Matt Reese. Because he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Tuba Performance from California State University, Long Beach, in the past, he was partial to choosing quilts with a music theme like last year’s, Yuja made by Linda C. Anderson.
For 2018, Matt left his music roots behind and chose Marilyn Badger’s Champagne SuperNova. Marilyn received $5,000 from Sponsor, Moore’s Sewing Center.
Marilyn is an accomplished, multi-award-winning quilter. She was Road’s last Featured Artist, chosen for that honor in 2017.
How did Marilyn start out in quilting? Reading the first edition of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine in the 1970’s!! At the time, she and her husband were living on a boat and didn’t have much room for sewing equipment so she hand pieced a design she saw in the magazine. As she finished the blocks, she would send them to her mother in Tennessee and her church group hand quilted them.
Known for her unique quilt designs, Champagne SuperNova was another Marilyn Badger original. Star Quilts had always been a favorite of Marilyn’s. This quilt evolved from her desire to make a hand embroidered, embellished, red and black quilt. The black gradated fabric was the first purchase for the quilt. Marilyn added the fireworks because as she explained, “What’s an exploding star without a few fireworks in the background?!” After the quilting, when she added the paint, the quilt went from a silverier look to gold. Thus why she chose the name, Champagne SuperNova. Marilyn confided, “The gold theme sort of popped out unexpectedly.” It took Marilyn 9 months to make the quilt. She finished it right before the entries were due to Road.
In January, she was packing to come to the show when she decided to look at her emails one more time before going to bed. It was then that she saw Road’s name in the sender box. What was her reaction when she won? “My heart was beating a little faster than normal when I read the part that said ‘Congratulations.’ Then I read on and saw where it had won Director’s Choice and $5,000. I was totally thrilled and said a big silent thanks to Matt for choosing my quilt!!”
Marilyn hasn’t decided yet what she is going to do with her prize money. Maybe put it “towards my dream car.” She is already ready to put her next quilt on the quilting machine and is hoping it will be ready by Road’s next entry deadline. We will definitely be watching out for it!!
Follow Marilyn on Facebook to learn more about her quilting adventures.
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Posts Tagged ‘Featured Artist’
Director’s Choice Winner
Friday, March 30th, 2018Meet Road 2017 Featured Artist: Marilyn Badger
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016 Red Feathers, where she did the quilting on, won Best of Show in 2013.
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Red Feathers – Best of Show Road to California 2013. Made by Claudia Clark Myers. Quilted by Marilyn Badger.[/caption]
And at Road 2016, Marilyn won 1st Place for Traditional, Large Pieced for her quilt, Arandano. 
Arandano was a therapy project for Marilyn. After making quilts for competition for so many years, this was her first quilt she made just for herself. She never intended to enter it in a show. However, as she approached the end of the project, she decided that maybe Arandano was good enough to enter into competition. When she made the decision to enter it, Marilyn had to go back and correct a lot of flaws to make it competitive. It took her 1-1/2 years to complete from piecing to hand beading. Marilyn says she learned a lot about hand embroidery and beading and she really loved adding those touches to Arandano.
Quilting Treasures sponsored the Traditional, Large, Pieced category and awarded Marilyn $1,000 for her first place win. Of winning this prize, Marilyn remarked, “It is always wonderful to have a quilt you have put so much work on win it’s first time out in the competitive world. I was thrilled and even more so at Paducah where it won the $20,000 Best of Show award and became a permanent part of the collection of the National Quilt Museum. It just doesn’t get any better than that!”
What did Marilyn think when she was asked to be the Featured Artist for Road to California 2017? “Totally shocked! Road to California is one of my favorite shows and I have attended either as a teacher, vendor or student for as many years as I can remember. To have my quilts on display there will be awesome and I can’t wait to meet and talk with all the quilters who stop by to see my exhibit.”
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Exuberance by Marilyn Badger[/caption]
In her role as featured artist, Marilyn hopes to encourage more quilters to enter competitions, as well as inspire the younger generation of quilters to continue the art form. “It has been such a passion of mine for over 30 years and I want to see the industry continue to grow, ” shared Marilyn. In her booth near the front of the show floor, Marilyn will have on display as many of her award winning quilts that can fit into the area. APQS will be furnishing a machine for her use during the show. Marilyn will be quilting some of her own small quilts and demonstrating how she accomplishes her quilting techniques.
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Photo by APQS[/caption]
Marilyn lives in St. George, Utah. Besides being Road’s featured artist, what else does she hope to do while she is in California? “Enjoy the nice weather and perhaps go do a little car racing with my friends.” Be sure to stop by Marilyn’s booth and ask her about that car racing!!
To learn more about Marilyn, please visit her Facebook Page.
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What Is Your Creative Process?
Friday, February 6th, 2015 No two people approach their quilting projects the same. Here, Road’s 2015 Featured Artist, Sheila Frampton Cooper, shares her creative process:
1) First Things First: Palette and Scale* I usually have a color scheme in mind but many times, I will pull out all of my fabric and just start making color choices as I am building a piece. There’s something about actually looking at a particular piece of fabric and deciding if it’s a good fit. After I decide on the color direction, I then consider the scale of the project. Will I use large pieces or smaller ones?
2) Music* Ever since I was a young child, I have had a very eclectic and discriminating taste in music. It’s fair to say you rarely walk into my studio when there’s nothing playing. Music can change my mood in an instant and it energizes my creative soul; this is one of the reasons music plays such a huge part in my creative process. Some of my favorite artists include: David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Grace Jones, Neil Young, theKinks, Elton John, Bootsy Collins, and Parliament Funkadelic.
3) Improvise* I don’t really work in a series. Each quilt is its own thing, so to speak. Often I’m inspired by a piece and I want to recreate that in some way, but it always goes where it wants to go. Improvisation requires thoughtful attention and every move I make takes careful consideration. In some ways, it’s a lot easier to follow a pattern or a predetermined design. Creating without an initial plan gives me the opportunity to make decisions throughout the construction of a piece and for some, that can be daunting. However, I thrive on that and when I run into a challenge, I step back, quiet my mind, and wait. I wait with the knowledge that a solution will dawn on me, and it always does, without fail.
4) Favorite Tip. I use Superior Threads mono poly in my bobbin. I wind the bobbin and use 50% speed. This also saves thread and gives a nice look on the back of the quilt.
How do you approach your creative process?
*Part of this text was adapted from an article that appeared in the May 2014 issue of American Quilter Magazine.
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