New England missionaries exposed the Hawaiians to piecing of blocks. Patchwork style quilting in was done in Hawaii back in the 1820's. The missionaries taught the Hawaiian women to cut the material into the patchwork squares and then sew them back together as is done today . This method seemed to be tedious to the women.: 1. The cutting of material in blocks only to sew the pieces back together seemed a waste of time and precious material. After all the upbringing of the Hawaiians was to never waste anything. So their waste of the material and their precious time was of great concern. 2. Because of the weather conditions on their islands their need for quilts was of serious question. But the Hawaiians remained excellent students and they watched, listened and learned and then adapted quilting to their own unique style. The Hawaiian women would designed their quilts based on their beautiful floral surroundings, old gods, legends and their sovereign nation. The quilt designs were of brilliant and striking color. Reds, greens, and oranges combined with white and scarlet might be used on gold backgrounds. Colors mostly limited to two or three yet sometimes a printed calico could be appliquéd on white. Designs encompassed the beautiful flowers such as the Mokihana, the Liko Lehua, the Ulei berries to their travels from Tahiti, and the flag quilts which symbolized their self identity in a rapidly changing world and major events in the islands. They named their quilts in memory of their love ones who has since passed on to the spiritual world and even to their grandchildren who are yet to been born. Every quilt they made had a purpose. Making quilts to just pass the time was unheard of for them.. It was believed that some quilt designs even came to the designer or quilter in their dreams. The Hawaiian patterns are made from folded paper and then folds were matched to cloth that also had been created in the same manner. It ensured proper placement and centering of their design. Patterns are folded in half three time, horizontally first, vertically, then diagonally. Their designs were drawn along the folded edges. Then by cutting away the negative spaces, the pattern edges are marked for bias ( diagonal edge), the other edges are lei ( Border) and straight for the straight of the appliqué fabric. The fabric is pinned into place starting in the center and taking care to keep the fabric smooth. Then to eliminate the excess material, it was then given back to the missionaries for their quilts. These methods solved both of the concerns of Hawaiian quilters. A quilt maker always leaves her initials or the initials of the person for whom the quilt is intended in the piko (center of the quilt) or on one corner Today the legacy of Hawaiian quilting and designing is still popular in Hawaii. Every day new designs are being created. The technique of quilting is the same all over the world but the designs are what makes the Hawaiian quilt unique. | 
