PRINCEVILLE — These six ladies — Julie Fregeau, Cindy Halasey, Jeni Hardy, Lea Ingram, Lesley Morris, and Toni Wass — have sewn a lot since the novel coronavirus arrived in Hawai‘i.
“We don’t have a COVID quilt, yet,” said Fregeau. “But I have material left over from making face masks that I’ve used in several quilts.”
The six quilters will be opening the Six Island Quilters Quilt Exhibit and Sale with a Meet the Quilters reception, Friday at the Kaua‘i Society of Artists gallery at the Kukui Grove Center. The exhibit and sale will continue through Sept. 3.
“This is a short show,” Ingram said. “During the big Kaua‘i Quilt Show, Jeni got a lot of requests for doing a smaller show where more quilts from individual quilters could be shown, perhaps mid-year after the big show. We all belong to the Kaua‘i Quilt Guild, or the Nene Quilters so we decided that would be a fun thing to do — until COVID-19 hit.”
The show and sale may have been delayed due to the pandemic, but the sewing continued as the quilters and friends continued with projects to help with coping with the pandemic. They continued to get together, not so much as a group, but individually, and quilts appeared.
“We needed something to do besides gardening and volunteering,” said Wass. “We can’t go anywhere, and when we meet, it’s like old friends seeing each other, again.”
Morris said there is a commonality in art.
“We share techniques, fabrics and even design,” Morris said. “We are lucky this is Kaua‘i. We do different types of quilts. There’s no two of the same types.”
Ingram said there will be a good sampling of quilts, each participating quilter submitting 10 quilts to start.
“This is going to be a fabulous display from everyday to fine art quilts,” said Ingram, who also participates in other KSA exhibits. “We’ll have wall quilts, table quilts, art, tablecloth, and baby quilts. Many of them will be for sale and ready to carry off. Jeni even created a special quilt just for this show.”
Additionally, credit cards will be accepted, and shipping is available.
“We’re happy to be able and do this,” Ingram said. “This is a good dry run for the annual quilt show.”
The Hand Works from the Heart by Six Kaua‘i Quilters and Artists is available for viewing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily from Aug. 28 through Sept. 3 at the KSA gallery at the Kukui Grove Center.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Will they be selling masks?