Work in Progress-Hawaiian Appliqué Wedding Quilt

45 responses to “Work in Progress-Hawaiian Appliqué Wedding Quilt”

1. I bought a kit when I visited Hawaii which was for a pillow of Hawaiian applique. I am embarrassed to say how long that I have had it! Maybe following your progress will provide the inspiration to dig it out. Is it a UFO if I haven’t even started it yet?

   1. On my ToDo lists, it’s an RTS (Ready to Start). Everything I need for the top is gathered together in one container so I don’t forget and borrow a crucial piece for something else.

   2. I call those “Hussies,” (Haven’t Started Yet)–and boy, do I have a lot of them!

   3. Yikes! Me, too. We visited the Big Island when my DH earned the trip through the company he was with. Nasty weather delays and mechanical problems with aircraft caused us to miss one whole day there but we still managed to squeeze in some shopping. I, too, bought a small quilt kit as a souvenir. Appliqué has not appealed to me so it is a “someday, maybe” item tucked away somewhere. BTW, I will admit the date — spring of 2000!

2. Let us know what fabric works for the white. I have also had the fray issue even when using a feasible for a backing/stabilizer.

   1. Have to love auto-correct. That should be fusible!

3. That will be a beautiful quilt. I love Hawaiian applique quilts, but I don’t love doing applique, so it will never happen here! What do you do about fraying? The seam side of all the patchwork I make is a mess of frayed strings!

4. No- I’m going to Hawaii in May & a real Hawaii quilt class is on my bucket list!!

   1. If you’re on Maui, be sure to stop in my college roommate’s place in Kihei called Maui Quilt Shop. Marilyn has a great staff, check their class schedule, beautiful fabrics!

      1. I think I’ve been there!

5. Just read a blog on appliqué and they recommended heavy starching so that the fabric doesn’t fray. Spray, iron, turn over spray again, iron, and spray again. 3 times. Might help the fraying! Looking beautiful!

6. I’ve had a lot of luck with Free Spirit Solids.

7. I love your blog and am excited to see you are doing applique. I am fairly new to this and have done several wool applique projects. I’ve used Soft Fuse Premium fusible webbing for cotton applique if I’m not turning the edge under. It really controls the fraying and is an excellent product. It doesn’t seem to gum up my machine.

8. I’ve never really liked red, but it has grown on me the past few years and I think your quilt is going to be gorgeous. I enjoy applique (by machine!) and may have to give this a try as I think Hawaiian quilts are so, sew pretty. Please let us know what fabric you decide to use that doesn’t fray as much. I, too, love Kona and I do starch my pieces prior to cutting them out unless I’m using fusible, and starching does help. I will have to try 3 times as Judy recommended.

9. This will be beautiful and yes I have done a little Hawaiian applique, in fact, I designed a couple of baby quilt patterns several years ago: “Circus” and “Carrousel”-I use a lightweight fusible on the back of the applique that helps with the fraying.

10. My celebration quilt this year will be for our first grandchild’s high school graduation. Where did the time go?
    I have done Hawaiian appliqué but did it as a needle turn when I was first starting to quilt. Good thing it was a wall hanging! I still have another on my to do list.

11. Red is my favorite and I just love this block/quilt. Good luck with it. I do have celebration quilts to make; a wedding, a citizenship, an “I’m out of the Marines, Mom, can you make a quilt out of my camies?”. After 16 years in the same house, I just found out we are moving again so want to do a couple of remember me quilts for special friends. Good thing I have supplies. LOL

12. Love Hawaiian! Want to do one someday. I find that an iron-on tear away stabilizer on the back helps tremendously in machine applique.

13. Oh, I love this, but I REALLY love that this wedding quilt is a family project!! I hope we get to see this square when you’ve finished the applique?

14. Basic quilting question, do you prewash your fabrics, especially the red? Good luck with the fraying issue. As always the quilt will be lovely when you’re done.

