While Bruce was off playing Golf, I entertained myself by visiting the local quilt shops. Quilting is a BIG THING on the Islands. Missionaries taught the skill to the local nativs, who quickly adapted the techniques and developed their own patterns and techniques. Today the skill is still practiced and hand-made or machine stittched Hawaiian pattern quilts sell for thousand of dollars .
Starting from the Southern most point here is what I found:
Kilauea Kreations
Volcano, Hawaii 808 967-8090
Traveling southwest from Hilo on Highway 11
to the southernmost point of the diamond that is the Big Island of
Hawaii, takes you up towards the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park.
Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983, and in the process,
has created more than 500 acres of new land. Just before you reach the
entrance to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,
you will see a sign pointing off to the right to the village of Volcano.
After you turn off Highway 11, you come to a tee in the road. Take the
left arm of the tee and drive down about 1/2 a mile until you see the Lava Rock
Cafe on your right.
Kilauea Kreations opened on July 4, 1995. with Hawaiian prints, batiks, and
Moda hand-dyed fabrics are a specialty. The small shop is filled
with a wide selection of fabric, thread, quilt and pillow kits, patterns,
materials for laulau weaving, and all kinds of quilting gadgetry, the kind to
which we all are susceptible.
Past the communities of Ho'okena, Napo'opo'o, Captain Cook, and Kealakekua,
on the southwest coast of the Big
Island, you will drive
until you come to Kainaliu. On the makai or ocean side of Highway
11, you will see a row of weathered little shops. In the middle of
them is Kimura's Fabrics, the quilt shop on the western point of the diamond.
Kimura's Fabrics Kainaliu
Village, on Highway 11, Kainaliu, Hawaii
808 322-3771
Entering Kimura's Fabrics on the Big Island of Hawaii is like stepping
backward in time.
It is Hawaii as it was
before 1941 and Pearl Harbor. The Kimura
family lives in a house behind the store, which is connected to it by a little
walkway.
This old fashioned general store, founded in 1926 in Kainaliu Village
offers a variety of goods, but the fabrics are a specialty. Owner, Irene
Kimura, and her daughter make buying trips to California once or twice a year to select
cottons, silks, and much more. One specialty of course is Hawaiian prints of
which there is a huge selection. In addition. Kimura's carries notions,
all kinds of craft supplies, Hawaiian quilt kits, and patterns of all
brands, including Patterns Pacifica, which has patterns for island style
clothing, such as muu muus and Aloha shirts. It the kind of place I would spend days in if I were to move to the Big Island.
Top Stitch 64-1067 Mamalahoa
Highway Kamuela, Hawaii 96743 808 885-4482
To reach the north point of the Big
Island's diamond,
continue on Highway 11 until you get to Kailua-Kona. There, at the
intersection of Palani Road, the highway now becomes Highway 19 and is called
the Queen Kahahumanu Highway or the Queen K to the locals. Follow it
north to the junction near the community of Kawaihae and take the road to the
right and continue until you come to the town of Waimea,
which is often called Kamuela to distinguish it from the town of the same name
on the island of Oahu. You are still on Highway 11,
but now it's called the Mamalahoa
Highway. There are only two traffic lights in
Waimea. As you approach the second one, you will see the police station
on your right with Mauna Kea looming in the
distance to the south. Turn right and on your immediate left, located
between a florist shop and the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. is Top Stitch.
Besides batiks and Hawaiian fabrics, Top
Stitch carries Kona Cotton and other high quality brands, and a basket of
ribbon-tied fat quarters sits on the counter by the cash register. There
is also a complete array of notions and gadgetry for the quilter along
one wall. There are many items here that cannot be found in the other
forty-nine states, such as an extensive inventory of Hawaiian appliqué pattern
books and counted cross stitch patterns, as well as batik-printed note cards,
Hawaiian tee shirt dresses, brass bookmarks in Hawaiian quilt block patterns,
and Hawaiian quilt pillow kits.
More importantly it carries along the social traditions that have made quilting such a popular activity with women for years. Certain evenings are set aside for women to join in helping one another sort out colors and patterns, others for community projects. You could feel the welcoming sense of friendliness the minute you walk through the door.
Quilt Passions is in Upcountry portion of the Big Island
This small but friendly little store is run by an ex-patriated California . We hit if off instantly. In addition to a large selection of Hawaiian fabrics, she carries a good selection of quilting kits for the beginner
I decided to begin my quilting experience by working on the kit below
We also found quilts in a large variety of places around the island
Bruce is looking at quilts which are decorating the walls of the Hawi Diner on the far Northern end of the Big Island
While the one above was on display in a Fine -art craft store in Honoloa
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