I have not done a large Hawaiian quilt but I do a LOT of applique and I know what you are going through. If I have to do a large applique quilt, then I generally do a quilt as you go, but obviously that won't work here. But I did come up with a trick - I hate quilting frames of any kind so I simply got a piece of Lucite about 2 feet by 2 feet. The lucite is available at Home Depot - but any reasonably rigid, smooth material will do - if you have an old cutting mat, that is ideal as well. Put the board on your lap and drape the section you want to applique over it. This will allow you to pinch the fabric a bit when you are doing the needle turn and the board allows you to do your stitching without sewing yourself to the piece (which I have done, ugh....). I was finally able to master the trick of doing my needle turn by working the needle against the board without pinching the fabric but that does take practice. Hope that helps!