How to contact Betsey Telford-Goodwin's Rocky Mountain Quilts:
Telephone - for orders or questions - 1-207-363-6800
FedEx - 130 York Street York, Maine 03909
Email - betsey@rmquilts.com
CONGG4 Hawaiian Applique Quilt in Green & White
c.1950
94 x 94
Hawaii
$4,900
Missionaries from New England brought patchwork quilting, reflecting their own learned style and techniques, to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1820's. Fabric scraps, flour sacks, and feed sacks the missionaries brought with them were distributed to Hawaiian women for use in their quilting bees. But Hawaiian clothing, cut straight and full, did not lend itself to scraps for saving to make quilts. Cutting new yardage into little scraps to sew back together into a quilt seemed futile and a wasted effort. It was a natural progression for these creative, artistic women to develop patterns of their own. Drawing on Hawaiian culture their quilt making became more individualistic and a reflection of their lives, history, and natural surroundings. Hawaiian women developed their own technique of cutting designs out of a large piece of folded fabric (similar technique to cutting out paper snowflakes), sometimes using a paper pattern of their creation, other times the designs were cut freehand. The cut fabric was then basted onto the background fabric, appliqued using tiny stitches, and hand quilted following the outline of their design.
This gorgeous Hawaiian quilt was created using the most commonly used style; a square design with either a broken or unbroken border, cut from fabric folded diaper-wise, eightfold. Once the border was cut the remaining large center piece was similarly cut folded to create the center medallion. Solid leaf green on a slightly off white ground, this intricate pattern's name is unknown, however it is similar to the 'Lei Mamo' pattern - the feather of the mamo bird favored by Hawaiian royalty. Graceful and quite elegant, this is a lovely example of the classic Hawaiian quilt.
Applique stitches are tiny and the hand quilting is executed beautifully in the traditional echo outlining of the design. The applied half inch binding is the same medium leaf green used for the interior design. The backing is the same off white used for the front. For sale on behalf of a private collector, this wonderful Hawaiian applique quilt can be sent to you on approval for private viewing.
