Wisdom From the Professionals
A collection of Articles
Hawaiian
Quilting - A trip to Paradise! By
Judith, Fabrics.net
I have
long admired the detailed work of Hawaiian Quilts! The applique
and outline quilting stitches are beautiful and the patterns
are a reflection of the beauty of Hawaii and its magnificent
scenery.
The
start of my quest to learn more about the art of Hawaiian
Quilts was the Bishop Museum in Honolulu where I stumbled
on the end of a Hawaiian Quilt Show and met Nalani Goard,
who is the Granddaughter of Deborah Kakalia "Aunty Debbie", a renowned
Hawaiian Quilt artist and teacher. Nalani's website can be found here http://www.hawaiianquilting.net/ .
Nalani Goard
Talk about more luck? It just so happened that Nalani
teaches Hawaiian Quilting every Monday through Friday, 9-3 pm at the
Bishop Museum Hawaiian Hall and of course I attended my
first Hawaiian Quilting lesson on applique. I purchased
a pillow kit [photo a] of the Plumeria flower pattern
(because this is my favorite Hawaiian flower), sat down
with an instructor and had my first lesson. The quilt
kit contained a pre cut and pre basted Plumeria flower
pattern plus thread, needles, pillow batting and even
a zipper [photo a & b]. All I needed to furnish
was the desire to learn. After a few minutes with my instructor,
I was appliquéing my first Hawaiian design! With
the pre basted pattern, the applique is really quite simple
(if you have an instructor helping you [photo c]).
After I did an outside corner, an inside corner and a
curve [photo d], I was then told to work at home
on what I had learned and come back for the next lesson
when I was ready. The most important lesson that I learned?
One stitch at a time! Looking at even the small pattern
for a pillow can be overwhelming, looking at a complete
quilt is even more overwhelming but One stitch at a time
makes the project seem simpler. Pillow kits can be found
at http://nalanigoard.virtualave.net/index.html
photo a
photo b
photo c
photo d
Other
students and instructors were working on their quilts
too [photos e, f, g]. Pillow kits can also be made
into larger quilts for lap quilts, full size quilts, etc.
[photo h]
Auntie
Debbie has taught Nalani to design quilts for individuals.
How does she do it? She just talks to the individual for
a while and the design comes to her. Nalani also told
me that both Auntie Debbie and she will trace a real flower
for some of the designs. Imagine having flowers in your
yard or the landscape of your island full of flowers that
you can use for inspiration and designs! Auntie Debbie
also uses Royal Hawaiian symbols in her quilt designs
[photos i, j, k]. All patterns are copyrighted
and usually contain the trademark "Star of Love"
which is an eight pointed star found in the center of
each quilt design. See Turtle design quilt [photo l]
photo e
photo f
photo g
photo h
photo i
photo j
photo k
photo l
Students
from all over the world continue to come to visit Hawaii,
Auntie Debbie and Nalani, some whose great grandmothers
took lessons from Auntie Debbie. This is a photo of Auntie
Debbie in her 45th year of teaching, this photo was taken
in 1999.
Auntie Debbie
Auntie Debbie continues to quilt and makes 2-22 inch pillows
per week. Prior to his death, Auntie Debbie's husband basted
the patterns onto the fabric backing, basting both right handed
and left handed…….a technique that Auntie Debbie wanted
to learn.
I have
not completed my pillow top…..yet but the inspiration
from my visit to Hawaii and meeting Nalani keeps me going.
Now if I could just go back to Paradise and learn to quilt
my pillow top using the techniques of following the contour
of the appliqued pattern. :) For right now, I will use one
of Nalani's books, "Hawaiian Quilting with Nalani"
which are also available at Nalani's web site.
Judith Fabrics.net
Nalani's Kapa Kuiki
At the Bishop Museum 9-3 PM
Monday through Friday.
More information 808-842-6541
Volunteers needed 808-842-6541
