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Purchasing Questions:
1. How do I order from your website?
Click here for ordering information.
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2. How much will I pay for postage?
If your order will be sent to an address in the United States or Canada
shipping is $2.00 and will be added to your order at check-out.
If your order will be sent to an address outside the United States or
Canada click here for details.
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3. Do you ship to addresses outside the United States?
Yes, for details about shipping outside the United States
click here.
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4. Can shop owners purchase your patterns at wholesale?
Yes, just email us, Info@prqc.com, and we can provide shop owners the information needed
to place a wholesale order. See also:
Wholesale
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Pattern Questions:
5. What is the difference between a Hawaiian Quilt and
your "2 Fabric Applique Quilts"?
Both styles of quilt use two contrasting fabrics and the needleturn
applique stitching is identical for both.
Hawaiian Quilt designs are symmetrical so the applique fabric is
folded in eighths and cut like a paper snowflake. The applique fabric is
then unfolded onto the background fabric, basted in place, and needleturn
appliqued.
2 Fabric Applique Quilts (2FAQ) are not symmetrical, they are
asymmetrical so they cannot be cut like a Hawaiian Quilt. NOR are they cut
like other styles of applique which use many pieces, each individually cut
and placed in just the right position on the background fabric. With 2FAQ
patterns you mark the entire design on the applique fabric, place that
entire piece of fabric on the background fabric, baste the applique as one
piece (following the pattern instructions and the markings on the pattern
page), then cut on the cutting lines, and do your normal needleturn
stitching. That is a very brief description of the process, each pattern
includes detailed instructions and diagrams.
The most important thing you can do before starting either style of quilt
is to READ the INSTRUCTIONS. If you feel the need for additional help, or
would like to have Nancy walk you through each step of the process for
either style of quilt then consider purchasing one of our two instructional
videos. Click here for details about our videos.
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6. Are instructions included with the pattern?
Yes, patterns come with complete instructions leading you through each
step of the process. It is assumed you know needleturn applique and
standard quilting techniques. If you desire instructions on needleturn
applique or hand quilting consider purchasing one of our
videos.
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7. Will I need to enlarge the pattern to make a quilt
the size specified on the pattern?
No, patterns are for the size indicated, no need to enlarge the pattern
before beginning your quilt.
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8. What pattern do you suggest for a beginner?
We always suggest you buy the pattern you like the best! That is the
pattern you want to finish so you will be motivated to work on it. All our
patterns are equally easy to make...some will just take longer because of
their size and the number of applique inches to complete the design.
A fast Hawaiian Quilt in the wall-hanging size is the
Cyclamen, it has
the fewest points and valleys with the gentlest curves. Some people like to
start with a block pattern before committing to a larger project. But
unless you want the block as a finished project, just work on it long enough
to gain confidence then toss it out and get on to the project you really
want to make!
As a beginner, if you want to make a Hawaiian Quilt you will
benefit from our video: Hawaiian Quilting with Nancy Lee
Chong. Read more about it below.
The fastest 2 Fabric Applique Quilts would be Kimono,
Bird of Paradise,
Calla Lilies...or any other
for that matter. Remember, do the one you like the best. And the
video that will help you the most with a 2 Fabric Applique Quilt
is: 2 Fabric Applique Quilts with
Nancy Lee Chong. Read more about it below.
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9. Can a small pattern be enlarged to make a large quilt?
It depends on how much larger you want the design to be. Here are some
things to consider:
- What will the LARGEST element in the design look like after it is
enlarged? Will you like that look?
- If there are four flower blossoms in the center to begin with there
will just be four blossoms in the center after it is enlarged - they will
just all be bigger. Is that the look you want?
Patterns are designed to be a specific size. When designing a quilt we
fill the available space with motifs and elements which are proportioned to
that size. For a large quilt we can fill the space with more flowers,
leaves, or whatever the design elements are to create a pleasing arrangement
which is typically more intricate than a smaller design.
What we really recommend is that you choose a pattern that you like for
the size quilt you want. We believe you will be happier with the outcome.
Other options could be to use the smaller pattern for a center medallion
and surround it with pieced or applique borders, or use four small patterns
(one pattern four times, or four different patterns) for a larger quilt.
See examples in our
Hawaiian Quilt Gallery and our
2 Fabric Applique
Quilts Gallery.
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10. Can a large pattern be reduced to make a small quilt?
It depends on how much smaller you want the design to be. Here are some
things to consider:
- What will the SMALLEST element in the design look like after it is
reduced? Will you be able to needleturn the smallest elements
successfully?
- The original design included 3/16 inch for a turn-under allowance.
When you reduce the pattern it will naturally reduce the turn-under
allowance. To keep the design elements in proportion you will need to
reduce the amount you turn under when appliqueing. Can you do that? Or
will you be OK with a 3/16 inch turn-under that is now proportionately larger
than the pattern elements?
