PO‘IPU — Debbie Yanagihara has been so busy she did not have a table Saturday.
The work that kept her busy also contributed to the steady stream of shoppers that flowed through the twice-yearly Sheraton Craft Fair at the ballrooms of the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort.
“It’s good that we’re busy,” said Yanagihara, an employee with the Sheraton Kaua‘i and coordinator of the fair. “I always expect to see a poor turnout so when it’s busy, I’m always happy.”
Yanagihara, who normally fields a table of quilts and other sewing handiwork she makes, said she couldn’t explain the crowd because the hotel is not that full.
But where she was too busy to sew, Aunty Net and Carmen Natarte were not.
Annette Hashimoto, aka Aunty Net, and Natarte were two first-time vendors at the craft fair.
“Besides the gift of gab, I can sew,” Hashimoto said. “My daughters are on O‘ahu now and when my husband gets the night shift, I sew. The girls came home to help me.”
Hashimoto was an avid volunteer with Kapa‘a High School while her daughters attended there. After graduation, the girls enrolled at Kapiolani Community College where one is majoring in elementary education with an emphasis on special education and the other is just getting her liberals out of the way.
Natarte said the Sheraton fair was the first time she’s ventured into the retail marketplace and is pleased with how everything turned out.
“I was here last year (as a shopper), and when I saw the article in the paper, I kept it,” she said. “I used to sew these quilts for my children and relatives, but now, I’m going to see if I can sell some of them. Before, I just gave them away.”
In addition to the offering of custom quilts, Natarte also had a pair of ring bearer cushions she created, noting the young ring bearers like the circular form better than the conventional square pillows.
“I wanted to use ‘Da Kine,’ but somebody already has it,” Natarte said. “So I use ‘Kine Kuilts.’ Each one takes between one day to about a week to finish since it’s all custom work.”
Yanagihara said 26 vendors signed up for the spring fair, most of them returnees with three new additions.
“This fair was really good,” said Gayle Konishi, a longtime crafter. “I’ve been busy too, so almost forgot about craft fairs. This is the first one I’m doing this year, and it has been really good. There was a lot more traffic than I thought was going to be.”
Yanagihara said normally the resort’s employee hui uses the fair to generate revenue for the annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk, but this year they’ve been busy with other things.
“Robert Ancheta is tied up trying to prepare for tonight’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life,” Yanagihara said. “Maybe we’ll try at Mother’s Day. The girls will be selling flowers at the brunch from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.”
She said the next Sheraton craft fair will be in November.
