The Sky / Le Ciel

The wrapping of the earth by the sun in a 24 hour cycle gives us, every morning, a new day after a night of darkness.  The stunning colours of dawn arouse feelings of reassurance within me.  By making hand stitched quilts, I hope to share similar emotions of affirmation and care.  Judy Martin 2025

On July 10 from 5 - 7 pm, the Art Gallery of Sudbury hosted a "meet the artist event" to introduce Judy Martin to the public. Refreshments and remarks were in 170 Elgin street, just down the street from 174 Elgin street (the main exhibition space for the gallery.)

Under Drifting Stars

The event was well attended by Sudbury artists as well as friends and neighbours of the artist.  

  

Prayer Cloth: Hope

Sharron Sarchet and Elyse Portal shared images of the event on social media.  Judy Martin has not yet been able to document the exhibition herself and is very thankful for these photos.

Cloudy Day  

The exhibition was beautifully installed by the curatorial staff of the gallery.  Several pieces are suspended from the ceiling so that both sides of Martin's quilts can be easily seen. 

The mix of sizes and also the manner of installation made moving through the exhibition a delight.  The thirteen quilts and two bundle sculptures fit into the space very beautifully.  

Judy Martin in front of Starry Starry

The Sky / Le Ciel continues until August 30, 2025 at 174 Elgin Street, Downtown Sudbury.  

10 - 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday.  (closed Sunday and Monday)

Meet the Artist: July 10 2025

 

Come meet Judy Martin, the artist behind our latest exhibition The Sky: New Quilts.   

The exhibition continues at the Art Gallery of Sudbury's main exhibition space, 174 Elgin Street, downtown Sudbury, Ontario, Canada from June 17 to August 30, 2025.   

The Meet the Artist event is on Thursday, July 10, from 5 - 7 pm.  Refreshments will be served.  

For more information, visit the art gallery's website.  artsudbury.org

poet in love at quilt canada 2025

poet in love, old cotton quilt with velvet patches by Judy Martin

Renewal, the juried exhibition of Canadian members of Studio Art Quilts Association, was one of the special exhibits at the Canadian Quilters Guild conference that took place June 18 - 21 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

poet in love second side, silk and rayon patchwork and hand quilting by Judy Martin 2022

Judy Martin's repaired and distorted quilt, Poet in Love, is part of this exhibition.

The title was inspired by Sappho, the greek poetess who wrote about Eros and by Anne Carson, the Canadian poet who studied her and then wrote Eros, the Bittersweet.  

When a poet is in love, they are full of so many emotions, they are basically wrecked.

The Sky / Le Ciel is installed in Sudbury

from left:   all the lived emotions (the two sculptures),
sacred ground,
the day, the night, and then the day again,
and prayer cloth: hope

The Sky : New Quilts by Judy Martin has just been installed in the art gallery of Sudbury.  Martin was invited to exhibit at this venue for the entire summer (June 17 - August 30) by gallery director/curator, Demetra Christakos.  Ally Zmijowskyj Carlos was in charge on the installation of the fourteen textile artworks.

from left:  under drifting stars, sky with many moons,
starry starry in middle of room,
the day, the night, and then the day again,
prayer cloth:hope and inner world.

The opening reception will happen on July 10, 5-7 pm.  

This exhibition is being shown at the art gallery of Sudbury's temporary location, (174 Elgin Street, downtown Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.).  The art gallery of Sudbury will be moving into a renovated building in 2026 or 2027.  

Breaking the Blocks podcast

The Art of Imperfection: Judy Martin's interview with Rachel Pierman is live.  Click here to listen.    For those who prefer to watch as well as listen, there is a youtube version. click here 

Velvet Journal: The Rescuer  by Judy Martin 
an english paper pieced velvet journal with magazine and journal papers left in
this is the second side of this piece
the first side is made of party fabrics and black velvet hearts
hand stitched, 54 x 66 inches, 2001
An excellent example of a two-sided quilt. 
The back represents the inner life, the front, the dress-up we wear to face the world.

Claire Keegan said:   

“We all have a life we show and a life we hide and we have a life that we quietly live.”  

Perivale Gallery opens for the summer 2025 season

 

Prayer for the twenty-first century: Family 
red thread on cotton and wool, 2025 12 x 12 inches

Prayer for the twenty-first century:  Understanding 
red silk thread on linen , mounted on wool blanket 2025 12 z 12 inches

Prayer for the twenty-first century:  Courage
  red and gold thread on linen, mounted on wool blanket, 2025  12 x 12 inches

Prayer for the Twenty-first century: Freedom 
 red silk thread on linen, mounted on wool blanket 2025 12 x 12 inches

a quilt for baby earth  red thread on linen, hand quilted to pink linen backing, velvet applique, embroidered text by Canadian poet PK Page, "Planet Earth"

This season, Judy Martin is showing four small red thread embroidered pieces and one crib-quilt sized artwork at the Perivale Gallery on Manitoulin Island.  The gallery opens with Ivan Wheale's solo exhibition on the long weekend.  May 16.  The gallery will be open on weekends through May and June.  In July and August, it is open 7 days a week.  

The gallery mostly sells landscape paintings of Canada's beautiful and spiritual wild north - and Judy's work stands out from the rest of the pieces in the gallery because it is abstract and because it is made from hand stitched cloth.  If you visit the gallery and do not see the quilt or some of the textile pieces, be sure to ask at the front desk because things get put in the back room sometimes. x

Please contact the gallery if you are interested in purchasing any of Judy's pieces.    Perivale Gallery

Classics Reimagined

You Are A Single Star
fifty year old appliques, velvet, naturally dyed wool, 89 x 89 inches
hand stitched, 2024

When I was a bride, I made a dresden plate quilt from sewing scraps.  it became worn out after years of use, and in 2019, I began mending it by unpicking the plates and then re-applying them to new wool cloth that I've coloured with local plants. Some of the original patches were worn through, so I replaced those few with silk velvet.  My sensuous youth is held in these stitches.  Judy Martin

Helen Adams, The Textile Curator, was invited by the Surface Design Association to put together a virtual exhibition from the membership.  She decided on the theme of Classics Reimagined, and chose thirty pieces; One of them was Judy Martin's large hand stitched quilt, You Are A Single Star.  

Please visit the virtual exhibition at this link and see the entire show.