Podcast - Interview with Carol Veillon, Editor of Quiltmania Magazine

This is my last interview from Manawatu Symposium 2015, but definitely NOT my least.  I was so thrilled to talk to Carol Veillon from Quiltmania magazine.  She travelled all the way from France to be a merchant at symposium and was just so lovely to talk to.

Carol's journey is amazing.  She began with just an idea to start a patchwork magazine because there was nothing that appealed to her.  From selling 12,000 copies of the first edition to being published in three languages, to being a book publisher and running a quilt show - a totally inspiring story.

The stunning quilt we are standing in front of (and that Carol mentions in the interview) was on the cover of Quiltmania 105, designed by Valori Wells.

All the QUILTMANIA Editions's team is proud to inform you that a new magazine is just born and about to come out (in June) : 

SIMPLY MODERNE Quilts & Crafts,

A Great Wave of pure energy and modern style, tracking the latest tendencies in the quilting world and celebrating creative fresh new ideas by young designers from all over the world !

Download this episode (right click and save)

Interview with Sue Benner, Textile Artist

Sue Benner is a Texan textile artist who attended the Manawatu Quilt Symposium as a tutor.  I attended one of Sue's classes and learnt a ton and I also had the privilege of interviewing Sue.

Photo credited to Sue Benner www.suebenner.com

My class with Sue was titled Driven to Abstraction and we completed many exercises on abstracting imagery, using different techniques and focusing on abstracting different aspects of the images.

Here is one of the photos I was working from.  It's taken near Waihi, in the North Island of New Zealand, at an old power station on a river.

Here are the small quilts I made from it.

With a close up of the one that I think is most successful.

After these small exercises I started working on a larger quilt with cormorants as the subject.  I've written and shown more of that quilt here.

Sue was generous with her time and knowledge, and I was particularly impressed with her skills as a class facilitator.  It's not always easy to get a class full of enthusiastic quilters to buckle down, stop talking and start working!

I hope you enjoy my interview with Sue.  I urge you to go and check out her website, her gallery section is truly inspiring.  And if you live anywhere near Texas, Sue has an upcoming show in April at the Texas Quilt Museum.

Podcast - Interview with Helen Pedersen, Tutor Convenor, Manawatu Quilt Symposium 2015

Helen Pedersen was the brave lady who put her hand up to organise the tutors for Quilt Symposium Manawatu 2015.  I wanted to chat with her about how you go about finding, contracting and organising about 40 national and international tutors for five days of classes.  Helen was generous with her time and knowledge and I think you'll find it interesting to listen to how it all worked.

Helen and myself at Symposium

Helen can be found at http://honeybunchquilting.blogspot.co.nz, although she hasn't been very active on her blog lately, and I think I have a fairly good idea of why!  But it's still worth having a look, Helen has some nice quilts on display, including a couple of prize winners.

My audio player is orange today in recognition that orange was the theme colour of the Manawatu Quilt Symposium.  See Helen's vest?  Every committee member wore a variation of an orange vest so they were visible and recognisable - and they certainly were!

Interview with Melanie Martin, Best of Show winner, Manawatu Quilt Symposium 2015

Melanie Martin won Best of Show at the Manawatu Quilt Symposium 2015.  She was absolutely gobsmacked and after the awards ceremony I came across her sitting there stunned with her friends happily congratulating her.  I took the opportunity to ask Melanie for an interview, and while she was too overwhelmed to answer, her friends kindly agreed on her behalf!

Is is Art? Best of Show, Manawatu Quilt Symposium 2015, by Melanie Martin

Melanie discusses what this quilt is about and what it means to her.  We chat about her journey into quilting, her 'year of challenges' and where to from here.

We talk about another of her quilts, and you can see the Aotearoa Quilters Growth Challenge gallery here.  Melanie's quilt is called 'Under Construction'.

I can't find the exact Michael James quote that I talked about, but here's another good one from him that fits in really well with what Melanie and I talked about:  

“Quiltmaking has historically been an art of conformity. I think it’s high time that we relegate that fact to quilt history, and move this art form fully into the 21st century where it should take its place alongside other exploratory and creative media.”

Thanks to Melanie for her time.