Kailua quilter stitches old Hawai'i to new
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
KAILUA — Quilt pillows, quilts in progress, quilt ideas drawn on paper and tiny framed quilt wall hangings are among the koa furnishings in Mary Haunani Cesar's home — where quilts are created in every room except the kitchen and bathroom.
Mary Haunani Cesar, known for her innovative use of modern quilting techniques and traditional designs, has been making quilts for more than 20 years. But she still misses one of her first creations, stolen from her car years ago.
A Hawaiian and contemporary quilter for more than 20 years, Cesar is becoming well-known in the United States and Japan as a teacher, designer and show organizer.
It's an art she freely shares with students and others to keep the tradition alive.
Her fusion style blends new techniques with old design, and is featured in a show touring Japan, "Hawaiian Quilts, Tradition and Transition," sponsored by the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Kokusai Art.
Cesar's "Hawai'i Fusion" is made of 12 blocks of intricately cut Hawaiian images — birds of paradise, ferns, protea, taro, pua kenikeni and hibiscus — fused on a background of hand-dyed cotton and finished with machine quilting.
It's a technique born out of extensive travels to the Mainland, where quilters balk at hand applique work. Sewing-machine companies wanted Cesar to make Hawaiian designs by machine, she said.
"I'd rather not imitate the look of the hand work, because the best way to do it is by hand," she said. "I like the fusion, because it's not imitating the hand work but taking the graphics of the Hawaiian pattern and using the products and techniques that are available today."
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Other quilters in the show are Lincoln Okita, Kathy Nakajima, Patricia Lei Murray, Margo Armitage Morgan and Gussie Rankin Bento.
The top photo is the front of Cesar's stolen quilt; above is the back. The loss of the quilt was so painful, Cesar said she couldn't talk about it for months.
Reiko Brandon, curator of textiles at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, said Cesar seeks out unique techniques for an interesting departure from tradition.
"She's probably one
of the very innovative Hawaiian contemporary quilters," said Brandon, who interviewed the quilters in the show and wrote about them for the catalog. "She likes to explore really almost outrageous techniques."
Cesar, 43, grew up in Hawai'i from age 8 and learned quilting from lessons. She considers herself a traditional quilter, but is "known for pushing the envelope on the contemporary stuff."
This year, she'll travel to the Mainland at least nine times to mount displays, appear at shows or attend them to keep up with the trends. She'll lead a quilting tour to Japan, where she will teach. The Japanese-language magazine Patchwork Tsushin will feature her work soon.
Cesar has a pattern company, teaches at Mission Houses Museum and is writing a book about quilts.
A lifelong artist and crafter, she took weekend painting lessons during intermediate and high school in Leeward O'ahu.
From earning a living selling hand-painted shirts at craft fairs, she slowly transitioned into quilts.
One of the first works she made was stolen while she worked at Kelly's Restaurant. The unique quilt is made of the hand-painted shirts, and Cesar is certain someone has seen it, unaware that it was stolen.
She would like to have the quilt back. It has so many memories attached to it, the theft was like losing a family member, Cesar said. She couldn't talk about it for several months.
"I think about it all the time," she said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
