Hawaiian Applique
Apr 23, 2006 Quilting
In sticking with this month’s theme of “Using what I have”, I start to work on my Hawaiian Applique. I selected a leaf pattern from Elizabeth Root’s The Pillows to Patch Quilt Collection… the Hawaiian Way. By the way Elizabeth’s books are a work of art in their own right. My own words would fail to describe their beauty. I suggest checking them out for yourself. I own two. I just realized that she has many more than I need.
I stated by preparing the background fabric. The book suggests using a 21″ square. I only had a fat quarter. So I squared it to 18″. Then I folded it find the middle. I used my crease lines to determine the center. Then I needed to decide which size of the leaf I should use.
Since my background is smaller than suggested I had copied the leaf in two different sizes, 100% and 90%. When I held them up to the background, the larger one looked better inspite of my small background.
I cut a 14″ square out of my leaf fabric. I folded it into 1/8th, like cutting a snowflake. I traced the leaf pattern onto the fabric with a micron pen. Then I cut. It was easier than I expected. You definitely need good fabric scissors for this step.
Using the crease marks, I center the leaf onto the background. I love it. The leaf pattern is fairly simple. Yet the print is very busy. They make a good match.
Final preparation step: securing the leaf to the background. The book suggest basting the leaf. I really hate to baste. Instead I secured the leaf using Roxanne’s glue, a lot less time consuming.
So far I’ve managed to applique a few leafs. Since I have no idea what this applique will grow up and become, I can take my time and enjoy the proces.
