Megablog

I know I've gone AWOL. Life has been keeping me busy, and it won't really settle until I return from visiting family for the holidays. So here's a month's or better worth of things I need to catch up to date...

Santa's Land at the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center - the turtle with the fuzzy red hat reminds me of my logo for the holidays

One of the few pics of me - here with my sister Dana at Makena Beach

Here's Ana'ole - turtle 4 - the hatchling that I named in the contest at the Maui Ocean Center

A sea urchin spiny thingy

One of my hats on display in the gift shop at the Maui Ocean Center

A puffer fish. He's endearingly cute but was about 18"-24" long and has sharp spines on his body that spike out pin cushion-like when he inflates himself

Just a peaceful beach shot

This place has been around since the creation of the islands. It's an institution in Wailuku

They serve onion rings - tempura style - at a chinese restaurant

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Chow Fun noodles. These noodles are actually sliced like carrot sticks and made from potato dough - YUM!

An offering at the Home Maid Bakery shop

Lunch at Leoda's in Olowalu - Spicy (fresh) tuna salad on thier bread with tomato and butter lettuce. Served in a metal pie tin lined with brown paper

Some of the best fries I have ever had! With an aioli - and ketchup of course

Dana's lunch was Fried Mac and Cheese with a marinara - we both had leftovers...

On the road leading to mine, I see a long neck serpent in the grass

Wild lilikoi (passion fruit) flower

The serpent again

This is how my hats were displayed in the booth for the Haleakala Waldorf Holiday Faire. We had a great location - on an end, at the bottom of a hill and by the second entrance to the event - that really helped with traffic 

The hats are all my fabrics - Surf's Up, Seal Pups, Mermaids of Hana Bay, Hibiscus - and the pillow cases - Cotton Couture, Shell Dot and Gingerbreadtown

Mac and Cheese with Peas, please! Red pepper flakes and Kiawe smoked Hawaiian sea salt. The background is Siren Song - color Rainbow

Grilled Shell-on Shrimp  skewered on fresh Rosemary twigs

The morning of October 15 - my mother's birthday 

Comfort food for lunch - when it rains there is quite a damp chill in Haiku and a lunch like this hits the spot!

Rooster Rumble

This wasn't too violent just two roosters plucking the feathers out of one another - but what a display!

These are boneless version of the  bone in ribs I made when Dana was here. Both were preseasoned with the smoked sea salt and crushed black pepper. Next I smoked them over macadamia nut wood then glazed them with Maui Brewing Company Root Beer Bar-B-Que sauce. Last they cooked slowly to dry them out a bit like chinese roast pork.

 Another ornate rooster and hen

One of several gingerbread boy doll fronts drying before construction

Welcome Baby Sea Turtles!

At the start of this year, six baby green sea turtles arrived at the Maui Ocean Center from Sea Life Park Hawaii, Oahu, where they were born on July 15, 2011. All from the same clutch, the six-month old turtles weighed a little over one pound and were about five inches in width. A traditional Hawaiian ceremony to bless and officially welcome them to the Aquarium was held on January 20th. (Alas! I forgot to attend as I was engrossed in a project I was working on... oh well...)

This month the Maui Ocean Center held a contest to name one of the baby turtles. The aquarist team provided the traits and behaviors of each turtle to help in choosing the perfect name.

The names were to be in Hawaiian and include a definition of the name and an explanation of how and why that name was chosen to be submitted.

So I got out my Hawaiian-English / English-Hawaiian dictionary and started thumbing through the pages...

Turtle #1:      Solid; the largest turtle.
Turtle #2:      Carefree and spends most of its time underwater.
Turtle #3:      Mellow, but holds its own.
Turtle #4:      Voracious; eats quickly and always wants more. Not to be messed with!
Turtle #5:      Active, small but spunky.
Turtle #6:      Only eats what it wants, when it wants.

On Tuesday - appropriately the 1st day of Spring - I received an email congratulating me on having chosen a name for a turtle. I laughed out loud when I saw which turtle I had connected with! I suppose the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree - or perhaps, more appropriately - the turtle doesn't swim too far from the shore.

The name I submitted and in turn that was chosen was ANA'OLE - which means, "insatiable, never satisfied; without equal, unsurpassed". So turtle #4 is my little dude. I'll get to see him, and the rest, when they gather the winners for a special behind the scenes turtle encounter at the Ocean Center! Guaranteed I'll be posting pictures as soon as I can!

On a side note, the Never-Ending project should be wrapping up tomorrow... so I promise to publish a design related post on my other collection that was released at the end of last month - for some it will be new... and for others... a bit of deja vu!

And if you're as fond of these little critters as I am, don't forget to check out my baby sea turtle (or honu in Hawaiian) print Surf's Up! by clicking on the "Sea Turtles" label below the post.