15. I did an Hawaiian applique quilt as wedding gift. Many of the blocks were hand appliqued when we were on vacation in India. I used batiks for all the appliques because it didn’t fray very easily. It was a queen sized quilt with a very large reverse appliqued Hawaiian scene featuring King Kamehameha designed by Dierdra McElroy in the center surrounded by the other blocks. The groom was an Hawaiian entertainer and he loved that side of the quilt. The other side was for his wife and was Snail’s Trail blocks done in soft green, blues, yellows and pinks. Later, in the divorce, she got custody of the quilt. I loved doing every stitch in that quilt. I do not like to do machine applique and prefer hand applique using back basting.

16. I’m working on a pillow in Hawaiian applique. I’ve a skinny book of patterns and basic instructions. What I love about it is they had you hand baste the applique to the background just over 1/4″ from the edge. So no need to pin, and a nice guide for your turn under. Sticking myself with pins is the main reason I dislike hand applique, lol.

17. I’ve had better luck with Moda fabrics. All the kona solids seem to fray a lot.

    1. I just used some Moda Bella solid and thought it frayed A LOT. The Michael Miller Cotton Couture was better.

18. Thank you so much for the mention Lori! I hope the photos brightened your day! I’m interested in reading your progress on machine appliqué. I prefer using the sewing machine as much as can.

19. If you are visiting Oahu, then you may want to call the Waianae Public Library and see if they still have the collection of full size Hawaiian quilt patterns that you can trace. They have a large notebook to look through. Chose the one(s) you want and they provide paper and you trace the pattern (for a suggested small donation).

    Also the Bishop Museum used to have classes one day a week. There are a few shops on various islands and their classes vary. And the Fabric Mart is THE place to go for Hawaiian fabrics- think there may be three stores on Oahu – one even on the way to Waianae in Aiea.

    And check with the Royal Hawaiian Hotel because Patricia Lei Murray used to have a demo class there weekly and if you ask nicely, they might let you join in (or you can sit nearby and easedrop since it is held on the lanai (and the Royal Hawaiian is a neat place to just visit)

    There are various quilts so you may be able to catch a meeting.

    Aloha

20. Let us know what fabric you choose for the applique. I have a Hawaiian quilt in the works and had thought I’d use a creamy Kona solid for the motif. Thanks for the heads up that it will fray. Sumptuous fabric, just not right for this project.

    1. Try batiks. They are great for Hawaiian applique

21. I took an online class fromNancy Lee Chong many years ago. Does anyone remember Quilt University? That was my introduction to Hawaiian Quilting—and needleturn applique! It was a wonderful class, making the traditional Ulu block. I love that little quilt and it is always laid on a chair in my living room. I took other classes, in perrson, from Nancy and made one of her 42″ square designs, patterns available through Pacific Rim Quilts, I think. It took a lot of perseverence to complete, but I love it! I noted that Nancy’s patterns now have three options for the applique. I tried the raw edge method for a door quilt for my mother’s assisted living apartment. You trace the design with a light box, then stitch on the line, by machine. Later you carefull cut away the top layer, very close to the stitching. It was quite effective! I used two beautiful batik fabrics for a hibiscus design. It was so much fun to machine quilt!

    1. Yes, I took several classes from Quilt University, including one from Nancy Chong. Check out academyofquilting.com. Many of the same teachers from Quilt U are teaching there now.

22. I’ve wanted to “go Hawaiian” for years with quilting; will be viewing your updates with special interest before attempting my own!

23. I, too, am wondering if you will be pre-washing your fabrics. My first thought when seeing your sample was,”How beautiful!” My second thought was, “Is that red going to run?” Could you talk about this in a future blog? I know your finished quilt will be stunning. It is so nice that you and family members will be working on it together. I do have a celebration quilt to make this year. Our daughter and her husband are having a baby, due in August, so I am making a baby quilt for the little one.

