on the road

last week my splish, splash, stash time went on the road in an unusual and fun way. the mr. and i took flight from the nest for some aloha alone time. instead of the girls being in the water while i sewed, splish splash time looked more like this:

that's me throwing my lei into the surf at poli hali on kauai. i also snorkeled and swam while there, but it's the only photo of me actually in the water, so there you go: splish splash.

one of the best places i know to catch a sunset and the most incredible sand anywhere. can't beat the napali coast!

even though i was in paradise, there was some stash time worked in, and not just when i was reading quilt books or dreaming about fabric (yes, i was doing that even in hawaii; obsessed, i told you.)

i've passed this building just off the road in lihue for several years now and actually been there once before just to see their native hawaiian quilts, which are beautiful and unique. this time i went in as a sewer looking for interesting finds. i wasn't the only tourist in there. if you look closely, you can see five husbands of the retired sort waiting on the porch while their wives shopped.

even the new, more modern quilts definitely had a lot of aloha and hawaiian flair to them. i find it so interesting to see how quilters the world over are influenced by their cultures and where they live.

this dolphin quilt is an updated version of the classic hawaiian quilts, which are usually done in white and one color, featuring a variety of hawaiian motifs in the round. it's all hand applique work and just stunning. the colors and motifs in this quilt are more modern, but just as amazing as those the hawaiian ladies have been doing for over a hundred years. i got two books about the history of hawaiian quilting. can't wait to dig in and read them. 

the fishy quilt in the back is more of a modern technique patchwork quilt with hawaiian themes and fabrics.

there were a lot of batiks in use here. i can appreciate them, but they're not my style. i don't think i'd ever make the turtle quilt, either, but it thought it was cute and clever the way the fins and tails were all three dimensional (which you probably can't tell from the photo).

i thought about selecting hawaiian fabrics for a commemorative quilt, but selecting fabrics to go with my memories of the trip was overwhelming and i didn't have the time. i did, however, take advantage of their huge asian fabric selections. i even have a pattern in mind for a small throw based on a quilt from the practical guide to patchwork by elizabeth hartman. add it to the list of "to do!"

those rabbit prints are so cute, i'm wishing i'd gotten more yardage and made skirts for the little girls.

also, i've had my eye on a traditional hawaiian quilted pillow cover and this time found one i thought would work with my bedding. lovely pineapple and palm leaf motif. it may not be an entire quilt, but it'll remind me of our favorite home-away-from-home.

that was the end of my stash time. i know there is at least one more fabric shop on the island because it got robbed while we were there. go figure! the thieves made off with a laptop, cash, and fabric. i'll have to make time for vikki's shop next year.

we had one more bit of splish splash excitement that i'm sure everyone else heard about: the tsunami. thank goodness it was all fuss and no real mess unlike poor japan.  just as we were falling asleep on thrusday night, sirens started going off. i made the mr. call the front desk. "hello, there are sirens going off outside. should i be concerned?" the cheerful desk clerk answered quite calmly, "yes, sir. there's a tsunami on the way. it will be here about 3 a.m. we're evacuating the first four floors but you are on the sixth so you should be okay. we'll let you know if you need to move." my unruffled husband responded, "is there anywhere i can go to watch it?" we packed our essentials and set out clothes, then went to sleep since there was nothing else to do. at 2a.m. we got a knock on our door from a manager who informed us they were moving everyone up to the lobby on the ninth floor (the hotel was built on a sea cliff in hanalei bay, with the lobby at the top.) so we got dressed and grabbed our packs to go hang out with the party in the lobby.

 i kid you not, as soon as we settled in our seats in front of the window, a very pregnant lady sat down by us. it was already surreal, but at that point i began to feel i must be in one of the many hollywood movies filmed on kauai and was sure i was going to be delivering that baby before the night was out.  an hour later we watched from the balcony as best we could in the dark. all we could see was the breaking waves moved out several hundred yards and then back in somewhat closer than they had been. the tsunami was over and done. we were sent back to bed at 4a.m. and given a box of chocolate macadamia nuts by the management for our inconvenience. when we woke up, we looked out our window on the aftermath at hanalei bay:

the sun was shining and the beach recliners were still in the same spot as they had been the night before. thank goodness. poor japan.