Hawaii in July Day Two

I came upon a beautiful quilt featured in Appliqué Quilts Magazine Fall 2005. I was an editor at the time but I didn't do the feature or pattern on it. It's based on a vintage block called Lover's Knot. It is not Hawaiian, but that style block influenced Hawaiian women. It's interesting what is said about this particular block:

"Fold, cut and sew appliqué is a technique used extensively in early Pennsylvania quilts. It was brought to Hawaii by 19th century missionaries, inspiring those elaborate and fascinating Hawaiian quilts." 

Here is a fascinating read about Hawaiian History of Quilting - click the link to learn more about how these beautiful motifs were created by Hawaiian women after learning a few things from the missionaries. 

What do you think of this quilt by Katy Sweigart?

Lover's Knot by Katy Sweigart: 48" x 48"

I decided to make a block and try out the method again. It's been awhile, but here are the easy steps. I first traced the template from the magazine page. The template is 1/8 of the full pattern.

Just to show you that my template is 1/8th of the whole pattern, here's a shot I took after I finished the block:

Whole finished block with 1/8th block template

Template clipped to a folded square of freezer paper (which will be my template material). The square is folded into eighths. The folds are on the sides that have the clips.

Next, I trace around that small paper template onto the folded freezer paper

Traced and ready to cut out the 8 layers!

I cut through all 8 layers, opened up the template and there she is! You can see the waste paper and even my original template.

Now it's time to attach the full template to my fabric. I cut a 12" square of Fossil Fern and put some fusible interfacing on the back. This way, the edges will be stable for my machine stitching.

*** Note: you can cut the fabric folded into eighths if you want, but I didn't want to risk a scissor slip and have to start again.

Full template ironed to right side of prepared Fossil Fern fabric

Now it's time to cut that thing out!! I used both my rotary cutter and a pair of very sharp appliqué scissors. I took my time. I began in the center with those 4 melon shapes. Then I was able to work on the outside. I also put a few pins in there to keep things from possibly shifting.

Success!

Next, I pinned it to my background square (I cut it oversized at 13-1/2"). I stitched the center openings first - always work from the center out! I actually found a perfect color thread to match. I practiced my stitches on those waste pieces above before I committed it to my block.

Center melons stitched first

And here's my finished block (12-1/2" with seam allowances) auditioning some border fabric. Isn't that awesome? It's a piece from the Tropical Batik collection by Michael Miller. Sort of Hawaiian in personality, wouldn't you say?

Lover's Knot block

I don't have the digital file for this block or I would share it. But these are the steps to making this style of pattern. I may even have a pattern for one called Bread Fruit. See you then in a few days.