Members of the campus and larger Grinnell community now have the chance to warm up at the Grinnell Arts Center with the coziest exhibition to date. Judy Martin’s “Made in Grinnell: Quilts of the World, Renowned Quilting Author” quilt show opened to the public in the Stewart Gallery on January 8 and is scheduled to continue through January 29.
An artisan of 45 years, Martin is well-established in the quilting world. She has been featured in a number of quilting books and shows around the country, including a 2013 show at the National Quilt Museum in Kentucky. “Made in Grinnell” is Martin’s first show in the Arts Center since the opening at its current location in 2008, but Martin has worked with the Grinnell Arts Council to display her work for the Grinnell community in other locations in the past.
Martin’s passion for quilting originally began as a coping mechanism during her college years, and has blossomed into a fully-fledged creative business venture.
“I was a college student, and I came home for Thanksgiving and it wasn’t the home I had known because my parents got divorced in the interim. My mom was at a new house and I was feeling kind of disconnected,” Martin said.
In order to ease this sense of disconnect, Martin channeled her energy towards a creative outlet.
“I had always sewn, my mother had sewn clothes, and so I ended up going through some boxes of fabric that were left over from cutting out clothes and I decided I would make a quilt. I had never seen one. I just made it up as I went along. My first few quilts were patterns I made up because I didn’t know that they came in patterns. I just thought they came in squares.
Since then, Martin has used her range of talent to develop creative patterns through the marriage of innovation and tradition. The show features 13 quilts made over a 21-year period. All of the quilts combine aspects of traditional quilting with Martin’s modern flare through her use of colorful fabrics and original design patterns.
“They all look traditional, but the details are all original,” Martin said. “That’s kind of my niche, traditional-looking original works. I’m not usually doing something earth-shattering with the design, but I’ll mix different things.”
Martin’s work reflects the changes in popular quilting styles over time, which can be easily seen in the variety of patterns and colors used in the works in her show.
“Part of it is what is stylish because I have to keep up with the times, and part of it is that I don’t think I have a particular one style,” Martin said of the diversity in her work.
“Partly it’s what fabrics you can buy. The selection of fabric available now is fantastic.”
While Martin’s specialty lies in the art of quilting, she is also a business-savvy mathematician and an accomplished publisher and author.
“I made a few quilts during college and then after that I got seriously interested. It became my business,” she said.
Martin has written 22 quilting books, some of which detail the math involved in the art of quilting, and has successfully developed a board game based on quilt shows. These bonus creative works can also be seen on display at the Arts Center in town.
Although her pieces may be seen as too ornate to be used functionally, Martin insists that her family and friends have taken advantage of her talents.
“We have more than enough quilts for our beds,” she said.
With quilts ever present in their household, Martin’s family became increasingly interested in taking part in her art form. Martin’s husband and two children have all designed quilts; her daughter has even created one of her own.
Their involvement didn’t stop there. Martin’s son has entered and won barn quilt design contests, and frequently contributes to the designs in her books. Her husband also contributes to her artisitc endeavors by helping her publish books and helping her design her board game.
Martin’s show is open in the Grinnell Arts Center in the Stewart Gallery, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.
