My Secret Adventures into Hawaiian Quilting

So Jessica, bartender extraordinaire at FI, is from Hawaii.

That's not a secret.

She's getting married in Oahu next May.

That's not the secret part, either.

What is secret is that I've decided to make her a Hawaiian-style quilt as a wedding gift. She doesn't read TC, but many of you who do, come into FI. So let's keep this on the down-low when we're together, eh?

I did a little online research and found http://www.quilthawaiian.com . [My favorite link on their website is http://www.members.tripod.com/%7EHonu_Hale . I would have liked to have gotten one of her designs, but it seems she has passed and they are no longer available. Still, her words and instruction connect me to my project and I am grateful for her efforts.]

Quilt Hawaiian sells a DVD from Pacific Rim Quilting Co.

Nancy Lee Chong's delivery is quite static, but her direction is very clear and I'm really liking her. It also comes with a pillow-size pattern (called "Ulu", which she says is the Hawaiian word for Breadfuit, a staple of the traditional Hawaiian diet). I would like to eventually make a full bed-size quilt, but I think this will be a great starter project.

So, off I go to Beverly's for fabric and quilting supplies. I got several notions, including pins, a thimble, fabric marker and oval hoop, but the fabric choices weren't grabbing me.

I decided to visit a shop in Alameda called Quilt Fans, http://www.Quiltfans.com . It's way out on the end of the (Bay Farm) Island, but I'm glad I went. I found wonderful fabric and the sweetest ladies. And they have classroom space they offered me free use of (when there isn't a class, of course).

So I got home and set out my items.

made a template.

and by the end of the evening I had basted my applique to my background fabric.

I've got to head back to Quilt Fans today; I need a lighter colored fabric marker and I think I want to get a couple of quilting rulers.

REMEMBER!!! SShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - mum's the word!

Hey Ms. T!
This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun! Good luck with it, and please keep us posted on your progress!

Good luck with your project! Nice fabric you chose.

My first Hawaiian quilt project was an Ulu pattern, too. Folklore is that if you do an Ulu first, you will always have abundance in your kitchen.

Wow Haole'akame, That is a very cool thing to give a friend. I am sure it will look super stellar when the last stitch has been knotted. My Grammy made me a really nifty quilt awhile back that had all fishy and ocean themed material. It is one of the coolest things I own. I am sure Jessica will be touched by sucha unique gift

Chongolio

Very nice adventure you have embarked on. Jessica will love the gift. I should let you see my two heirloom Hawaiian quilts made by my Grandma. She put a lot of work into them and I have been instructed never to use them on a bed- crazy. I think my grandma's ghost would haunt me if I put them on anything but a wall.

On 2007-05-24 16:54, TIKI KAIMUKI wrote:
Very nice adventure you have embarked on. Jessica will love the gift. I should let you see my two heirloom Hawaiian quilts made by my Grandma. She put a lot of work into them and I have been instructed never to use them on a bed- crazy. I think my grandma's ghost would haunt me if I put them on anything but a wall.

I'd love to see them!! I wonder if the "don't use it on the bed" rule comes from (the superstition?) You should never sit on a quilt.

On 2007-05-25 01:14, Haole'akamai wrote:

On 2007-05-24 16:54, TIKI KAIMUKI wrote:
Very nice adventure you have embarked on. Jessica will love the gift. I should let you see my two heirloom Hawaiian quilts made by my Grandma. She put a lot of work into them and I have been instructed never to use them on a bed- crazy. I think my grandma's ghost would haunt me if I put them on anything but a wall.

I'd love to see them!! I wonder if the "don't use it on the bed" rule comes from (the superstition?) You should never sit on a quilt.

I think it was less about superstition and more about my Grandma(dad's mom) being pissed that my mom actually used the quilt that they were given and didn't take the best care of it. I remember it being tattered in the end.

FORMERLY, theded1

[ Edited by: TIKI KAIMUKI 2007-05-25 18:50 ]

In doing more online research, I found this really great website: http://www.nvo.com/poakalani/door/ . The FAQ page is eye-opening. I've decided that even though I'm making this for Jessica as a wedding gift, it really will be strictly a gift to Jess. Not wishing for anything bad, but if things go less than swimmingly sometime in the future, I want her to know she has full ownership over it.

SO!

I've got the first quadrant of the applique in place.

and this is what the back looks like

All my years of sewing really has come into play when I'm manipulating the fabric during this needle turn phase. It's been a while since I've handstitched anything, though. I think my stitches are small enough, averaging about 8 or 9 stitches per inch, but they're not particularly straight or even.

I initially only bought purple and ecru colored thread for the project, but I stitched a (almost completely green) valley with the purple and I didn't like the results.

