About Quilts
• Did you know that you never sit
on a quilt? When the quilts were displayed on the beds they
were admired, talked about and even softly touched but you
never ever sat on the quilt. If you were tired you carefully
lifted up the edge of the quilt so you could sit or you
folded the quilt before you lay down.
<http://www.nvo.com/poakalani/traditionssuperstitions/>
• Many believed that the spirit of the person creating
and stitching the quilt became an integral part of the finished
work, giving it an added dimension - a sense of life.
<http://www.quiltshawaii.com/trad4.html>
• The designing of a quilt was a very personal thing.
Women occasionally shared their designs with a special friend
or relative, but copying a quilt without permission was very
much frowned upon. Women often created a certain design
based on something she had observed or a significant event.
<http://www.historyofquilts.com/hawaiian.html>
 • It is a generally accepted belief that a part of
the maker's spirit is incorporated into the finished quilt.
Openings, pukas,
in the quilt pattern, particularly a center opening, the
piko, may have been intended as entrances
and exits so the spirit would not become trapped. Quilts
were often destroyed at death or buried with their maker
so that all parts of the spirit might be reunited.
<http://members.tripod.com/~Honu_Hale/index-2.html>
• When a person is ill, it is said that if they sleep with a quilt all the love from that quilt will help heal them.
<http://www.nvo.com/poakalani/traditionssuperstitions/>
• Each quilt was given a name, often reflecting the
inspiration behind the design. These intriguing quilts have
survived as they were only used for special occasions and
then passed on from generation to generation.
<http://www.historyofquilts.com/hawaiian.html>
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About Hawaii
• Chanting is an important element to Hawaiian tradition.
There are chants for every exchange, for example, the entrance to someone’s home is marked by a chant and there is a response chant.
• There is no written Hawaiian language. Of specific
note, there is no letter “T” in the Hawaiian
language.
• The state of Hawaii fell into a recession during
the first Gulf War, of which they never have fully recovered.
The economy and job market in the area is extremely poor.
• When entering a private residence, it is considered
polite to remove your shoes. When introduced, it is considered
polite to offer your hand to all who are in the room.
<http://members.aol.com/EARTHSUN/hawaii.html>
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About Ginger
• The rows of stitching on the quilts are measured
by the width of the large finger. On the quilt Ginger made
for her daughter, she used her small (pinky) finger, which
resulted in her shoulder freezing for days and took months
to fully recover.
• When Ginger first moved back to Florida and began
interacting with the Hawaiians living here, she was told
by an elder “God brought you here to share the Hawaiian
culture with the people.”
 • Ginger made most of her money from the silk screened
prints of her quilts she sold on T-Shirts.
• Ginger believes that if she knew that she would
never return to Hawaii, she would have left all of her native
art and cultural items there for the land. Her connection
to the Islands is as deep as any native.
Text:
Devin Dominguez
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