Are you familiar with Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirts? It is a premier (in that it costs more than the usual ones) brand of shirt. A friend's husband has quite a collection of them going back years and he wistfully said that he wished they knew someone who could make a quilt from them. My friend knew that I made quilts, so when she visited her son here in St. Louis last October, she brought the shirts with her. I cut them up into usable pieces and put them in a largish plastic bin. I decided on 6" finished square-in-a-square blocks for two reasons. The center square (finishing at 3") would nicely feature the shirt fabrics without being too large and clunky. Secondly the blocks work up quickly. I made 10 last night in an hour or so. To make a queen-sized quilt (100" by 100" or thereabouts) I will need 256, but I am going to figure out how to reduce that number. Maybe with borders? I will see when I get farther down the line making the blocks.
Reyn Spooner The shirts are more subdued than other Hawaiian shirts and have a linen-like texture which is nice. In some cases I used the "wrong" side of the fabric for more vibrancy. The shirts are so numerous and the yield from each shirt large, that I have already begun using the offcuts to make a second, and possibly third, smaller quilt. One is a coin quilt and the other may just be squares with some type of simple sashing. Throw sized, not another queen-sized one.
I want to find a print reflecting the Hawaiian esthetic for borders and/or backing. There are a number of (kitschy) prints with surfers and hula girls that I found online. I was not entirely charmed by any of them. I decided to google quilt shops in Hawaii and found better choices at those stores. I will probably order from them when the time comes. I would much rather give my business to a local, smaller store anyway. I saw several two color prints featuring hibiscus and some others with Hawaiian birds, flowers, and foliage.
Maui Quilt Store. Here is one example.
