HeadacheSlayer

I read GWTW for the first time in High School, about the time I saw the film and I was hooked. I started picking up various editions with different covers, different years, even different languages (I have a 2 volume set in Vietnamese thanks to a military friend).

My best find so far is a 1936 edition of GWTW, however, though it’s the first year it came out, it is not a 1st edition, meaning 1st printing. It’s something like the 39th. It’s not in the best condition—not really for reading anyway. I have a feeling a 1st printing will cost me a pretty penny, but that’s what goals are for, right?

I currently have around 20 copies of the book, including a brand new edition with a gorgeous cover (PB). I have more PB than HB due to the age of the HB they are harder to find.

For five years I’ve said “I’d like to enter the Hoffman Challenge Quilt Competition”. And for one reason or another I didn’t. This year I said “I WILL!”

To catch you up to speed, Hoffman Fabrics is a company that makes the most awesome batiks and prints. Every year they choose a print (photo), and you must use that print in your quilt. No more than 2 yards, and the quilt cannot be larger than 40×40 inches. More at www.hoffmanchallnge.com

I decided to use as many of the fabrics I could find in the line, “Treasures of the East”. And I needed a pattern. I found one and fell head over heels. PROBLEM.

Rules state you must get permission to use another’s pattern. I’m just a podunk quilter from nowhere, but hey, the worst they could say is no. I’d have to redraft the pattern anyway to make it smaller so I could easily find a common use block and run with it.

So I emailed the company.

Yesterday there was a letter. YES doof that I am, my hands were shaking. I got permission!!! YEAHHHHHHH!

Talk about a boost of confidence! So now I can begin drafting my pattern. Next week I will order the last of the fabrics. And soon, cutting and sewing! I may have to wait until after the holidays, since I have other sewing to do. But with the deadline not until July 2010, I feel confident.

To see more on this you can visit my blog quiltapalooza.blogspot.com I hope to perhaps add some video, because I’d like to keep the quilt a secret til the end ;)

Thanks for the support!

My first introduction to theatre, outside of school, was dinner theatre. I was hooked. I saw a few “big musicals”—Annie, The Wiz, Peter Pan.

But it wasn’t until college that I was introduced to the wonderful worlds of concerts and opera. Billy Joel. Don Giovanni. Jerry Seinfeld (before he began the TV show). Tosca. Sure there were some duds. Milli Vanilli stands out. Hey we were in the balcony, we couldn’t tell they were lip-synching from there!

So I’ve had season Opera tickets, stood in line to buy 3rd row seats for the Spice Girls (minus Ginger), wept through The Lion King, broke a rib laughing at Bill Engvall, and most recently, rocked my world with GreenDay, the best concert I think I will ever see.

I make it a yearly goal to see at least a few productions. Next year I hope to see The Wedding Singer and the new Little House the Musical (with Melissa Gilbert as Ma). And yes, I’ve promised a friend to try to see Wicked :)

This is a goal I’ll never truly be “done” with, but it will be fun reporting on my journey :)