Over the past few weeks, I got a couple of belated birthday gifts from Hawaiian friends. Oh yeah!
One is a handmade quilt (pictured above) made by my friend, Virginia Seymour. Virginia and I met at a halau hula (Hawaiian dance and culture school) in Alexandria, Virginia. The quilt is sewn from antique fabrics that came from a Hawaii clothing factory, and date back to the 60s and 70s. A friend of Virginia's mother used to collect the fabric scraps and would pass them onto friends or make quilts as gifts for family. Then Virginia's mom passed them onto her. And nowadays, Virginia makes the quilts as fundraising prizes for various Hawaiian and Pacific island organizations in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland.
She had asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday and, knowing her quilting hobby, I had asked her to sew a quilt for me. This was late last year and by this time I had completely forgotten about it. So imagine my shock when she contacted me about shipping this most incredible gift! The above image shows a small corner of this full-size quilt. Virginia also sewed her signature patch on the underside of the quilt.
Then came another suprise when a small package arrived a week later containing a card (image below) and music cd from another friend, Wyatt Waro. Wyatt bought this card during our vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October 2000. The music cd, "Gypsy Fire", is a sampler of spanish guitar, of which I'm a big fan.
Wyatt now lives on Oahu, Hawaii and occasionally calls to report the surf conditions and his latest escapade. He's training for a marathon and a couple of upcoming biathlon and triathlon. Always on the move. Go, Wyatt.
Better Late Than Never!
Over the past few weeks, I got a couple of belated birthday gifts from Hawaiian friends. Oh yeah!
One is a handmade quilt (pictured above) made by my friend, Virginia Seymour. Virginia and I met at a halau hula (Hawaiian dance and culture school) in Alexandria, Virginia. The quilt is sewn from antique fabrics that came from a Hawaii clothing factory, and date back to the 60s and 70s. A friend of Virginia's mother used to collect the fabric scraps and would pass them onto friends or make quilts as gifts for family. Then Virginia's mom passed them onto her. And nowadays, Virginia makes the quilts as fundraising prizes for various Hawaiian and Pacific island organizations in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland.