Hoffman Challenge

The winners for the 2005 Hoffman Challenge have been announced in each of the categories!
Click here to see a full list and photos of each piece.

The complete list of 2005 Ribbon Traveling Entries has been posted to the Traveling Shows section. All items listed by trunk assignment. This year, we also have a complete list of all traveling items, organized alphabetically by artist name.

Written notices of traveling acceptance will be mailed by Sept. 9. We also hope to have all items not traveling returned by Sept. 16th.

New 2005 Challenge Fabric:

B720 #130 Multi

Suggested Coordinates for 2005:

B111 #115 Grass	B222 #285 Primary	B112 #136 Peacock	B661 #151 Sunset

B708 #67 Flame	B716 #14 Purple	B716 #23 Fuchsia	B724 #5 Red

B724 #13 Orange	B724 #118 Honey	B952 #14 Purple	B717 #67 Flame

Selecting the fabrics for the annual Hoffman Challenge is a challenge in itself! Although all of the Hoffman Fabrics are famously inspirational, we must narrow the selection.

Some of the criteria used are:

A.	None of the famous Hoffman batiks can be chosen for the primary challenge fabric, as these fabrics are handmade by individual artists, and no two yards are exactly the same. Since these fabrics are manufactured in other countries, weather and shipping issues can make availability somewhat unpredictable, so even though we love 'em, at this point we can't use them as our primary challenge fabric. We do, however, encourage you to use them in your entry!

B.	The fabric has to be newly designed, never seen, and specifically released for the challenge.

C.	We review the fabrics used in past challenges, and attempt to choose a totally new style and look. Because Hoffman is famous for its very high quality multiple colored fabrics, chances are the challenge fabric will have numerous rich colors and shades, providing endless opportunities for all involved to choose coordinates and companion fabrics. To see all of the past challenge fabrics, Click Here.

D.	Potential uses of the fabric are discussed. This is a challenge, remember? We consider how the fabric will look when it's cut and incorporated with other fabrics in clothing, quilts, dolls and accessories. We think about use of both little bitty pieces, and large sections of the fabric. When the entries begin to arrive, we never cease to be amazed how the challenge items use the fabrics in wonderful ways we could never have imagined!

E.	A highly sophisticated selection process takes place over sandwiches and chocolate, and when the preliminary designs look just right on paper, sample "strike offs" are made to see how the design looks on actual fabric. If these are as beautiful as we expect, the fabric is announced to all.

F.	The selected fabric is then released with applications to shops around the world. Even though the process of selection was highly scientific, everyone feels obligated to put in their two cents! The opinions and advice are carefully weighed, but like we said, this is a challenge! It’s impossible to please everyone, but since the challenge uses Hoffman fabrics, you know that no matter what fabric is selected, it’s one of the best!

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