Sometimes You Need to Take a Step Back...

...in order to go forward. So that's what I'm going to do with this post. Before I show my new collection PARADISE COVE, I want to do a flashback to the International Quilt Market in Salt Lace City, Spring 2011. It was here that I previewed the HULA DOLLS collection (it would be released in August), my first for Michael Miller Fabrics after rejoining the company as a licensed designer. The reason I am doing this is to show how the Hula Dolls collection segues and flows into the Mermaids of Hana Bay group...

(Since PARADISE COVE is soon to be released, there is no link, so you'll have to be patient... I promise to post the designs as soon as I know they are ready to go live!)

You may also notice all the hats - it was then that I created the Children's Reversible Bucket Hat and started marketing the pattern under my label: 

The Mad Hatter of Maui

and hence the name of my blog!

Having been on Maui for a just about two years, I was full of inspiration from my lush tropical surroundings and the rich, Hawaiian culture. I was bursting at the seams to create a group of fabrics that would speak the language of the island yet transcend the Pacific waters and be embraced by a broad and diverse audience. 

I have been credited with being sensitive to the use of varying skin tones in my characters. This was a completely subconscious channeling of the diverse melding of the peoples that inhabit  these islands which again, speaks loud and clear the diversity of our own country and of the peoples of the planet. I was simply putting on paper - and in turn fabric - that which I saw all around me...

HULA DOLLS

Mark Hordyszynski for Michael Miller Fabrics

Please note: unfortunately the colors here are all a bit washed; they're more like the photo above :)  

Top to Bottom: Hula Dolls DC5018 - Graphite and Seafoam

Pacific Reef DC5016 - Sea

Island Hibiscus DC5017 - Coffee

Left to Right: Tiki Woodblock DC5012 - Isle and Wave

Surfer Stripe DC5015 - Wave

Leaf Vines DC5013 - Isle

Left to Right: Scales & Waves - Coffee and Green Tea

Left to Right: Scales & Waves - Sea and Wave

HULA DOLLS Embroideries by The Needlework Factory

(Available April)

The figure above has a skirt made of Angelina Fibers and the one below out of natural raffia. Imagine how cute these would be paired with the coordinating fabrics in a quilt or better yet, in little girls' clothing!

(Sue, the creator of the embroideries, said that working with both fibers was very challenging and time consuming, so these examples are for inspiration only. The skirt can be stitched out, or done as an applique with a fabric of your choice... I'll be sure to post pics of new samples as soon as I get a sample sewn out... but they are so darn cute I couldn't resist showing them!) 

Marky, Marky... Don't be snarky...

How does your garden grow?

Have you ever seen a pineapple? -- well of course you have... But have you ever seen one grow? We have a few pineapple plants on the property, and they have started fruiting... so I have decided to take a photo of the development of the pineapple, once a week, and share the progress with you. In my opinion, it's absolutely fascinating...

In all honesty, this looks like something from an ALIEN movie, that's going to thrust out on a long, appendage-like stalk and bite you with all of its sharp, needle-like teeth.


But it's only an immature pineapple...


I am working on my next group of fabric, but it's too soon to even let you in on what it is... but I'll let you know it's something I'm having a lot of fun working on, involves developing "characters", and it is geared to the 'Tween and Teen markets... As soon as I get the approval to send the designs to print, I promise to share some imagery!


In addition, I have decided to do my gourmet cooking on the weekends, so I'll have some culinary creations to share as a regular part of my Sunday post. Following are a few dishes I recently concocted...

Grilled Line Caught Wild Hawai'ian Blue Marlin

Big Island Ohi'a Lehua Blossom Honey-Oyster Sauce Glaze

Freshly Squeezed Meyer Lemon Juice, Blood Orange Oil

Grilled Apple Bananas

Panko Crusted Colossal Shrimp with Habanero Coconut Sauce

Whole Wheat Spaghetti Tossed in Deconstructed Guacamole

(Backyard Avocado, Hamakua Cherry Tomato, Maui Onion)

Toasted Nana's Dried Bananas and Banana Chip Finger-Banana Bread

Fresh Kula Raspberries

Minted Sesame-Miso Butterscotch Sauce

Hibachi Boneless Pork Ribs Glazed with House-made Chinese BBQ Sauce

Sprouted Brown Rice-Red Winter Wheat Berry "Fried Rice"

(Oven Dried Tofu, Kula Carrots, Maui Onions, Sweet Petit Peas, White Corn)

Grilled Apple Bananas

Baked Organic Free-Range Chicken Breast

Stuffed with Spinach, Maui Onions, Surfing Goat Dairy Chevre,

Shiitake Mushrooms and Panko Bread Crumbs

Low-Sodium Au Jus

Steamed Sushi Rice with Dehydrated Garden Vegetables