I don't know anything about Hawaiian quilts, but i did a search for Hawaiian symbols and found this:
http://www.poakalani.net/storyquilts.html
Scroll down to the emblems, click on an emblem and its story /meaning will come up.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/5024138/ha...-and-happiness
This site has different symbols and meanings.
http://www.softexpressions.com/softw...waiianAppl.php
This looks like a pretty good book on sale.
Good luck,
Christine