We were married in Laie on a Tuesday morning.
A perfect day. The sun was shining and it rained.

It was there on Oahu that I fell in love with the Hawaiian style of quilting.
I really, really wanted to go home with one, but the least expensive one I found was around $600. Traditionally newlyweds aren’t very wealthy, so I went home with hopes of one day being able to make one myself.
Fast forward almost six years and I am FINALLY on my way!

I am recently diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Not a fun condition to have, if I do say so myself. I the condition as a direct result of fracturing my right foot on August 1st, 2006. I won’t go into all the particulars of this nightmare, but I will say that it is painful and has been an on-going problem for over six months.

With constant pain comes a lot of mental anguish. I recently decided that I needed to re-focus on quilting in an effort to calm my frazzled nerves. One day I just happened to Google “Hawaiian Quilting” and up popped a site that I have seen many times before; Pacific Rim Quilt Company. Visiting the site this time, however, I was no longer in the mood to daydream about learning to quilt the Hawaiian way. I clicked around and happened upon Nancy’s calendar. And then BOOM! I clicked my way over to Quilt University and found Hawaiian Quilting 101. Registration had already closed, but I emailed the dean to see if I could still get in. She emailed right back and just like magic, I was in!

In Hawaiian Quilting 101 we are learning to quilt a 22″ Ulu (Breadfruit) block.
Lesson one taught me how to cut out the appliqué design and unfold it properly onto the background fabric.

Lesson two taught the needleturn appliqué method.
I DEFINITELY learned as I went along.
Here. Let me show you.

I really, really loved this method of appliqué. It was easy and the directions given by my teacher Nancy were incredibly easy to follow and understand. Now that I am done with the applique part I am starting to have withdrawals. Actually, I am seriously considering starting that bed quilt that I’ve been wanting for so long. I’m just not sure if it is too big a step for me to take…. You know. Going from appliquéing a 22 inch block to appliquéing a block fit for a king sized bed.

Regardless of my next Hawaiian quilt adventure, I am now moving on to Lesson 3 of the class which is about hand quilting. I have had very minimal instruction in this area and am looking forward to learning more. All of this hand work is really great for me because it is so relaxing and in no way causes my foot any pain. (I can’t say the same about sewing on my machine…) Let’s hope I enjoy the hand quilting as much as I did the appliqué. If so, then I KNOW that I will be hooked on this style of quilting for a very, very long time.