Going to Hawaii - YIPEE!!!!!
11-20-2011, 06:13 AM
#1
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Tallahassee FL
Posts: 397
Going to Hawaii - YIPEE!!!!!
So my husband and I are finally getting to go to Hawaii next spring. After 23 years of marriage I'm finally getting the honeymoon I've always wanted. We are spending 3 weeks there, a week on each island, Hawaii, Kauai, and Oahu. I need help finding shops on each island. I don't want the generic ones like Walmart or Joanns, but local shops where you can find unique fabrics. We are planning our itineraries so I want to fit in a shop or two on each island. Waiting for your replies and thank you.
11-20-2011, 06:38 AM
#2
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 1,016
Lived there for 20 years and I'd suggest Fabric Mart on Oahu (2 locations) for an absolutely huge array of Hawaiian fabrics. The store in Aiea is a little difficult to find (a warehouse area) but it is loaded with wonderful tropical florals. Another LQS is Calico Cat in the Kaimuki area. A very little place. Enjoy your trip; it is a tropical paradise!
11-20-2011, 06:46 AM
#3
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 1,126
Congrats on finally taking your honeymoon! Hawaii sounds like a dream vacation! I haven't taken my honeymoon either but it has only been 5 years. (Our honeymoon is supposed to either be in Venice or Virgin Islands.) I don't know of any quilt shops, but I am sure you will get some great suggestions. I'll watch this thread with interest. And look forward to pics in the spring!
11-20-2011, 08:55 AM
#4
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Tallahassee FL
Posts: 397
Lived there for 20 years and I'd suggest Fabric Mart on Oahu (2 locations) for an absolutely huge array of Hawaiian fabrics. The store in Aiea is a little difficult to find (a warehouse area) but it is loaded with wonderful tropical florals. Another LQS is Calico Cat in the Kaimuki area. A very little place. Enjoy your trip; it is a tropical paradise!
11-20-2011, 10:28 AM
#8
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Washington State
Posts: 1,628
I grew up in Hawaii and go back to visit regularly, the fabric stores that is... 
Fabric Mart actually has three locations on Oahu & one on Maui. I agree with the earlier comment; the Aiea store is a little hard to find and the last time I went there it was the least organized of the 3 Oahu stores. There is also one on Kalakaua Ave in Honolulu & one in Kaneohe just after you come over the mountains. Plan to spend lots of time there - the bolts are in huge stacks to the ceiling and it takes a while to work your way through it. In addition to 50/50 Hawaiian prints in rolls (around $4-5/yd) they also have tons of 100% cotton for quilting. (also a great price) This is where I used to get all my old Rose & Hubble / William Morris fabrics. Fabric Mart has their own parking lot - worth gold at the Honolulu store.
I also love Kaimuki Dry Goods - it's been there as long as I can rememeber and has a beautiful selection of Asian fabrics as well as other Hawaiian, quilting & formal apparel fabrics. It is not cheap but not out of line from what you pay in a quality quilting store. It is set back behind another building (a bank, I think...) off the main street - Waialae Ave though the address is technically on 10th Ave. Beautiful fabrics!
I have also gone downtown, near Chinatown to a couple of fabric places that remind me of the LA garment district only on a much smaller scale. They were much more about apparel fabric, messy and to me not worth the hassle of parking and walking around to find the small hole-in-the-wall shops. I don't bother with them anymore unless I'm looking for a Hawaiian apparel knit or formal fabrics for cheap - then I might check in a couple of those shops. At the time I used to occasionally go there I wasn't quilting so I never looked for those fabrics there but my memory is that's not what they carry.
There are also many small quilt shops to check out though I am only familiar with the ones on Maui so can't give specifics. They will probably have patterns that are new to you with Hawaiian symbols - turtles and breadfruit, etc as well as traditional appliqued Hawaiian quilting. Enjoy! And remember to bring an extra suitcase Though even that didn't save me from having to pay for overweight luggage due to all my fabric on the last trip... might be worth mailing some home to yourself too. Shannon
Fabric Mart actually has three locations on Oahu & one on Maui. I agree with the earlier comment; the Aiea store is a little hard to find and the last time I went there it was the least organized of the 3 Oahu stores. There is also one on Kalakaua Ave in Honolulu & one in Kaneohe just after you come over the mountains. Plan to spend lots of time there - the bolts are in huge stacks to the ceiling and it takes a while to work your way through it. In addition to 50/50 Hawaiian prints in rolls (around $4-5/yd) they also have tons of 100% cotton for quilting. (also a great price) This is where I used to get all my old Rose & Hubble / William Morris fabrics. Fabric Mart has their own parking lot - worth gold at the Honolulu store. I also love Kaimuki Dry Goods - it's been there as long as I can rememeber and has a beautiful selection of Asian fabrics as well as other Hawaiian, quilting & formal apparel fabrics. It is not cheap but not out of line from what you pay in a quality quilting store. It is set back behind another building (a bank, I think...) off the main street - Waialae Ave though the address is technically on 10th Ave. Beautiful fabrics!
