STITCH A TROPICAL
HEIRLOOM TO LAST
FOR GENERATIONS.
A Hawaiian quilt is one of Hawaii’s
cherished heirlooms, passed down
» Tom Selleck wore lots of flowered Hawaiian shirts during his
stint on Magnum, P. I. in the 80s.
tomselleck.tv-website.com
through generations of families to tell
the story of the quilter, the designer,
and the receiver. Traditional designs
include papayas, breadfruit, ti leaves,
and taro roots, but can be anything
that illustrates a love for nature, tradi-
tions, legends, or events. » The symmetrical pattern of a Hawaiian quilt is cut out in
I recommend that you explain your much the same way as paper snowflakes, but with cloth.
intentions to the person you’re making papersnowflakes.com/ patterns.htm
the quilt for, because we believe that
if the receiver experiences the quilting
process with you, they know that the
Photograph by Cissy Serrao, Illustrations by Tim Lillis
quilt was designed with love, created
with love, and given with love. » The tiny stitches in Hawaiian
quilts are just like the ripples
The beautiful quilt pictured here was quilted and appliquéd by Doris Shibuya and de- and waves of the ocean.
signed by John Serrao. Design: The Royal Symbols of the First King of Unified Hawaii. kathyskorner.net/hawaiian.htm
Cissy Nanialii Serrao was raised in a family of Hawaiian quilting traditions. Today, she teaches alongside
her parents, Poakalani and John Serrao, and has played an integral part in helping them publish five quilting
books. She is co-authoring another book due out in April 2007.
