Posted on: Friday, March 25, 2005
Cancer quilt back in Hawai'i
By Paula Rath
Advertiser staff writer
This is the story of a quilt that came home.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Characteristically, the response was overwhelming. It seems every time Island folks are asked to help, they rise to the occasion — and then some.
Kamakana knew that the completed quilts were to be sold on eBay, so she began searching the site to see if she could spot any of the Hawai'i quilt squares as a new quilt was posted for display each week.
Finally, last December, Kamakana spotted some familiar squares. She began to bid and reached a high bid of $350 before she had to leave for work. Someone outbid her.
Out of curiosity, Kamakana decided to try to track down the successful bidder to find out where in the world the quilt would end up. She e-mailed the winner to explain that the quilt was from the Islands and was made with aloha. Aloha was a word quite familiar to the new owner, Adele Shimanuki of Kaua'i, who bought the quilt as a Christmas gift for her sister, Corinne Nakamoto of Kapahulu.
The quilt is on loan to Kuni Island Fabrics through March 31, where it is hanging for the public to enjoy.
Reach Paula Rath at 525-5464 or prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Last year, Terri Kamakana, owner of Kuni Island Fabrics in Mo'ili'ili, encouraged Island seamstresses to make quilt squares to help fight breast cancer. They were sent to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in Iowa to be made into quilts and sold as a fund-raiser.
Terri Kamakana, owner of Kuni Island Fabrics in Honolulu, stands with the quilt made from squares sewn by Hawai'i seamstresses to benefit the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Fund.
