Quiltfolk Adventure Workshops are designed to broaden your horizons, and, together, we stitch unique projects that give context to the chosen destination. These become a tangible memory and always allow your own personality to shine through. But this workshop’s projects (yes, there are two!) might not be quite what you expect from these magical islands.

1) ‘Ulu Pillow
In Hawaii, the traditions of needle-turn appliqué are special, so we have a pillow project with a breadfruit pattern (‘ulu in Hawaiian) designed especially for us by our guest tutor Pat Gorelangton. The gentle curves of this pretty silhouette are perfect for gaining confidence, and we are certain you will be encouraged to continue with this skill as you wonder at the many full-size quilts we filmed during our trip. 

2) Kapa Quilt
An even bigger surprise for your hosts Jenni and Kay on Oahu was the beauty of Kapa—the original cloth of Hawaii and what people slept beneath for many generations before the arrival of cotton. Jenni and Kay spent time studying samples from across the Pacific and even making their own Kapa from the paper mulberry tree. (You will see all of this in the workshop.) While printing onto it, they wondered at the beautiful patterns and realized that this was also an incredibly important story to tell. So, back in Yorkshire, they started drawing and piecing—and have designed their very own Kapa quilt! It is the perfect complement to the ‘ulu pillow project and teaches lots of piecing tricks as well as basic foundation paper piecing to achieve some of the motifs they loved on the Kapa cloth.