Hoffman challenge 2009

Hmmm......this years Hoffman challenge fabric didn't get me very excited.
I know there are many people who love it, but it just didn't do much for me....
So I had some serious doubts about entering........but decided to start playing with the fabric to see if I could use it in a different way.

So I ended up making beads and those beads reminded me of a picture I had seen on our recent trip to the United States in the Navajo reserve.
And that's how "Tatanka" came to life.
On our trip we learned that tatanka means buffalo, so the name seemed fitting seeing as his shirt has got a buffalo applique on the back and he's wearing buffalo horns on his head.

Besides the fabric beads I've used 15/0 miyuki seed beads, it takes about 350 beads to cover a square inch! I don't think I've ever spent this much time on a shirt in my life. Will you believe there is almost a fat quarter of challenge fabric in this outfit? There's only a few snippets left.
However I'm not quite sure if they will accept this as a recognizable amount.
But I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I have to apologize for the pictures. I couldn't get all the detail in his sculptered face to show up properly. I would have tried again in daylight if I wasn't in a hugh hurry to get him posted.

Creations in Fiber 2009

What can I say about the Creations in Fiber conference in Albuquerque?
It was the most fun I've had since.........well since Cifi 2008 I guess.
The people where fantastic, the teachers where the best and to top it all off this happened:

This years theme for the challenge dolls was musical.......
So somehow my, admittedly strangely wired, brain came up with a street musician.
Will you believe that this doll won judges choice and had a 100% score..........it left me totally gobsmacked.

 

Below is a slideshow of some of the pictures I took. You'll see Arley Berryhill's dolls, he gave a fantastic presentation and brought in so many of his fabulous dolls. Challenge and Show-and-Tell dolls and ofcourse our class dolls.