- If there are eight flower blossoms in the center to begin with there
will still be eight blossoms in the center after it is reduced - they will
just all be smaller. Is that the look you want? Will you loose detail
that is important to the overall design?
Patterns are designed to be a specific size. When designing a quilt we
fill the available space with motifs and elements which are proportioned to
that size. For a small quilt we fill the space with fewer flowers, leaves,
or whatever the design elements are to create a pleasing arrangement which
is typically simpler than a larger design.
What we really recommend is that you choose a pattern that you like for
the size quilt you want. We believe you will be happier with the outcome.
Another option could be to use just the center medallion without the
border from a larger pattern.
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11. I want to make a Hawaiian Quilt for a relative (or friend), what should I consider when selecting a pattern?
A traditional element of Hawaiian Quilts was that the design had special
meaning to the quiltmaker or quilt owner. For that reason you may want to
select a pattern which will have special meaning to the person you plan to
give the quilt to. Secret meanings are frequently part of a Hawaiian
Quilt's story, so if you share a special occasion, or want to convey a
message you can embed the meaning in the name of the quilt, no matter the
design.
The most obvious consideration would be the person's favorite flower or
interest (i.e. Bluegrass Band for a musician,
Victorian Gingerbread for an
architect or person who lives in a Victorian-era town,
Banana Tree for a
person whose childhood nickname was Monkey).
Perhaps a birth month flower and colors can guide your choice:
| Month |
Flower |
Color |
| January |
Carnation or Snowdrop |
Black, Dark Blue or Red |
| February |
Violet or Primrose |
Violet, Sky Blue or Yellow |
| March |
Daffodil or Jonquil |
White or Light Blue |
| April |
Daisy or Sweet Pea |
Yellow, Red and Colorless |
| May |
Lily of the Valley or Hawthorn |
Yellow, Red and Green |
| June |
Rose or Honeysuckle |
Light Blue, White and Cream |
| July |
Water Lily |
Green, Russet and Red |
| August |
Gladiolas or Poppy |
Orange, Red and Light Green |
| September |
Aster or Morning Glory |
Brown, Deep Blue |
| October |
Calendula or Cosmos |
White, Yellow and Varied |
| November |
Chrysanthemum |
Dark Blue, Red and Yellow |
| December |
Narcissus or Holly |
Indigo, Green, Greenish-Blue |
Each island has a nickname, color and flower. If they are from Hawaii,
live in Hawaii, or have a favorite island let this information inspire your
selection:
| Island
| Nick Name
| Color
| Flower
|
| Oahu |
The Gathering Place |
Yellow |
'Ilima |
| Maui |
The Valley Isle |
Pink |
Loke (Rose) |
| Hawai'i |
The Orchid Isle |
Red |
Lehua |
| Kaua'i |
The Garden Isle |
Purple |
Mokihana |
| Moloka'i |
The Friendly Isle |
Green |
Kukui |
| Lana'i |
The Pineapple Isle |
Orange |
Kauna'oa |
| Ni'ihau |
The Forbidden Isle |
White |
Pupu shells |
| Kaho'olawe |
|
Silver-gray |
Hinahina |
Either our Aloha Album or
Tropical Splendor patterns may be a wonderful
alternative for a special person with strong ties to the Hawaiian Islands.
These patterns incorporate flowers and motifs from all of the islands.
Of course, we do not have patterns for all these flowers; when we do, we have
provided a link to the pattern. You can also visit other designers'
websites, we have several listed on our Links page.
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Applique Questions:
12. Which applique technique works best?
We recommend needleturn applique for both the Hawaiian Quilts and our
2
Fabric Applique Quilts. Other applique techniques (i.e. freezer paper
method) only complicate an otherwise very simple process.
Machine applique can be used for the Hawaiian Quilt block patterns with
good success. If you choose this method, be sure to trim off the 3/16 in
seam allowance which is included on the pattern for needleturn.
Our 2 Fabric Applique Quilts patterns also include instructions for
machine applique with fusible web, and raw-edge applique by machine.
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13. Do the patterns include a turn-under, or seam allowance?
Yes, the patterns include an approximate 3/16 inch turn-under allowance.
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14. Is this reverse applique?
No. There really is no such thing as 'reverse applique' for you,
the quiltmaker. You are always cutting on the cutting line of the top
fabric, turning under the raw edge and stitching the top fabric to a
background fabric. All applique is done exactly this way.
The notion of 'reverse applique' comes from the visual perception of the
design. When the pattern
is being designed the turn-under allowance needs to be added to the correct
side of the cutting line by the pattern designer. But once the pattern is drawn, the process
for the appliquer is exactly the same. It is not a change in applique
techniques.
