The Jane Stickle Quilt – Block E11

Block E11 is somewhat of a mystery to me. After studying the image of this block for some time, I’m still not sure how Jane put this one together! I’m guessing she appliquéd eight melon slices to her main fabric and then appliquéd a circle over them?? I decided to attack this one a little differently. I treated the melon slices as one unit.

My first try at this block was a total bust. In order to get the block to look as much like Jane’s as I could, I attempted to needle-turn hand appliqué the block. I just couldn’t get my arthritic hands to behave and gave up the attempt after two melon sections. Yikes. Into the trash that one went. So I returned to fusible appliqué and it went much better.

First, using the background fabric, I cut out and appliquéd the melon scallop unit to the center foreground fabric and then trimmed the excess of the foreground fabric from the back of the block.

Then, I appliquéd the top circle with the quarter circle corners to the top of the melon star.

It doesn’t look exactly like Jane’s block but it’s close. If I were to attempt this a third time, I’d redraw my melon template so that the melon slices were thinner and the inner points intersected better with the circle. But at this point, I am so humbled by Jane’s design, I’m leaving the block as is. As with my other fusible appliqué blocks, I used a blanket stitch on the edges. But this time I further reduced the size of the stitch, and I’m pleased with the reduced size.

You can appliqué  this block by hand using my templates. You’ll just need to add the inner seam allowance to the melon scallops on the first template and to the inner circle on the second template. If you hands behave better than mine, the block will be a much closer rendition of Jane’s block. Jane was a creative marvel. I’m in awe….again!

PDF pattern: Jane Stickle - E11

Note: Unit A and Unit B in the pattern are for the sashing. I chose to make 5-inch blocks like the original rather than sash 4½-inch blocks. If you prefer to add your sashing when your blocks are all finished, just eliminate the A and B units from my pattern. The center sections will then be 4½ inches finished in size and you can add your sashing later.