Sometimes, you wake up in the middle of the night and you wish the quilt was done, already, said Vicky Masuoka at Vicky’s Fabrics in Kapaa.
“Then I wake up, cut out the pattern, and go back to sleep,” Masuoka said. “And when I get up, guess what? It fits.”
Vicky’s Fabrics is one of the sponsors of the Kauai Quilt Show which will run with free admission from Feb. 9 through 21 at the Kauai Society of Artists gallery at the Kukui Grove Center through the sponsorship of Vicky’s Fabrics, Kapaia Stitchery, the Kauai Quilt Guild, Nene Quilters, and Discount Fabric Warehouse.
“I’ve got one for this year’s show, but I’m not driving to Wainiha to get it,” said Toni Wass, a visitor from Minnesota who was helping the quilters sort through this year’s assortment of donation quilts. “I ended up a winner from last year’s show and the picture of the winning quilt is on this year’s promotional fliers.”
More than 70 quilts, many available for sale, will be on display at the KSA gallery, and quilting enthusiasts will have an opportunity to vote for “Viewer’s Choice 2018.” Masuoka and Wass will also have their quilts on display.
“I started out sewing clothes,” Wass said. “I had a storefront in Michigan, and as shoppers came through, I had to learn quilting. Now, I sew both — clothes and quilts.”
Donation quilts, a popular facet of the show in 2017, will be available for buyers where 100 percent of the quilt’s sale will benefit a community nonprofit, the beneficiary being indicated on the quilt when the show opens.
“This was very popular with shoppers,” said Lea Ingram, a quilter. “People write the checks directly to the nonprofit. Everything goes to them.”
Joanne Watson said another new facet to this year’s show is the elephant sale featuring cut material, fat squares, yarn, tools, and even books related to sewing, quilting, knitting, or needlepoint.
“When people — we get a lot of visitors — come in, we give them a square to finish,” Ingram said. “At first, we got a few back. But now, we get squares from all over the country as people go home, finish the square, and mail it back to us. We had a teacher who took enough squares for her class, and they finished them and sent it back to us. A lot of these squares go into creating the donation quilts which is done by all of the quilters getting together.”
The Kauai Quilt Show opens at 11 a.m. today with a Meet-the-Quilters reception scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. at the KSA gallery. From that point, the show is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. Friday hours are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
