While the Merrie Monarch Festival draws thousands of visitors to Hilo this week to witness one traditional Hawaiian art, another such art will be on display from today until the end of the week.
The Contemporary Hawaiian Quilt Show at the Mokupapapa Discovery Center in downtown Hilo showcases 50 examples of traditional and contemporary quilt-work from Hawaii artists throughout the years.
“We’re hoping to perpetuate the culture of Hawaiian quilting,” said master quilter Kathy Tripp, one of the event’s organizers. “Not many people are going to ever see a Hawaiian quilt anymore.”
Tripp, who operates the craft store Kilauea Kreations in Volcano, said traditional Hawaiian quilting is said to have originated when sunlight fell upon a blanket after filtering through the branches of an ulu tree, its shadows creating a distinctive pattern on the cloth. Hawaiian quilts, therefore, typically use floral patterns featuring radial symmetry — symmetrical patterns extending from a central point.
Master quilter Roberta Muller said constructing a quilt is exceptionally time-consuming. The pattern of a quilt is typically cut from a single sheet of fabric — Muller compared the process with a child’s paper snowflake — then appliqued by hand to the background before actual quilting begins.
Tripp said a person can work “40 hours a week for a whole year to make one quilt,” although Muller said her quilts take about 400 hours to complete.
“Of course, I can work on one for 14 hours a day, and not everyone can,” said Muller, who has made 15 king-size quilts in the more than 50 years she has quilted. Because of the massive time requirements to produce quilts by hand, Muller said some of her quilts can sell for about $12,000.
Tripp said the majority of the quilts on display were made by hand, although some smaller pieces were made with a sewing machine. The quilts also range from small framed pieces and simple pillows, to king-size quilts measuring nearly 9 feet long on each side. Some quilts are new, completed as recently as last year, with others originating decades ago — one quilt was completed nearly 100 years ago.
The nearly century-old quilt was made for the grandparents of master quilter Linda Sackett in the 1920s and passed down from generation to generation. The quilt displays a common pattern of four Hawaiian flags surrounding a crown, made in silent resistance against British control when displaying a Hawaiian flag was considered treason.
Most of the other exhibits display floral or animal patterns and are a mix of traditional and contemporary quilting. The difference between the two styles lies primarily in the colors used. Traditional quilts use solid-colored patterns on a solid-colored background, while contemporary quilts often use multicolored fabrics.
Sackett, who has quilted more than 45 years, said the show is intended to introduce the art of quilting to a new, younger audience.
“Even if it’s just working on a quilt for 15, 20 minutes a day, at least you’re doing something,” Sackett said. “You’re creating a beautiful piece of art.”
Muller said she is teaching free quilting classes (although there is a cost for quilting kits) during the show, where attendees can learn the needlework needed to make a quilt. Although attendees won’t have time to create a full quilt, kits and patterns can be put together by “anyone who knows how to work a needle,” Muller said.
“My first class, I just wanted to make a big quilt and I absolutely fell in love,” Sackett said. “It’s very peaceful.”
“I’m just passionate about it,” Tripp said. “It has me, I don’t have it.”
The show is free and open to the public from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. today through Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Muller’s free quilting classes are 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. each day through Friday.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.