We believe we would all do well to eliminate the term 'reverse applique'
from the quilters' dictionary. It is confusing and provides many with
the idea that it is somehow different or more difficult than 'normal'
applique...neither of which is true. You will never find us using the
term 'reverse applique.'
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15. Do you recommend cutting away the background fabric behind the applique?
No, we do not. The background fabric provides the stability required to
maintain the integrity of the applique. Cutting away the background fabric
weakens the quilt, putting undue stress on the applique stitches.
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Quilting Questions:
16. How do I know where to place the echo quilt lines
on a Hawaiian Quilt?
In most cases, suggested quilting lines are included on the pattern
page. Generally speaking echo quilt lines are spaced 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch
apart, echoing the shape of the applique.
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17. How do you suggest quilting your "2 Fabric
Applique Quilts"?
We always quilt in the ditch around the applique as a beginning. Then
consider these options:
- Echo quilt in the background areas, add details to the applique images
- veins in the leaves, seeds in the sunflowers, etc.
- Let any design motif in your fabrics guide your quilting. For
example, if your applique fabric has sunflowers printed on it, then
outline stitch the sunflowers.
- Meandering horizontal lines suggest water or clouds which work well
in the background areas.
- Use the applique pattern to trace additional images to use as quilt
lines. For example, with the "Two Mums" pattern mark additional mum
blossoms and leaves to be quilted in the background and overlapping the
outside frame.
- Quilt additional shapes suggested by the pattern itself. For example,
quilt snowflakes on the Penguin Family, quilt stars on the Bears Aloft,
quilt additional bugs on the Dragonflies in Flight.
You can see that the possibilities are limitless. Go for it! Whatever
you do will be perfect for your quilt. For more ideas and to see
pictures visit our How-to and Ideas
page.
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18. What is "quilt in the ditch"?
Quilt in the ditch is a single row of quilting on the background fabric
which snuggles up as close to the applique as possible. The row of
stitching right next to the applique helps to pop the applique off the
background. It can also pull the edge of the applique down into the
quilting contours to help hide some of those less-than-perfect applique
stitches--an added bonus!
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19. Do you ever machine quilt your quilts?
Yes, we sure do! We much prefer hand quilting our Hawaiian Quilts, but
life is short and there are many, many quilts to be made. So when we have a
deadline to meet, or just to get through the backlog of applique tops we
have accumulated we do machine quilt. For the Hawaiian Quilts we still
prefer to quilt in a traditional echo-style, even when using the machine.
The 2 Fabric Applique Quilts are intended to be quick wall hanging
projects and so we seldom hand quilt these.
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20. What batting do you recommend?
Hawaiian Quilts: We use 5 ounce 100% polyester. This is a thick
batt. You want the extra loft to really show off the echo quilting. Do not
use cotton, it compresses and looks flat after being quilted. You will put
a lot of effort into hand quilting your Hawaiian Quilt - you want your echo
quilting rows to show.
Packaged battings which work well are Hobbs Cloud Loft/High Loft batting,
or
The Warm Company's Soft-Soft High-Loft batting (1/2" loft).
Click here to purchase Hobbs Cloud Loft
batting.
If you have never worked with a high loft batting for hand quilting you
may want to make a small sandwich with two pieces of fabric and your chosen
batting to practice on before starting your quilt. The first few
stitches are always the most difficult, but once you get started the batting
begins to compress a bit and you will find it easy to needle the thick
polyester batting.
2 Fabric Applique Quilts: We use standard low loft battings,
usually cotton or cotton/poly blends. Generally we are not wanting the
quilting to distract from the graphic nature of the applique on these
quilts. We also want the quilts to be easily machine quilted. Cotton
batting naturally holds the layers of the quilt top and backing to the
batting when machine quilting.
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21. Do you use a hoop or quilt frame?
When we quilt our Hawaiian Quilts by hand we use a lap hoop -- yes, even on
the queen and king sized quilts. With a hoop, when echo quilting, you can sit
comfortably and turn the hoop to stitch in all the different directions you
need to. If the quilt were mounted on a stationary floor frame you would have to twist and
turn your body, arms and wrists to accomplish the echo quilting. The
lap hoop is a wiser ergonomic choice.
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21a. Where can I purchase a quilt hoop?
The quilt hoops we like best for lap quilting are made by
Frank A Edmunds Company,
and are available from their website. These hoops are made from
solid hardwood, have a sturdy block closure and 4" tension bolt. The minimum size to consider is the
14" round hoop. For bed-sized quilts we use the 16" x 27" oval.
Size is really up to you--the size project you are working on,
and what you are comfortable with.
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22. Do you have any suggestions for removing the washout chalk marks from my fabric?
