I had another quilt almost ready to go for the silent auction, but when I read about the motu nui challenge I realized I didn’t document the making of it, but I did have most of the pictures of this quilt.
I started by using a paper pieced pattern I found for Hawaiian shirts.
Almost done! Now repeat 27 more times. This quilt is comprised of 28 shirt blocks, one FOM logo paper pieced pattern, and one raw-edge applique block.
I didn’t want to create this quilt without trying my hand at creating my own paper piece pattern at least once. Below is my first creation of a paper piece pattern.
The final block has an appliqued fire in the fireplace, embroidered lettering for the date and the FOM, and red buttons for his eyes.
For the final block, I wanted to do something different than the paper piecing. The Tungane logo block is made using a raw edge applique method.
First, invert the image and the color of Tungane logo using Adobe Illustrator. (If you’re using your home printer, you really don’t want to print out all that black if you can avoid it.) Next, enlarge the image as much as possible to fit within the size of the other squares (in my case 8″ x 8″) trace the image onto a piece of fusible web (at least 10″ x 10″) I used a small light table to do this, but you can use a window or other light source behind your pattern. Iron on the fabric of your choice. Cut out logo using X-acto blade. Arrange on backing fabric and press with iron. I auditioned several different fabrics before deciding on the coral orange. I also made a little lapel for the Moai’s shirt and stiffened it with some backing material. With matching thread, sew along all raw edges of the logo. This will keep the edges flat in case the glue gets loose or if you absolutely need to wash the quilt. If you do wash the quilt, I recommend using a gentle or hand-wash cycle and throwing it on a clothesline to dry.
Here is the construction of the quilt top. Arrange your blocks. Organize them by row and column. Once all columns or rows (depending on how you started sewing) are complete, sew them to each other. You now have a quilt top. Trim any stray threads and press.
Sew your quilt back. I used complimentary fabrics to the quilt top. I wanted clean edges around the quilt and did not want to use a binding around this quilt, so I used the envelope method to sew around the quilt. This is easiest to do with a smaller sized quilt. After sewing back and top together around the edges, turn right side out and you’re ready to start quilting!
Determine where you would like each block to be. Label each block by row and column, I use painter’s tape.
How much space would you like between each block (if any)? I used pieces of 8″ x 3″ fabric for a finished size of 2.5″.
Press seams open or to the side.
The first draft of the quilt tag/label was a little hurried, so I rewrote it to be less wordy and more bold.
Here is the finished quilt. I stitched around each shirt and chose an arrow/triangle design between the shirts to create movement in the quilt. The triangle arrows switch direction between the rows and columns. I also wanted a masculine design to match with the shirts. The FOM logo is located at the top of quilt and the Tungane is at the bottom. The quilt back is made up of three different fabrics; one is an island fabric, the next a tapa design, and last a solid light ocean blue. There are tabs sewn on the top edge of the quilt back for hanging on a wall. This quilt finished out to 47″ x 57″ (lap-sized).
You must be logged in to post a comment.