24. I’ve tried a couple of types of applique but so far in my life it is not for me. I do love to look at what others do though!
    I am making a quilt for my mom’s 90th birthday this summer. She was a farmer’s wife for almost 60 years. I found a beautiful panel with a farm scene that I added borders to. Now I am working on quilting it. It’s so hard to figure out what to do with it! I haven’t done much thread painting but I feel that is what this quilt needs. I just want to enhance but not cover what is already a beautiful quilt.

25. This is going to be so pretty! It’s neat that the family is doing it together. I just saw that the Fat Quarter Shop is having a month long sale on Art Gallery solids, for $7.98 a yard. If they are like their regular fabrics, they might be an option. Their fabrics seem to be like batiks, more tightly woven.

26. I have done a lot of Machine appliqué. Years ago I took a class from Sue Nickles and bought her book “Machine Appliqué”, and frequently refer to it. I use her fusible method. She’s uses a blanket stitch and a Bernina and gives the settings she uses. Ricky Tim is another good source. He uses the double blanket stitch on the Bernina.
    I suggest you check out their websites. Have Fun

27. You know, I love almost everything Hawaiian and even lived there in my youth. But I’ve never liked Hawaiian style quilting (probably the same reason I don’t appreciate Amish quilts…)! I know I am WAY in the minority…just the vision of the simple 2 solid colors in (boring) appliqué…go figure!

28. BTW, I believe the best fabric to use for this is batiks, very little fraying.

29. I haven’t done any Hawaiian quilting. Not any, even applique. And I love their look. This is going to go on my “Want to do” list — it only has about 50 or 60 on it by this date! I love your design. It will be magnificent.

30. I love making Hawaiian quilt blocks. I always use needle-turn applique because it gives me a hand-work project to work on when I need to keep my hands busy. I also love the two fabric applique patterns from Pacific Rim Quilt company. I love the way the picture begins to emerge as you applique and trim the fabric. I have never tried machine-applique for this type of quilt block.

31. I would use a lightweight fusible interfacing on the white. It would help prevent fraying, even when washed, whereas starch would wash out, and it would also prevent the red background from showing through the white applique, which tends to make the white look dirty. A lightweight fusible interfacing doesn’t make the fabric stiff. I used it on a white satin lamb-shaped applique on a red damask background for a church banner, and it prevented any fraying.

32. I live in the NYC area and got to attend the Infinite Variety show. It was the most beautifully hung quilt show I’ve ever experienced. Not only were the quilts presented in our standard way, but many of the quilts were hung from the ceiling of the armory, in a way that let you experience the whole quilt without a white glover present. That is was one husband’s gift to his wife was even more astounding, and our local show (Empire Quilter’s Guild) was within the same time period, offering quilters two local shows in NYC. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

    Wholly agree with you on the Kona. If I look at it hard, it frays. Many solids will fray less; I like Michael Miller Cotton Couture. Roxanne’s is indeed effective, so I use something that does not grip like iron…any off-brand glue gives me the hold, but doesn’t make me risk fraying the fabric. I’d not glue the edges if I were using Roxanne’s.

    Good luck with what looks like it will be a beautiful project. More snow expected on Friday in NJ. Daffodils will may be covered again.

    1. I am so happy for you that you got to see the Infinite Variety exhibit. I wonder if they’d ever do it again?

33. Susan Schamber has great tips for raw edge applique. One of the tips I’ve used is to use school glue (with a very small tip) along the wrong side edge of your applique, place it on your background and press it to dry. It gives it a nice sold edge. I also use her water soluble stabilizer on the back of the piece. It comes out perfect. Honestly, Kona is wonderful fabric but not for applique. I’d recommend a batik or a tightly woven cotton broadcloth.

34. I find the “real” Hawaiian applique, which is hand stitched, to be relaxing. No machine applique for me! I have done two smaller wall hangings that I got from my friend’s quilt shop in Kihei, Maui called the Maui Quilt Shop.

    1. I love to do hand Hawaiian appliqué too! Trying something this time!