First, you should always test your marking tools on the actual fabric you
will be using to make sure the marks come out. The Clover
Water-soluble Pencils we sell do not contain wax and we find that they
come easily off of most fabrics.
If you do find that the marks are not coming out as easily as you had
hoped here are a few things to try:
- Rub with a fabric eraser.
- Wash the fabric or quilt, you may need to rub a bit if the marks are
stubborn.
- If the fabric was ironed while marked a few of our students have had
success washing the fabric with OxyClean.
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Thread Questions:
23. Is there a significance to the spool colors for Aurifil thread?
Yes, the color spool tells you the weight of the fabric. These are the
spool colors for Aurifil's Cotton Mako thread:
| Spool color |
Thread weight |
Suggested uses |
|
Orange |
50 weight, 2 ply |
Hand applique, machine piecing, machine embroidery, machine quilting |
|
Green |
40 weight, 2 ply |
General purpose sewing, long arm quilting |
|
Grey |
28 weight, 2 ply |
Hand quilting |
|
Red |
12 weight, 2 ply |
Redwork, embroidery |
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24. Do you use cotton or silk thread?
Cotton. We especially love Aurifil's 50 weight thread for hand
applique, machine piecing, machine quilting and general sewing. It is a fine, smooth thread that comes in over
200 solid colors.
It is easy to work with and looks beautiful.
We find silk thread difficult to work with. Our primary criteria for all
our quilting is to "first make it fun and stressfree". Silk thread is
difficult to work with, so no matter what it looks like we are just not
going to use it.
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25. Do I match the color of applique thread to the applique fabric or the background fabric?
Match to the applique fabric. When matching thread, if you can, lay a
single strand of thread on your fabric to find the best match. If you
cannot find a perfect match and your background fabric is lighter than your
applique fabric go with a thread which is a bit lighter; if your background
fabric is darker then choose a thread that is a shade darker - but only if
you cannot get a near-perfect match.
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Finishing Questions:
26. How do I make and attach a quilt sleeve?
This topic is included in both our videos
Hawaiian Quilting with Nancy Lee
Chong and 2 Fabric Applique
Quilts with Nancy Lee Chong.
For instructions from McCall's Quilting:
click here
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27. How do I make a quilt label?
This topic is included in our video
Hawaiian Quilting with Nancy Lee
Chong
For a link to online instructions visit
Lost Quilt Come Home.
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28. How should I wash my quilt?
Here are links to two articles which describe approved procedures for
washing quilts. While the focus of these articles is on antique quilts, the
same process applies to newer quilts as well.
Wet Cleaning Quilts at Home (from the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI)
Quilt
History: Cleaning
We suggest that you wash all the fabrics before beginning to make a
quilt. This will eliminate shrinkage and dye migration problems later
on. If excessive dye comes out of any fabrics when you pre-wash we
suggest using Synthrapol to help remove
the excess dye. Then, because you pre-washed your fabrics you will be
able to wash your quilt in the same fashion and be reasonably sure it will
not shrink nor will the colors run.
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Video Questions:
29. What is the difference between your two videos?
Hawaiian Quilting with Nancy Lee Chong teaches you everything
you need to know to make a Hawaiian quilt, from beginning to end.
Needleturn applique and hand quilting are both included. Hawaiian
quilt designs are symmetrical, so the fabric is folded and cut before
basting to the background (similar to how a paper snowflake is cut).
Step-by-step details are shown in the video. If you want to make a
Hawaiian quilt, purchase this video.
2 Fabric Applique Quilts with Nancy Lee Chong teaches
you how to
make a 2 Fabric Applique Quilt (2FAQ) quilt using needleturn applique. It will not teach you how to
quilt. 2FAQ quilts are not symmetrical designs, so the pattern is
marked on the fabric first, then basted to the background, before being cut.
Step-by-step details are shown in the video. If you want to make a
2
Fabric Applique Quilt, purchase this video.
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30. Which video should I buy?
Both videos provide excellent needleturn applique instructions. If you want
to make a 2 Fabric Applique Quilt, or you want to learn
needleturn applique, or improve your needleturn skills, then the
2 Fabric Applique Quilts with
Nancy Lee Chong video will give you everything you need at a lower cost.
On the other hand, if what you really want is to make a
Hawaiian Quilt then the video you should buy is
Hawaiian
Quilting with Nancy Lee Chong. This video will also teach you hand
quilting.
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31. Do you provide lessons via the internet?
Yes, Nancy teaches Hawaiian Quilting and other applique and hand quilting
classes on the internet at
QuiltUniversity.com. Keep an eye on this exciting website for future
sessions of Nancy's classes. Feedback from students on this method of
learning has been very positive.
Janice also teaches a class entitled "Photographing Your Quilts" at
QuiltUniversity.com.
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