publisher’s note
I believe it was Bob Dylan who sang, “The times, they are a changing.” In 1991 I started Kona Bay Fabrics in Hawaii becoming Da Textile Samurai. Before fabric, I had grown a satisfying business in the Kona coffee industry. A series of events took me from exporting coffee to producing high quality fabrics. Since that time, Kona Bay Fabrics has established itself worldwide as consistently producing gorgeous Asian theme fabrics. We continue to evolve and have expanded our line. We have built a reputation as one of the premier suppliers of tonal prints, widely known as our TONE IT UP collections. Along the way we went into publishing and begin producing ASIAN FABRIC magazine. We recently changed the name to FABRIC VINE to better represent the range of designs that is Kona Bay today. The Vine part of the name came partly from knowing there was a new business on the horizon—a wine business. I am proud (that’s an understatement— imagine me looking REALLY excited!) to announce our first wine. It has barrel aged to yumminess since 2012. Behold, one of the newest Washington wine brands—TRELLIS GATE. I have looked forward to sharing the news and the wine with people who have long been part of our Kona Bay family. In fact, our first label features artwork from Kona Bay’s limited edition Nobu Fujiyama Crane Dynasty fabric collection. We were blessed in being able to source our grapes from the famous wine growing region of Red Mountain in Washington. In addition, good fortune smiled upon us in having award winning wine superstar, Charlie Hoppes of Fidelitas wine fame, as the winemaker. As with fabric, our goal was to produce the very best quality wine with a reasonable price point.
8 fabric vine 2015
Are you a wine drinker or need a gift for a friend who is, turn to page 10. Find out how you can purchase our very tasty TRELLIS GATE wine and help Da Textile Samurai aka as the Wine Eagle soar. Make no mistake, though, I am NOT leaving the quilting industry. Fabric is home for me. I have spent many years and have made so many friends, like you, that I treasure. In fact, as we speak, we are putting the finishing touches on plans for Spring Quilt Market coming up the middle of May in Minneapolis. We’ve been working on new collections we’re anxious to show. Thank you so much for joining us in our journey as new opportunities for fun and business unfold. Your support is always appreciated. I hope you’ll enjoy and learn from the exquisite projects the Fabric Vine team has again put together. Perhaps, you’d like to browse while enjoying a glass of wine from a fellow fabric lover. Please visit our wine web page at http://www. winefromwashington.com to look at the special pricing we have established for our friends and supporters. Aloha,
Da Textile Samurai and Wine Eagle Publisher • douglas@konabay.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-Bay-Fabrics-SeattleBay-Fabrics-and-Asian-Fabric-Magazine/106593046936?ref=ts