The Hoffman Challenge

The pictures I'm showing you today were deemed the best of the best in the 2009 Hoffman Challenge. If you've never heard of the Hoffman Challenge, the entrants chooses a pattern from a commercial or an independent source, but their item must be made up ONLY in from a select group of fabrics that have been chosen by the committee. (You can see the fabrics by clicking here.)

These bags were ALL very beautiful, but check out the bag in the upper left corner. It's actually a hedgehog!

Of course we aren't allowed to touch the bags, and try though I might, I never could figure out how the bag is opened. Who knows it may not even be a functional bag, but I strongly suspect that it is.

Here's closeup. This is obviously a custom design on the part of the entrant, and even though I doubt this would be my choice for an everyday bag, it sure would be fun to carry to a special event!

Best I could tell, his bag was the 3rd place entry overall. Once again, I don't know how practical it is, but practicality really isn't part of the judging. It certainly was ornate and special.

Here's some more bags, all beautiful. And if you look on the right side of the picture, there's a beautiful pair of shoes.

There was a lot of clothing entries, and they were all wonderful in their workmanship. But here's the deal, I've never been a big fan of quilted clothing. Let's face it, quilted and fleeced really doesn't do a lot of good things for the body. I can appreciate the amount of work and creativity involved in the entries, but I wouldn't really want to wear many of them. This dress however is a notable exception, and it was stunning!

Inspired? if this seems like something you think YOU might like to get involved with, you can check out the fabrics and rules for the 2010 Hoffman challenge by clicking here.
And guess what? Earlier this year, I was contacted by a gal who wanted to enter a handbag into the 2010 Hoffman Challenge, using one of my bag patterns. If she does well, one of my bags may make it to the exhibition next Spring in Salt Lake City. How exciting would THAT be?!