Mahalo!

The last day of the exhibition "Kalakoa, Discovering the Hawaiian Scrap Quilt" at Latimer Quilt & Textile Center was March 5th, and I wanted to take the time to say thank you. Mahalo!

Thank you first and foremost to the Board of the Friends of Latimer Quilt & Textile Center and President Carol Weber, the Center's staff, the members, and everyone who attended.

Thank you to everyone who assisted in the research. Thank you to the American Quilt Study Group and Blanket Statements newsletter Editor Jill Wilson for publishing my research. Thank you, Generation Q Magazine for publishing the story behind the research.

Thank you to the sellers who were graciously willing to part with these wonderful treasures, especially to the seller in Pahoa whose description of the item led me down the rabbit hole.

Thank you to friends and family, especially the ones who kept it a secret for so long; and to everyone who was willing to listen to the crazy idea that there was another distinct tradition of quilts in Hawaii. Very special thanks to my friends in and from Hawaii, and those who spent time there, who generously shared their stories.

If I missed anyone, thank you, too! It was a delightful, fun, exciting experience and I hope the first of many exhibitions of these quilts. Recently I received a box of vintage Hawaiian scraps. After all this talk about Hawaiian scrap quilts, it's really nice to have the scraps. Most were cut with pinking shears, and the shapes are so odd. Just like I've been saying...the oddly shaped cutaways from garment making influenced the improvisational style in American and Hawaiian quiltmaking.