I have also gone downtown, near Chinatown to a couple of fabric places that remind me of the LA garment district only on a much smaller scale. They were much more about apparel fabric, messy and to me not worth the hassle of parking and walking around to find the small hole-in-the-wall shops. I don't bother with them anymore unless I'm looking for a Hawaiian apparel knit or formal fabrics for cheap - then I might check in a couple of those shops. At the time I used to occasionally go there I wasn't quilting so I never looked for those fabrics there but my memory is that's not what they carry.
There are also many small quilt shops to check out though I am only familiar with the ones on Maui so can't give specifics. They will probably have patterns that are new to you with Hawaiian symbols - turtles and breadfruit, etc as well as traditional appliqued Hawaiian quilting. Enjoy! And remember to bring an extra suitcase
Though even that didn't save me from having to pay for overweight luggage due to all my fabric on the last trip... might be worth mailing some home to yourself too. Shannon
11-20-2011, 12:08 PM
#9
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: up to my eyeballs in UFOs
Posts: 2,335
Jealous jealous, green with envy-we were thinking about going for a 25th wedding anniversary trip but ...HOPE YOU HAVE AND ALOHA TIME!!!!!-you may need to take an extra suitcase for the rest of us who are going to want you to bring us back some fabric!!
11-20-2011, 12:22 PM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Tallahassee FL
Posts: 397
I grew up in Hawaii and go back to visit regularly, the fabric stores that is... Fabric Mart actually has three locations on Oahu & one on Maui. I agree with the earlier comment; the Aiea store is a little hard to find and the last time I went there it was the least organized of the 3 Oahu stores. There is also one on Kalakaua Ave in Honolulu & one in Kaneohe just after you come over the mountains. Plan to spend lots of time there - the bolts are in huge stacks to the ceiling and it takes a while to work your way through it. In addition to 50/50 Hawaiian prints in rolls (around $4-5/yd) they also have tons of 100% cotton for quilting. (also a great price) This is where I used to get all my old Rose & Hubble / William Morris fabrics. Fabric Mart has their own parking lot - worth gold at the Honolulu store.
I also love Kaimuki Dry Goods - it's been there as long as I can rememeber and has a beautiful selection of Asian fabrics as well as other Hawaiian, quilting & formal apparel fabrics. It is not cheap but not out of line from what you pay in a quality quilting store. It is set back behind another building (a bank, I think...) off the main street - Waialae Ave though the address is technically on 10th Ave. Beautiful fabrics!
I have also gone downtown, near Chinatown to a couple of fabric places that remind me of the LA garment district only on a much smaller scale. They were much more about apparel fabric, messy and to me not worth the hassle of parking and walking around to find the small hole-in-the-wall shops. I don't bother with them anymore unless I'm looking for a Hawaiian apparel knit or formal fabrics for cheap - then I might check in a couple of those shops. At the time I used to occasionally go there I wasn't quilting so I never looked for those fabrics there but my memory is that's not what they carry.
There are also many small quilt shops to check out though I am only familiar with the ones on Maui so can't give specifics. They will probably have patterns that are new to you with Hawaiian symbols - turtles and breadfruit, etc as well as traditional appliqued Hawaiian quilting. Enjoy! And remember to bring an extra suitcase Though even that didn't save me from having to pay for overweight luggage due to all my fabric on the last trip... might be worth mailing some home to yourself too. Shannon
Fabric Mart actually has three locations on Oahu & one on Maui. I agree with the earlier comment; the Aiea store is a little hard to find and the last time I went there it was the least organized of the 3 Oahu stores. There is also one on Kalakaua Ave in Honolulu & one in Kaneohe just after you come over the mountains. Plan to spend lots of time there - the bolts are in huge stacks to the ceiling and it takes a while to work your way through it. In addition to 50/50 Hawaiian prints in rolls (around $4-5/yd) they also have tons of 100% cotton for quilting. (also a great price) This is where I used to get all my old Rose & Hubble / William Morris fabrics. Fabric Mart has their own parking lot - worth gold at the Honolulu store. I also love Kaimuki Dry Goods - it's been there as long as I can rememeber and has a beautiful selection of Asian fabrics as well as other Hawaiian, quilting & formal apparel fabrics. It is not cheap but not out of line from what you pay in a quality quilting store. It is set back behind another building (a bank, I think...) off the main street - Waialae Ave though the address is technically on 10th Ave. Beautiful fabrics!
I have also gone downtown, near Chinatown to a couple of fabric places that remind me of the LA garment district only on a much smaller scale. They were much more about apparel fabric, messy and to me not worth the hassle of parking and walking around to find the small hole-in-the-wall shops. I don't bother with them anymore unless I'm looking for a Hawaiian apparel knit or formal fabrics for cheap - then I might check in a couple of those shops. At the time I used to occasionally go there I wasn't quilting so I never looked for those fabrics there but my memory is that's not what they carry.
There are also many small quilt shops to check out though I am only familiar with the ones on Maui so can't give specifics. They will probably have patterns that are new to you with Hawaiian symbols - turtles and breadfruit, etc as well as traditional appliqued Hawaiian quilting. Enjoy! And remember to bring an extra suitcase
Though even that didn't save me from having to pay for overweight luggage due to all my fabric on the last trip... might be worth mailing some home to yourself too. Shannon
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