I started doing applique in the late 90's with Hawaiian applique patterns that were souvenirs that friends and family brought back from their vacations. Finally, in 2004 we planned a last minute, surprise Spring Break trip to the Big Island. (The surprise aspect of the trip is a whole different story!) Needless to say, I found the only quilt shop on the island pretty quickly. I called my Quilt
BFF Anna and said "I'm in a quilt shop...talk me down." Instead, she said "I'll pay for half, buy more." In addition to several books on the individual squares that I'd been making, I ended up with a couple large rectangle shaped florals and this amazing pattern. The proper name is "Fish on Coral" and it was designed by Elizabeth A
Akana under the EA of Hawaii label. (If any of you know her...please pass on my thanks...I love the pattern and I loved making it.) It was the perfect reminder of our snorkeling adventures and my first trip to Hawaii. As fate would have it, there was a fabric shop about a 1/2 mile from our hotel. I offered to be dropped off to shop in peace, then walk back to the hotel. The blue-green batik was just too perfect for this quilt. And surprisingly less expensive than what I was paying at
my LQS for batiks at the time. Needless to say, on the way home all the personal belongings got moved to the checked suitcase and my family was pressed into service helping me to bring this lovely fabric home in the carry-on luggage.
Here's a close up. It's hand applique and hand quilting.
The snail and the crab in the corner are my favorite parts of the pattern!!!
The quilt is 96" square. I finished the applique in a few months. Then it sat on the shelf waiting to be quilted. A couple years later, I put it on the quilt frame and discovered that all the curves were hard to do on the frame. After it was about 1/4 way done, I stitched sections of the quilt to serve as basting and moved this project to a lap frame. I made it my
"Joy in the New Year" challenge and finished the binding New Years Day 2010, nearly 6 years from the start.
Now that I have my quilt blogged, I can sit back and enjoy all the other quilts in the Bloggers Quilt Festival !
