It’s extraordinary enough to have one local quilt chosen to be showcased in the prestigious Winsor Col.-based Hoffman Challenge, but to have two quilts by two quilters from Nunda chosen is really worth bragging about.
Karen Roll and Cindy Welch are two among three in New York State; and two among 160 quilters from around the world that now have their work in the Hoffman trunk show – a series of 12 travelling trunks that feature winning entries on display in some of the nation’s largest international quilt shows for the next year.
Their quilts are in different trunks from each other, which mean their entries are featured in different shows. Their quilts were chosen out of more than 1,000 entries.
“There were quite a lot of entries, so we were delighted to get to travel,” Roll said, adding the goal for she and Welch was just to enter the contest, not to be chosen.
“This is like winning the Olympics,” Welch said. “Maybe not the gold, but maybe the silver.”
Every year, Hoffman chooses a fabric, and then challenges participants to make a quilt using that fabric. This year’s fabric isn’t a type of design that Welch or Roll would normally use, so to them, this certainly was a challenge — and because to, is perhaps even more noteworthy that their designs were chosen.
“We challenged each other to the challenge,” Welch said, adding that they piece their quilts differently from each other. “I do mine by machine, she does hers by hand.”
Welch said that because they make their quilts differently, “I really appreciate what she does and she really appreciates what I do…even though it was a competition, we were competing with each other in getting it done, we weren’t competing against each other with what we were doing.”
Roll’s quilt is called “In-a-gadda-da-vida,” or “In the garden of Eden,” and depicts a woman with the Hoffman-chosen flowers in her hair and clothing.
Welch’s quilt is called “By the waterfall,” and is an abstract rendition of the Genesee Falls.
This is the 25th anniversary of Hoffman Challenge.
It’s extraordinary enough to have one local quilt chosen to be showcased in the prestigious Winsor Col.-based Hoffman Challenge, but to have two quilts by two quilters from Nunda chosen is really worth bragging about.
Karen Roll and Cindy Welch are two among three in New York State; and two among 160 quilters from around the world that now have their work in the Hoffman trunk show – a series of 12 travelling trunks that feature winning entries on display in some of the nation’s largest international quilt shows for the next year.
Their quilts are in different trunks from each other, which mean their entries are featured in different shows. Their quilts were chosen out of more than 1,000 entries.
“There were quite a lot of entries, so we were delighted to get to travel,” Roll said, adding the goal for she and Welch was just to enter the contest, not to be chosen.
“This is like winning the Olympics,” Welch said. “Maybe not the gold, but maybe the silver.”
Every year, Hoffman chooses a fabric, and then challenges participants to make a quilt using that fabric. This year’s fabric isn’t a type of design that Welch or Roll would normally use, so to them, this certainly was a challenge — and because to, is perhaps even more noteworthy that their designs were chosen.
“We challenged each other to the challenge,” Welch said, adding that they piece their quilts differently from each other. “I do mine by machine, she does hers by hand.”
Welch said that because they make their quilts differently, “I really appreciate what she does and she really appreciates what I do…even though it was a competition, we were competing with each other in getting it done, we weren’t competing against each other with what we were doing.”
Roll’s quilt is called “In-a-gadda-da-vida,” or “In the garden of Eden,” and depicts a woman with the Hoffman-chosen flowers in her hair and clothing.
Welch’s quilt is called “By the waterfall,” and is an abstract rendition of the Genesee Falls.
This is the 25th anniversary of Hoffman Challenge.
