Hoffman Challenge

Today is Memorial Day. It's a day to think of our soldiers, past and present, and to thank them for their service. I can't imagine a more demanding calling, and I admire each and every one who serves. Thank you, thank you.

It's also a day that people play. I had no plans to do that. It's Monday, and my husband is working, as usual. I'd planned to do my usual as well. Then I heard about a sew-a-thon play session at the local quilt shop. hmmm. Maybe I should do the same, only do it at home, where everything is at hand. Yesterday I decided that today would be devoted to working on this year's Hoffman. Now THAT would be a challenge.

The opening photo is of this year's fabric choice. sigh. That's my reaction every time I see it. I sigh. What am I supposed to do with it? The design is LARGE, and so diverse that it pretty much has to be used intact or fussy cut. At least in my world it does.

So, this morning I slept in. Then I read the newspapers, made some coffee, worked on the computer, made pumpkin muffins...I did just about everything but work on my Hoffman. I finally made my way back to the sewing room a bit after 11am and got to work. By 12:30, I took a lunch break, which I have extended until now.

Here's a taste of what I've got so far...


What could I be doing with these? Orange doesn't coordinate with the Hoffman fabric, does it?


Or these? There's no purple in that fabric either. hmmm.


Oh here we go. There's some challenge fabric. Good. A recognizable amount of challenge fabric needs to be an integral part of the challenge to qualify. Looking at my bits and pieces, I was worried that I'd forgotten to use the assigned fabric. gotcha! I didn't really forget. And no, I can't explain why blogspot once again tipped my photo on end. sigh. That's the third time they've done this to me. why? It really did look better right side up...

So. That's a taste of what I'm up to. My current goal is to have the top finished in the near future and basted and ready for hand-quilting by mid-June. I need to go out of town for a few days, and hand-quilting this puppy would be the perfect project. Then again, if I miss yet another personal deadline for this challenge, I can always machine quilt it...

My other quilt news is that I've gotten together my entry forms for Houston. This is the first time I've been brave enough/confident enough to submit my work for Festival. It helped that my river quilt was selected to go to Long Beach. That quilt is boxed and ready for shipping some time this week. Too much fun.

Well, I've procrastinated long enough. I should get back to work. If I can get all the pieces for my challenge cut out today, I will be a VERY happy camper.