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The Hawaiian Quilts PDF Print E-mail
Written by Martha Marques   
Saturday, 02 January 2010 14:57
Ahi o' Pele (Flames of Pele) is my very first Hawaiian quilt.  This is a scan of a photograph, which is all I have as an image of this quilt.  It was purchased by the State of Hawaii for it's Art in Public Places program and I was blown away by the fact that a piece of my work would be left in Hawaii after I was gone.  The background is black cotton and the foreground is cut from one piece of red fabric, like the snowflakes we used to cut out of paper in grade school.  The stitiching is done in red thread and echoes around the image.  It evokes the red lava glowing in the cracks between the folds  of the pahoehoe lava.
Imagine my surprise when Lau Puka Puka (Leaf With Holes) was purchased by the State of Hawaii for the same Art in Public Places program and was hung outside the governor's office in Honolulu!  I have a better image of this one since we had upgraded to slides.  This quilt is 7 feet square and the leaves are about two feet across, which is exactly the same size as the leaves are in nature.  In fact my son Blake and I went for a walk and picked a few leaves to use as patterns when I designed this quilt.  It is a winter quilt, and the tiny green specks of the echo quilting stitches suggest the winter rains falling on the vibrant green of the wet leaves and the shiny black of the lava rock.
Li'i Li'i Ahi Pua o' Lehua (Little Flame Flower of Ohia) is another winter quilt and was my third Hawaiian quilt.  It, too, is 7 feet square and I used the green stitching as I had in Lau Puka Puka to suggest the winter rains.  The Ohia trees have little paintbrush flowers that glow bright red against the olive green of the leaves and the greyish black of the Ohia trunks.  This quilt was the last time that I used commercially dyed fabrics for my work.  After this I switched over to hand dyes.  This quilt is also the point at which the Hawaiian women in Hui Kapa Apana o' Hilo (The Quilt Group of Hilo) gave up on getting me to do Hawaiian quilting properly.  My black backgrounds were non-traditional and the use of a third color is also not orthodox.  This is when my friend Sharon Balai said I did "Irish Hawaiian" quilting.
Last Updated on Monday, 11 January 2010 11:55
 

Comments

avatar Louisa Barnhart
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I especially love these Hawaiian quilts and especially the one at the entrance to the Salt exchange. Ive ever seen leaves that seem to move and grow before. Remarkable! Do you do commissions?
Monday 15 March 2010, 05:32
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I really like the third one. I would love it if you could share its pattern with us ^_^
Wednesday 07 April 2010, 04:00
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My mom just finished a quilt I wateched her do it, took her weeks too, her patterns were differnt than those, but similar
Wednesday 05 May 2010, 02:21
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Very artistic and original.
Tuesday 25 May 2010, 08:33
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avatar prom dress
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Awesome blog. Very informative. Your blog is very valuable from the blogger’s mind. Keep it up!
Monday 19 July 2010, 02:53
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avatar air max 360
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Classic exposition, I have also mentioned it in my blog article. But it is a pity that almost no friend discussed it with me. I am very happy to see your article.
Wednesday 04 August 2010, 21:22
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avatar prom dresses
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This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.
Wednesday 11 August 2010, 02:01
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avatar Ed hardy shoes
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Happy to see your blog as it is just what I’ve looking for and excited to read all the posts.
Wednesday 18 August 2010, 03:13
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I am glad to talk with you and you give me great help! Thanks for that， I am wonderring if i can contact you via email when i meet problems?
Thursday 19 August 2010, 03:08
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I love your post ,thank you for sharing.
Thursday 19 August 2010, 03:13
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Thank you for another great article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such information
Thursday 19 August 2010, 03:18
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These are the best quilts for me..I have had a couple,,,
Tuesday 31 August 2010, 03:18
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I have a couple of the quilts and they are pretty good
Tuesday 31 August 2010, 03:19
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