I have nearly finished this quilt - and then it can go off to the Festival of Quilts. Last year, I had entered two quilts into the Traditional class there - only to find out that only one entry per class is permitted. It was suggested that I enter one quilt into another class - but of course that wasn't possible as they were both traditional!... and I had to withdraw one quilt. So this will be my sole entry this year.
It is a long process to make these large Hawaiian quilts - it generally takes one year to do the applique and another year to complete the hand quilting.
The quilting is echo quilting, done at 1/2" intervals, using a small ruler to measure the width. I use the Quiltsnap frame (my second, the first having perished) and to quilt the corners, I had to use a towel and pin the quilt edge to the towel. This seemed to work well.
You can see the quilting thread, the thimble (just bog standard one!) and the small ruler in this photo.
The pattern is from Poakalani of Honolulu, a vintage 1930's design, and measures about 85" square. Three more tasks - to "defur" the quilt (very necessary with two cats constantly in your lap), to bind the quilt and to attach the sleeve. Oh and to attach a lable - so that makes four tasks...I have now bound the quilt and attached the sleeve, so just a final defur and then to atach the label and post.
This quilt was taken, partly quilted, to Karlsruhe last June, and people were very interested to see how a traditional quilt was constructed. My next quilt, Silversword, has already been appliqued, so I will inspect and "snag" before starting to quilt. it is a monster size - why did I choose one so large!! Luckily, I already have wool wadding. It has been a bit difficult to buy, as I no longer have Quilters Haven just up the road - I used to just pop up there and buy anything that I needed - but no longer.
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