Originally Posted by mar32428

My DH and I even scoped out the quilt and fabric shops when we went on our 16 day Alaskan cruise. Checked every stop we made. Only found two and they didn't have very much fabric of any kind. Too expensive to ship up there.

On our cruise to Hawaii, I really lucked out. Went to several quilt shops but they were just like here in FL. Most were in malls and big shopping centers.

We went to the flea market which is huge. They hold it in the football parking lot. There are so many places that make Hawaiian clothes and they have no outlet for their scraps and end of bolts. They cut the leftovers into 4,5 and 6" squares and sell them by the stack. there may be 50 to 60 pieces for $3.50 to $5. I bought plenty and made my first (didn't know it then) scrappy quilt.

I looked for shops on every Island we visited but only found two. Both made custom Hawaiian dresses for Islanders and tourists. Most of the seamstresses sewed on featherweights. My best buy for Hawaiian fabric was in the Singer store in a huge mall. $5.95 a yard and beautiful fabric. A lot of it came from the Philippines and other eastern areas. I filled a whole suitcase to bring home.