing two different blocks within one project.

      Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thanks, Helen. There's such a great variety of blocks in the hop. Something for everyone. I like that this is a fast one. And for a bigger project you could strip piece to make the 5-stripe units. Even faster! :-)

      Reply ↓

  22. Very nice. This will work well with both solids and prints. I like the idea of showcasing prints in the large middle sections. The additional half-square triangles are a bonus!

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Terri Ann. Once I find some time I'll have to pull some fabrics to play with. I wonder about a half-sized block for making a mini quilt, too. :-)

      Reply ↓

  25. Karen

    This is a great new block, Sarah! I'm a beginner and I think even I could do a pretty decent job of sewing it--thanks to your fine directions. I really like Option 2 with all movement in it! Congrats on being recognized for this hop--a real honor :)

    Reply ↓

    1. sarah

       Post author

      Thank you, Karen. It's totally doable for a beginner. Option 2 is my favorite, too. I'm thinking about designing a companion block to be able to create more layout options. :-) Thanks for visiting!

      Reply ↓

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