A few months ago I wrote a little bit about this quilt in a post called Cruising. 

Although, my motivation to re-start one of my ufo’s isn’t quite as keen. I did acquire another rescue project. This one is somewhat of a mess. It is a king sized Hawaiian appliqué quilt that was started with hand quilting, in the center (ugh) and part of a border. It is faded, water marked, frayed on the edges and probably not very square. The only saving grace is that it is basted. I am going to have to think on it for a bit, just getting it on the frame will be challenging.

Cruising post 10/8/23

I finished the roses panto on the first Violet and Roses quilt, I made those tops back in October too. I was going to put the second V&R quilt on the frame, when I got a mental nudge to do the Hawaiian one. This quilt has been in plain sight since I got it. I didn’t want to pack it away as then I would “forget” about it. It is a challenge, and I am going to finish it, well sooner than later. I started two days ago, I draped it over the frame to see the whole thing. It is a very large quilt, king size at least, I have about 14 inches folded over on one side, my frame is 12 feet wide. It is already sandwiched and basted and the center and one of the borders has some hand stitching/quilting. I am not too familiar with the method on how this quilt was put together. From what I can tell, it’s two layers on the front the purple under the light blue. The light blue is pieced, 5/8″ seams, but I can’t really see where the purple is seamed. I think the blue piece was done as a cut-away design, as I can’t really imagine that it was done like a paper snowflake. I have made a total of two Hawaiian style quilts, both were small, about 24 inches square. I guess if there was an area to lay out the fabrics and cut and baste it maybe? I’ll have to ask Eddie, his mom, Diana Leone made it. 

This quilt is vintage, I’m thinking late 1970’s. Of course it’s got the “ever lovely” polyester batting, which is pieced too, it is a thinner product, thankfully. Once I wrestled it on to the frame, I used the long pink plastic clamps to hold it on to the top rail. The weight of it was enough that I could let it hang over the front rail. I thought I would put the ruler table on the machine, to give it a little more stability in the stitching area. I am using 40wt thread, Mettler cotton in light blue and Aurifil 40wt in purple. I popped in a 50wt Fil-tec bobbin to start. A 100 size needle and a bit of oil on the hook and I started to sew in the center. I wanted to do the same sort of echo quilting that was already hand quilted. That’s when the machine said NO. Skipping stitches like nobody’s business, time to run through all the things to correct it.  

• Check/change needle size
• Too tight on frame?
• check hopping foot height
• check tension in top thread
• check bobbin thread

I did all of the above and then the last one, which should be : Walk away and try again later. The next day I thought I would try a quilting needle, I usually use a universal one. I was looking through my needles and came across the ones I bought for sewing on iron on appliqué, with a non-stick coating. I figured, well, why not? They were a size 75, so still okay for the thread too. Desperate times, desperate measures? It worked, I was stitching away in no time. I think the fabric has a bit of polyester in it, three layers and a poly batting was too much fabric friction. The slick needle solved the problem. 

Wrangling this quilt on the frame is a bear though. It hangs over the top bar and needs to be folded over it so as not to drag on or under the machine carriage. I got the center motif done, sort of echo quilting it. and trying not to have too many stops and starts. I am going to do a small stipple in the purple sections and continue the echoing in the outer blue borders. The plain blue borders will be cut down a bit, maybe I’ll do some piano keys or cross hatch. Once I finish the center part I will square it and cut it down to a king size 108″ x 95″. Then perhaps I can pin it to the leaders, and work with a ruler.

I have spent a few hours quilting the top, and it’s not too difficult. Moving the quilt is tough, and since the center is a large motif.  I am going to get back to it in a few days, once company has left, and the holidays are over.

Be Kind.