Traditional Colors in Hawaiian Quilts

Traditional Hawaiian quilts are two colors and feature an elaborate appliqué motif. Unlike modern-day quilts, the traditional quilts are hand appliquéd, and then quilted by hand in a shadowing technique with hand-sewn binding.

Two-Color Rule

• Traditional Hawaiian quilts are two colors. Folklore states that using more than two colors is bad luck. Fabrics used were plain colors, and not patterned.

Traditional Colors

• According to the Quilts Hawaii website, traditional colors for a Hawaiian quilt include white and red. Quilting fabric was hand-dyed with the bark of mulberry trees and plants dyes.

Fact

• Many traditional and recent Hawaiian quilts have been purposely destroyed. It is a tradition in Hawaii to burn quilts after the quilter has passed. According to the Quilter's Muse Virtual Museum, the Hawaii Documentation Project is attempting to stop this tradition.