Melissa Sobotka of Richardson, Texas made and quilted Silk Road Sampler, the 2016 Best of Show winner sponsored by Gammill Quilting Systems. Melissa received $10,000 for her winning entry depicting an ancient Istanbul spice bazaar.
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Silk Road Sampler by Melissa Sobotka[/caption]
You had to see Road to California’s 2016 Best of Show winner in person to believe that it was truly an art quilt!!! At first glance, some of our guests actually thought that winner, Melissa Sobotka, just stitched over and around a piece of fabric. That’s how intricate and amazing the appliqueing was for Silk Road Samplers.
Melissa got in to quilting by accident. “I was making some banners for my church when a friend suggested if I put some batting in the banners and added some stitching, I would have an art quilt. I had never heard of Art Quilts. I did some research and was fascinated by this art form so I got some scraps of fabric and taught myself.”
It took Melissa 5 months to complete Silk Road Sampler which was inspired by a picture she took in the spice market in Istanbul. She thought the designs on the pillows were something that many appliquers would appreciate and that it would be a busy enough design for her to enjoy working on for many months.
About 4 months into the project, Melissa wondered. “What have I got myself into?” The detail on the bottom section nearly put her into “a straight jacket.” But as with all her quilts, Melissa just “faced the challenges head on, a little more each day, until it was finally completed.”
Melissa confided that she was in “total shock” when she heard she had won Best of Show. “Road to California was the quilt’s debut show and you never know how a quilt will be received. I feared people would look at it and wonder why anyone would create a quilt of pillows.”
What did Melissa do with her prize money? She took a trip to India for the color festival, Holi, searching for an idea for her next quilt. Melissa hopes that her quilting will continue to evolve; that it will build off what she learns from each quilt that she makes and from the innovations and techniques of her fellow quilters.
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Tags: Best of Show Quilt, Gammill Quilting Systems, Holi, Istanbul, Melissa Sobotka, Spice Market
This quilt is just fabulous! I hope she enjoyed Holi, have as much as I enjoyed looking at all the detail! Truly a work of wonder … the colors…. such craftsmanship. She deserved every penny of her Best of Show purse!
This piece is amazing, pictures doesn’t do it justice
So true!!
I just have to say that this quilt is the most stunning quilt I have ever seen! I kept going back to look at it.
Agreed. It takes several deep down looks to appreciate all it entails.
I volunteered to hang, and got up close and personal with this masterpiece-before it got photographed. Even seeing it inches away and held in my gloved hand…I was breathless!!! Passion!
[…] I’ve looked at photos of Melissa Sobotka’s award-winning Silk Road Sampler quilt, even zooming in on them on my computer screen, and I still find it hard to believe that she achieved this level of photorealism through applique and not digital printing. “It took Melissa 5 months to complete Silk Road Sampler which was inspired by a picture she took in the spice market in Istanbul. She thought the designs on the pillows were something that many appliquers would appreciate and that it would be a busy enough design for her to enjoy working on for many months. About 4 months into the project, Melissa wondered. ‘What have I got myself into?’” Read more on the Road to California blog. http://www.road2cablog.com […]