A bit frustrated and not wanting to go back to Bev's for just thread, I looked through my chest of thread. Lo and behold, I had some in lime green that I think is pretty near perfect (You can also see my handsewing has already improved by the time I got to this valley).

On 2007-05-25 17:01, Haole'akamai wrote:

I think my stitches are small enough, averaging about 8 or 9 stitches per inch, but they're not particularly straight or even.

I always thought this added to the beauty and charm of a quilt.

I'm really enjoying this thread. This is something that I've always wanted to learn.

I forgot to talk about the most exciting thing I've learned so far, The Quilter's Knot!!

A little background on me: I am a self-taught sewer. I started making/sewing things when I was about 9 or 10. I was never shown how to put a knot at the end of the thread, so I just grab it and tied it off like you do rope. Sometimes the knots tied on top of each other, sometime they didn't; I just kept knotting until they eventually met up. Often, I was left with a long tail of wasted thread. Gotta say, the whole thing was a major reason why I never liked hand-stitching. I used to pull extra-long (practically two arm-lengths) thread just to avoid the whole knotting procedure. Pulling that much thread when quilting is a big no-no. It takes too much time to make stitches and it over-works the thread.

In walks my savior. Nancy Lee Chong shows how to make a "quilter's knot" on her DVD. In my mind, if I never make a quilt, this alone is worth the price of the DVD!!!

Here are pictures of me doing it.

Thread your needle. Take the end of your thread and hold it under the needle tip against your finger.

Wrap the thread around the needle tip about 3 or 4 times.

Grasp the wrapped thread with your thumb and forefinger...

and then slide the wrapped part down the thread.

It'll automagically make a knot that the end of the thread!!!!

Some of you may not believe it, but this is life-changing for me. Knotting the thread was one of things I was most dreading about this project, but no more.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2007-05-28 12:49 ]

Whee!! I finished the needle-turn applique.

Front

Back

My points, curves and valleys turn out a bit (quite?!) irregular

but my needle skill really improved by the end of even this small part of the project

Next adventure: Echo Quilting, a.k.a. Walk Softly and Carry a Thick Bat.

I went to My Local Quilt Shop (MLQS) to get batting. Nancy Lee Chong recommends a 4oz to 6oz poly batting, but the only thing MLQS had was very thin cotton batting. They had about 5 different brands of the same very thin cotton batting, but nothing else. Not different sizes, mind you, different brands. When I asked about 4oz (since I've decided to make this quilting into a pillow top, I'm opting on the thinner side) poly batting, she told me,

"Oh, no one uses that anymore! You don't want to use polyester, anyway; it beards [I can explains this term, if people want]! I suppose if you want it thicker, you could just double it [the very thin cotton batting she was selling] up."

I did notice that the DVD was produced in the early 2000's, so I was unsure about the latest techniques in quilting. Maybe Nancy Lee Chong had been left behind :( ... I bought some of the very thin cotton batting, but with great confliction.

I decided I needed to call Pacific Rim Quilting Co for assurance. Janice, Nancy's sister, who runs their store up in Snohomish, answered on the first ring. I told her what MLQS told me. Seriously, she chuckled and then told me that the reason why MLQS only carried one product (in five different brands) was due to the rise of Modern Machine Quilting.

It's hard to stuff 6oz batting under a machine needle. If you use that batting, you won't see the echo quilting. Doubling it won't work because then your batting'll be the right thickness, but too dense and sleeping under it would be like sleeping under a concrete block - a tad bit heavy. "Bearding" is practically unheard of these days due to improved production techniques for poly batting and higher quality mass-produced cotton fabrics. In the 28 years I've been making Hawaiian quilts, only my first one beards and that's because I used a loose-woven cotton [fabric].

Alright! I knew Nancy Lee Chong wouldn't steer me wrong. I went out to Discount Fabrics (I get all my Dicken's (and used to get RenFaire, when I did that sort of thing) fabrics there) and found 4oz Poly Batting. It's thicker, but spongier.

Anyone need a crib-size piece of cotton batting?

H,

This post is a wealth of information on so many fronts. Whenever time allows, I'd love to try my hand in this. Wonderful info! Thanks!

P.S. Love the colors and patern you picked. :)

That looks great for a first time! (Not that I actually have tried it myself, or know what it's supposed to look like.) I'm sure Jess will be thrilled to receive such a thoughtful, lovingly handmade gift.
Congrats!

On 2007-05-29 13:22, Haole'akamai wrote:

Anyone need a crib-size piece of cotton batting?

Said batting has been exchanged for oodles of lovely purple fabric with Orchids and Bird of Paradise on it.

next adventure coming soon...