Hawaiian Appliqué
 

The husband of a couple we are friends with is Hawaiian. He would like me to make him a quilt made of blocks of a traditional Hawaiian appliqué pattern. He would pay for the fabric but I would be doing all the needle turn appliqué and quilting the quilt. What would you charge for doing something like this? Does $1,000 plus quilting and binding cost sound reasonable? Would Kona cotton be a good fabric choice for the background fabric or would you suggest something else?

All hints and helps appreciated. This really means a lot to him. Evidently it is traditional to sleep under a quilt made by someone who cares for you when you are ill. He has no family members able to do it. He's not superstitious, it's a tradition he would like to honor. A purchased quilt is not the same thing.

I think it would depend a lot on size which you didn't mention except for the fact that he'd be able to sleep under it. Also to me it would depend on how good of friends you are with him and his wife. $1,000 sounds like a lot to me with him paying for the fabric but then I've never done applique before so I don't really know. And I think Hawaiian applique quilts are extra special so it would be hard to decide. I'm sure someone who does quilting for other people will have answers for you.

I think it would depend very much on the size and how intricate the applique pattern is. Do you have a choice of patterns or has he selected one?

If it's blocks you're going to do, why not make one and figure out how long it took to applique that one block, and then multiply it times the number of blocks plus piecing.

Hope this helps.

I think it is very sweet of you to do this for him. $1000 sounds reasonable - depending on the size. I recently met a woman at my LQS who was making needle-turned Hawaiian applique blocks for a king size quilt, she's been working on it for 2 years. It's an amazing amount of work. I'm also a little confused about the pricing - you said he'd pay for the fabric but you'd be doing all the applique and quilting, then you said $1000 plus quilting and binding. So the cost would actually be more?

What a coincidence! Just today I was talking to a lady who is from Hawaii as well as her husband. In the conversation I mentioned that I quilt and she told me that they always wanted a Hawaiian quilt but they could never afford it. She said that in Hawaii they sell for several thousand dollars. If she is right, I don't think that $1000 is too much. Do you research, check the Internet. From what I heard Hawaian quilting is one of the most difficult techniques to master. All the power to you and good luck.

Sorry, it's to be queen sized.

I made a Hawaiian applique quilt using blocks from Nancy Chong (Pacific Rim Quilt Co.) - it's here.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...lt-t72844.html

These were needle turn applique, but not especially time consuming because the blocks were large, the patterns were fairly simple, and there is no layering of fabrics. Although Hawaiian applique is traditionally quilted by hand with echo quilting, I did the echo quilting on my longarm. It's a fun type of quilt to make, and much easier than the type where one applique fills the entire quilt. I think the price is fair, unless you're doing hand quilting, in which case it would cost more. Be sure to post your project when you're done!

I just googled Hawaiian Quilts and found one site with several large patterns. One green one was fairly simple, but most are very detailed. I'd think a beautiful batik would be the best bet.

Before deciding on the background fabric, try to get samples of Moda Bella and RJR solids as well as Kona solids. Not only the colors, but the hand of the fabrics can be quite different. Also be aware that Kona Bay and Kaufman Kona are two different manufacturers (Kona can refer to either). I find Kaufman Kona to have too "meaty" a hand. Have heard that Moda and RJR have a softer hand.

Your quilt is beautiful. Any one of your motifs could easily stand alone as the center of one big block/quilt.