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!
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| 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.”
