Quilt, Hawaiian Quilt Square, unfinished

Date1985-1995

Maker Rose Lokelani Lum Tam-Hoy (1923 - 2011)

MediumCotton, steel needle

DimensionsOverall: 22 x 22 1/2 in.

Credit LineGift of Lisa Noelani Tam-Hoy Robbins

Object number2012.609.6,2

DescriptionThis is an unfinished Hawaiian quilt block with a green cotton symmetrical design of four pineapples, cut out and held in position to a white ground using long white cotton basting stitches. The applique is a little over half finished, with a needle and thread still in position. The outside edges are left raw.
Label TextThis quilt square is one of three made by Rose Lokelani Lum Tam-Hoy (1923-2011), a Hawaiian quilter and teacher from Honolulu. This square shows the technique with the applique basted into position and partly stitched down. A needle and thread still remain in place where the applique was interrupted. Mrs. Tam-Hoy learned to quilt from her mother, Agnes Kahoe. Rose Tam-Hoy went on to teach quilting at the Mission Houses Museum, and squares such as this may have been used as demonstration projects.
ProvenanceRose Lokelani Lum Tam-Hoy [1923-2011] (Honolulu, Hawaii); by descent to her son and daughter-in-law, Harold Man Fong Tam-Hoy and Arlene Cora DeSilva Tam-Hoy; by descent to their daughter, Lisa Noelani Tam-Hoy Robbins (Newport News, Virginia); 2012-present, given to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.