'The Clock of the Time Dragon and The City of Emeralds' by Carl Hentsch of Saint Joseph, Missouri. Finalist
(Image by Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics) Details DMCA
Wicked. It's both a Broadway play and an innovative quilt challenge that may make you "green with envy."
What's a quilt challenge? It's a project designed to challenge the creativity of a group of quilters, within prescribed parameters. Typically a fabric, or group of fabrics, is selected, and participants must use one or all of the fabrics in their finished project. Some quilt challenges allow or require the use of other fabrics, and some require quilters to only select fabrics from within a particular group. Some challenges specify a theme, or a specific size, and many offer awards and prizes.
The first major quilt challenge event was initiated in 1988, a result of an idea by veteran quilter/judges Betty Boyink and Holice Turnbow, who had booths next to each other at a quilt event. They came up with the concept while chatting about a particular Hoffman fabric that Betty had described as "challenging" to work with. So they "challenged" each other to make a quilt using that fabric by the next year's event, and along the way nearly 100 other quilters jumped onboard. The exhibit was enormously popular, and Hoffman of California continues the annual event, which now includes clothing, dolls, and accessories as well as quilts.
For 2015, the Hoffman Challenge fabric used was Pomegranate Gold:
Hoffman Challenge 2015 Fabric - Pomegranate Gold
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A sampling of entries incorporating this fabric is shown below:
Top L: Sidetracked to Marrakesh by April Wicker, Top R: Over The Rainbow by Marijke Van Welzen, bottom: assortment of dolls by various quilt artisans
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Hoffman's Marketing & Media Coordinator, Michelle Flores, notes, "We're revamping the Challenge for 2016 and starting a digital submission process via ArtCall. (add link) Another new feature for the 2016 Challenge: the selected Challenge fabric is adigitally printed fabric. Digital prints are a hot trend in quilting cottons and Hoffman is offering some of the very best made collections of digital fabrics under its Hoffman Spectrum brand. A butterfly fabric (N4240) from the new Crystalia collection is the selected Challenge fabric, and participants can choose either the black (213-Onyx) color way or the white (132-Opal) color way to create their contest entry. Or they can use both fabrics! One more new addition to the contest is a home decor category."
The WICKED Cherrywood Challenge 2014-2015 incorporated specific fabrics and finished size, and the theme was the Broadway show, "Wicked."
For anyone who has been living under a rock, the show, which premiered on Broadway in 2003 won a Grammy and three Tony Awards. The show went on its first national tour in 2005, and 14 million people have seen it since. According to Playbill, "Wicked broke the record for highest-grossing week in North American touring history, taking in $3,285,606 for the nine-performance week ending Jan. 3 (2016) at St. Louis' Fabulous Fox Theatre."
'Spotlight' by Lynn Synhort of Fargo, North Dakota. Grand Prize Winner in The WICKED Cherrywood Challenge.
(Image by Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics) Details DMCA
One hundred and fourteen 20" x 20" square quilts in The WICKED Cherrywood Challenge collection traveled to 18 exhibition venues in 13 months through 2015. Quilts were constructed from Cherrywood hand-dyed, suede-look fabrics. The 27 finalists were displayed in the Gershwin Theater on Broadway in NYC from October 2, 2014 through Jan. 2, 2015.
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