Easy BQ7 quilt pattern watermelon fabric blog

red and green watermelon motifs on a quilt draped across a bench

watermelon slices and red seed fabric with green rinds.

cheddar and white fabric showing the texture of the pantograph that looks like home plate.

small campers on pink fabric surrounded by cheddar and white squares.

Celebrate summer with a cheerful watermelon-themed quilt, made using the BQ7 pattern by Maple Island Quilts. Quick to piece, fun to quilt, and perfect for picnics—see how it came together with stash finds, travel memories, and creative longarming!

My friend Janet bought two identical patterns and gave one to me. This happens occasionally! The pattern is called BQ7 by Debbie Bowles for Maple Island Quilts it seemed pretty straightforward and fun.

At first, I thought it would be perfect for a quilt design with embroidered squares. I used to make embroidered quilts when I worked at Wilson's Your Favorite Quilt Shop in Hagerstown, Maryland. However, since starting my quilting business, I have less time!

The BQ7 pattern features 18" blocks with a 12" focal block. Once the blocks are assembled, they can be rotated to form a secondary pattern. It can also be constructed with different numbers of blocks for various sizes, making it an easy and enjoyable quilt.

Janet and her friends have been making quilts for the people in Erwin, Tennessee, who were affected by the devastating hurricane last September. Erwin is her hometown, and she wanted to give back to the community.

I went home to make one. First, I found a piece of pink fabric that has cute campers and flowers on it that I had bought, intending to make pillowcases for my granddaughter, but that didn't happen! Then I found some other fabrics like the pops of teal, white and cheddar in my stash, and TADA! It went together quickly like in one day!When I put it onto the longarm, I decided to try out a new pantograph from Jess Zeigler for Longarm league. The design is called sprawl, to me it looks like a home plate on a baseball field. I think it turned out beautifully. I made the binding with the same cheddar fabric I used in the quilt. I then brought the quilt to Janet, and she loved it.

I wanted to make another BQ7 quilt so, I found some bright watermelon fabric in my stash! I had bought the fabrics while traveling out west to visit the National Parks in 2020. I often visit quilt shops during my travels. The fabrics feature ants, watermelon seeds, watermelon rinds, and a fantastic buffalo red and black check on the back.This would be just in time for summer!I think the easy BQ7 quilt pattern in watermelon fabric turned out so cute that I wanted to make it my first blog post. The pantograph I used is Peeling Good by Christy Dillon for My Creative Stitches. It worked out very well!