Hawaiin Blocks

YOu might find some help here Estelle:

've not done hawaiian applique myself so can'thelp beyond that. You need to look busier when they need help at your club. That or don't answer the phone. YOu are a good sport for jumping in to help though. TAria

Estelle Gallagher wrote:

or you could iron it on top and needleturn the edges under as you go round. iirc, breadfruit is supposed to be the very first hawaiian design used when you start this but i'm not telling if'n you ladys do what they get, lol. could also fold the fabric to the right config and iron the partial design on the top piece and cut out around that, adding seam allowance for turnunder unless someone is gonna fuse and machine applique, then just cut round the edge thru all the layers to get the full design....a bit like paper cutting a snowflake. :) you're ever so brave to take this on, Estelle. nearly forgot, how come you cant ask her how she was gonna do it? seems a waste your group has to miss out cuz shes sick, thru no fault of her own but they still had high hopes and you've volunteered to take on her demo, just a demo, not a class per se, dont see her problem in telling you the wherefores etc on her demo. i'd ask, whatcha got to lose. :) good luck, jeanne

For a large and involved design like that, I would use the freezer paper on the *top* of the design. I would fold the freezer paper in quarters, and trace the 1/4 design onto the paper side. Cut out, like a paper snowflake. Iron the freezer paper to the right side of the fabric you want to be the applique (say it's purple). Trim the purple fabric away to about 1/4" from the freezer paper. Then I would fold the background fabric (say white) into quarters as well, pressing well. Open up, so that you can align your full design on the pressed lines of the background. Pin or glue (with a water soluble glue stick) in place. As you applique, use the edge of the freezer paper as a guide. Needle turn the excess purple fabric of the applique under your design as you go. When all done, peel off the freezer paper. You can trim the backing away under the purple applique or leave it there - up to you. I only use the freezer paper *under* technique if it's something that is relatively easy to remove, or if I don't mind trimming away the back. With all the complicated points and curves I've seen on most Hawaiian appliques, I would be more willing to use the freezer paper on top. Just my 2 pence worth.

-- Jo in Scotland

i'd think starting out with a simple design for a pillow would be easier than a huuuuuge bed quilt too. i'm sure theres a few free online. i'll have a look and post the link if i find them. cheers, jeanne

hey Estelle,

a few free designs, including the breadfruit. wooohoooooo, easy peasy. from hawaiian folklore if breadfruit is your first quilt design you will always have abundance. not sure in what but hey, abundance works for me, lol. the register for free patterns is easy. no waiting to confirm addy, i used my @yahoo one and went thru right away. then you just download any there you fancy, all of them are simple designs, good for beginners i'd think.

a free design there and some instructions too.tho what Jo wrote was how i'd do it too. :)still looking thru the designs available.i love the simplicity of just one colour on the background too.iirc, they echo quilt round the design right out to the edges of the block.makes it a good one for practice hand quilting on a pillow size i reckon.just me thunk'n outloud again, lol.cant wait to hear what you're gonna do with your demo.jeanne

site has 4 simple designs for free and some really good instructions on making them with good pix too.this should help ya alot.oh, for saving those patterns. go to each page and click on print page.then in the pop up window, see 'print to file'...tick that box, click apply at bottom, click print, ya get pop up window, then locate where you wanna save them, then click print or was it save then? oh well, you'll get there i'm sure, or as DS, he'll figure it out for ya.it saves to your puter harddrive for you to print out when needed.hope that makes sense.cheers, jeanne

The freezer paper is used so you don't destroy your original design or to create a new one. The FP is ususally folded into quarters and the design copied to the paper and cut out. In your case , the 1/4 design placed on top and copied onto the freezer paper and the folded design cut out. this is then ironed onto your fabric for the applique method of your choice. I ususally leave the freezer paper on just cutting enough excess fabric to needleturn. If you you use another method (zigzag) you may just cut out the entire block at the beginning. The block could get limp and diffificult to work with so I suggest lots of starch to stiffen the fabric. Hope this makes sense. If not, let me know and I'll try to find my book by anita shackleton? which explains this method.

niasha

Interesting thread here. I keep wanting to do a "Hawaiian style" quilt, at least a small one and plan to at some point. I personally don't like/have problems doing needleturn appliqué so plan to do it using back basting. I will use freezer paper folded in quarters/eighths (depends on design) to cut my design. I will fold my background center the freezer paper and fuse it to the wrong side of the background. Trace around the design with a pencil/marker/whatever. Place appliqué fabric on right side of background, right side up. Using a large needle, and "fat" thread (I usually use hand quilting thread in a light color) do a running stitch, fairly small but not too small, around the design through both layers. Trim outside the basting stitch, leaving a seam allowance. Then all you need to do is snip a stitch, take out a few stitches, turn under on the "perforated" line formed by the basting, line up the folded edge with the "perforated" line in the backing fabric, and do your appliqué stitch. Keep on going. I love this way of doing hand appliqué, so smooth and easy to get sharp points too. For the larger design, I will probably only trim a bit of the fabric off at a time too. That will make it even easier to see where I am and how much I have done.

Pati, > We had a demonstrater booked to show the ladies at our club how to do

I love that first link Niasha.

Dee > The freezer paper is used so you don't destroy your original design or to

method.http://www.members.tripod.com/~Honu_Hale/>

Thankyou Naisha for the lovely links and info.I have printed off some of the history and will pass the info around. I have learnt a lot too!

I watched a demo of Hawaiian technique once, and she did not cut out the entire applique. She traced it in pencil on the right side of the applique fabric (all one big piece). The freezer paper is useful because it sticks and doesn't shift around while tracing all the fiddly bits. Then the traced fabric (paper removed) is basted to the background (thread is better) all the way around the design area, about a half inch in from the traced line. Do this on a firm surface. Then carefully snip away the excess applique fabric along the applique line for only a few inches, maybe 2-3 inches on each side of your starting point, leaving an eighth-inch turning allowance. Needle turn and applique, working on a firm surface, and cutting away the excess a little at a time as you go. Roberta in D

"Estelle Gallagher" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com...

Thanks for that Roberta! Thankfully I am not going to attempt a large one!