Ruthmarie and Hofmann Originals will be in Booth 532 and 534, featuring their product line of Bead Gravy, Bead Soup Starter, and Bead Soup glass beads. 
Personal: Ruthmarie Hofmann is a compulsive dabbler in multiple techniques. Married for 30 years and the mother of one daughter, Ruthmarie finds inspiration across all ranges of mediums, be it fabric, fiber, paper or paint. She also enjoys nature in all forms, from cellular to aerial photography. She prides herself on trying to be “out-of-the-box.”
How did you get started in your industry? My needle art background is in surface stitchery, beady embellishment and canvas work. I painted custom canvases and sold a line of original work an eternity ago. That interest was born of a self-taught plunge into a 2×3 foot needlepoint rug during adolescence. My first projects were seldom small nor simple. Now, thanks to aging and never ever enough time, my projects are short, sweet and simple.
Tell us about Hofmann Originals: It is a home-based business started by me and my husband in Rocklin, California, that focuses on the embellishment delights of glass beads. Our principal products are hand-stirred beady recipes, packaged under the product lines of Bead Gravy, Bead Soup Starter and Bead Soup. Our products can be found in quilt or craft shops across the USA and Australia.
What is the one tool you can’t live without? No matter what the medium, when it comes to cutting or stitching anything, it better be a SHARP tool or needles. Thank heaven also for rotary cutters and large-handled scissors as aging just isn’t kind to rusting hands.
What is the best class you have taken? An eternity ago when I was still young and dewy, I took a weekend class with Constance Howard. A needlework maven, her delightfully intuitive yet focused approach to design and color still pops to mind today.
Ruthmarie will be teaching #4038 Beaded Fabric Brooch on Thursday evening.
What do you like best about teaching? Watching a student realize that they can easily insert their ideas and personality into a technique and that creativity is truly inherent in everyone.
What do you want your students to get out of your class? “Play” is not a four-letter word and most instructions are guidelines subject to personal tweaking.
What is your best tip for quilters? Always push a little further out of your comfort zone be it a color you don’t normally like or intuitive stitching/piecing. Even if you don’t like the results, the attempt will make you even braver the next time until you are no longer thinking “in the box”. And once you’re out of the box, there is no getting back which, ultimately, you won’t mind at all.
You can find Ruthmarie at: www.beadsoupandmore.com
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