During the Victorian-era (1837-1901) the symbolic meaning of flowers was raised to a whole new level. Flowers selected for a gift bouquet were chosen to convey a secret message to the recipient (for good or bad, apparently). Plants were arranged in a garden based on their powers. Flowers adorned nearly everything, and often the specific flower was chosen because of the meaning it would convey. Dictionaries were compiled to decipher the language of flowers. Pity the poor hapless chap who just wanted to give something pretty to a young lady, if he did not know the meaning she would place on his simple bouquet!

It was during this Victorian-era that Hawaii became strongly aligned with Great Britain, and introduced many elements of British royalty, and Victorian style into their lives. We would think, with the abundance and significance of flowers in Hawaii that it was natural for Hawaiians and British to intertwine their special meanings for flowers. Among its many meanings Hibiscus came to symbolize consuming love and delicate beauty. Is there any question then, why we named this quilt "Delicate Beauty"?

Technique: Hawaiian quilts are most often designed so that they are radially symmetrical to the 1/8th. This quilt is a little different, it is symmetrical to the 1/4th. Meaning that if you imagine a vertical line straight down through the center of the quilt, and a horizontal line straight across the center, the portion of the quilt in each quadrant is identical, just rotated around the piko (center).

TIP: To make this quilt the applique fabric is folded in fourths (not eighths) to be cut, and the result is a rectangular quilt (not a square).