Melon Basket Mosaic

I always enjoy looking through and voting on the mosaics when Rachel at Stitched in Color issues a challenge to create a nine-fabric mosaic based on the chosen theme.  With summer coming on, what could be more refreshing than Cool Melons.  She always includes beautiful photograph collages and has such a way with words to describe them.

When I think of melons, watermelons in particular, I can't help but laugh and will tell you a little story at the end.  But first, let me share the mosaic I created from shopping though all the beautiful fabrics at Gotham Quilts.  I chose fabrics to represent cantaloupes, honeydews and watermelons at their ripest.

Melon Basket Mosaic by Paige Alexander

The fabrics include:

Row 1

• Mercury in Green from Sun Prints by Alison Glass
• Medium Dots Tone on Tone in Orange from Riley Blake
• Spark Coral Double Gauze from Bespoke by Cotton and Steel

Row 2

• Confetti Dots in Coral by Dear Stella
• Butterflies in Green from Tiger Lily by Heather Ross
• Emes in Tangerine from Lucky by Lotta Jansdotter

Row 3

• Doe Eyed in Tangerine from Moonshine by Tula Pink
• Newsprint in Coral from Paint from Carrie Bloomston
• Etapp in Green Olive from Lucky by Lotta Jansdotter

When I created the first mosaic, I used this lighter green, Vintage Dot in Lime by Denyse Schmidt for the center, but after seeing the butterflies from Tiger Lily I thought it best represented watermelon rind and pulled all the other fabrics together so well.

Now, on to the reason for my laughing when I think of watermelons.

My husband's family has always been game players, both card games and board games.  One evening we were playing Taboo with my brother-in-law and his wife.  The guys were on one team and girls on the other.

For those of you not familiar with Taboo, Wikipedia describes it is a word, guessing game and the objective of the game is for a player to have their partner(s) guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or the 5 additional words listed on the card.

It was my turn to give clues and the card I drew was Watermelon.  Therefore, I could not say the word watermelon or the other words on the card.

Watermelon card and timer from Taboo on Kona Mango

When playing the game you can use words or sentences to describe the taboo word that you cannot say aloud.  My first thought and the clue I gave was,

"You can make a basket from it."

And without me saying another word, her immediate response was,

"WATERMELON"

The men couldn't believe it and just rolled their eyes.  I guess we have attended to one too many bridal or baby showers where we have seen watermelons carved into a basket and filled with melon balls and other fruit.

I found this pretty watermelon basket by Wardah at Best of Wardah.  She even has a step by step to make your own.

Watermelon basket by Best of Wardah used with permission

Now you know why I can't help but smile and sometimes chuckle when I see watermelons and melon balls!

Curating this Melon Basket mosaic was fun!  Rachel is accepting entries until midnight on May 8th, so you have plenty of time to create your own cool melon mosaic.  I think you will enjoy looking at the other cool melon entries at Stitched in Color so head on over to her blog.