Norma Slabbert Quiltmaker
Quilting
About
Norma Slabbert Quiltmaker
Norma Slabbert is a writer and quiltmaker. Her quilts document time and place to reflect the life she lives and the things she cares about. As a journalist and migrant, her work considers the realities of daily life, emotional truths, comings and goings, isolation, belonging, place and displacement, and the space between. The YouTube video below shows a brief overview of Norma’s quilt life. The video was produced for a Lightning Talk presented at the 2023 Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) Conference.
Click on the YouTube link to watch the video:
Lightning Talk – Norma Slabbert: A search for home: how migration changed my quilts (SAQA 2023) – YouTube
QUILT CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 – House Home Place, Morrinsville Gallery, Morrinsville
2019 – Old Skills, New Quilts, ArtsPost Galleries, Hamilton
2016 – While We Stitch, ArtsPost Galleries, Hamilton
2014 – Walled Garden, Minerva Gallery, Wellington
2013 – Walled Garden, ArtsPost Galleries, Hamilton
2006 – Stitched Stories, ArtsPost Galleries, Hamilton
2006 – Stitched Stories, Taia Textile Gallery, Wellington
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 – Selected for Waikato Society of Arts Members Exhibition
2025 – Selected for Art Quilt Australia, Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, Lilydale, Victoria, Australia
2025 – SAQA Japan Regional Exhibition, Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
2025 – Selected for Connection with Fabric, SAQA Virtual Gallery
2025 – Selected for Holiday Memories, OZquilt Network Online Themed Exhibition
2024 – Selected for Art Movements, Ozquilt Network Online Themed Exhibition
2024 – Selected for SAQA Virtual Exhibition – Rituals
2023 – Selected for Art Quilt Australia, National Quilt Museum, Geelong, Australia
2023 – Selected for Changing Threads Contemporary Textile Fibre Art Awards., Refinery Artspace, Nelson
2023 – SAQA Showcase, The Great New Zealand Quilt Show, Rotorua
2023 – Selected for the 2023 AQC Challenge, Australia
2023 – Selected for Memories of Childhood, an Ozquilt members’ virtual exhibition
2022 – Selected for Textile Expressionism (SAQA Virtual Gallery)
2022 – Selected for Changing Threads 2022 – the Contemporary NZ Textile Fibre Art Award
2019 – Selected for National Quilt Symposium 2019, Auckland
2019 – Selected for Art Quilt Australia 2019, National Wool Museum, Geelong
2019 – Ailsa Graig Quilt and Fibre Arts Festival, Canada
2018 – Auckland Festival of Quilts 2018, Auckland
2018 – Australia Wide Six Exhibition, Sydney, Australia
2018 – Art Quilt Australia @ Yarra Ranges Regional Museum
2017 – Japan Challenge, Handmade Makers’ 2017, Yokohama, Tokyo
2017 – Auckland Festival of Quilts, Auckland
2017 – National Quilt Symposium, Creative Construction, Christchurch
2017 – Art Quilt Australia, Queen Victoria Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
2017 – Australasian Quilt Convention, Melbourne, Australia
2016 – Auckland Festival of Quilts, Auckland
2015 – Purple Challenge, Aotearoa Quilters, Palmerston North Quilt Festival
2012 – The BIG Quilt Show, NorthArt, Auckland
2012 – What the World Needs Now, Australasian Quilt Convention, Melbourne
2012 – Connections, NorthArt, Auckland
2012 – Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton
2012 – Year 60 Quilt, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton
2011 – Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton
2011 – On the Surface, Aotearoa Quilters challenge and travelling exhibition
2010 – Made in New Zealand 11, NorthArt, Auckland
2009 – Made in New Zealand 11, 15th European Patchwork Association, Sainte-
Marie-aux-Mines, France
2009 – World Quilt Show, New England, Manchester, New Hampshire; Pennsylvania
2009 – National Quilt Extravaganza; Pacific International Quilt Festival, USA
2009 – POST Stitch, Lopdell House Gallery, Titirangi, Waitakere City
2006 – Australasian Quilt Convention, Melbourne
2005 – NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton
2005 – Quilt Auckland National Symposium, Auckland
2005 – The Subversive Quilt, Auckland
2004 – Whakatane District Community Arts Council
2004 – Celebration Quilts, Taia Gallery, Wellington
2004 – New Zealand Quilts, Pataka Art Museum, Porirua
2002 – Calling All Quilts, Hamilton
2001 – Celebrate the Quilt, National Symposium, New Plymouth
2000 – Calling All Quilts, Hamilton
2000 – Contemporary New Zealand Quilts exhibition, Pataka Art Museum, Porirua
1998 – A Passion for Quilt Making, Bellville, Cape Town
1998 – Transformed: Textiles as an Expressive Medium, Durban
1998 – Innovative Threads, Cape Town
1997 – Innovative Threads, Cape Town
1997 – The Quilt Fairs: Sussex, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Bruges
1996 – Innovative Threads, Cape Town
1996 – Seasons National Quilt Festival, Durban
1994 – National Quilt Festival, Cape Town
1987 – Designer Crafts, New Forum, Cape Town
AWARDS
2023 – Best of Show, Auckland Festival of Quilts. Quilt: The Colour of War
2023 – Best Professional Quilt, Auckland Festival of Quilts. Quilt: Home – Where Lives Intersect
2018 – Best of Show, Auckland Festival of Quilts 2018. Quilt: Wall
2017 – First Prize, Modern Quilts, Auckland Festival of Quilts, 2017. Quilt: Modern Conundrum
2016 – Best of Show, Auckland Festival of Quilts2016. Quilt: No Entry
2005 – Best of Show, 2005 NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton. Quilt: I thought I Saw Some Red Hot Pokers in the Gully
2005 – Best Innovative Wall Quilt, NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa. Quilt: I Thought I Saw Some Red Hot Pokers in the Gully
2004 – Best of Show, 2004 NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton. Quilt: Welcome on Foreign Soil
2004 – Best Original Wall Quilt, 2004 NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa, Hamilton. Quilt: Welcome on Foreign Soil
2002 – Best Wall Quilt, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton. Quilt: I Had a House in Africa
2002 – Best Contemporary Entry, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton. Quilt: Foreign Soil
2002 – Merit, Original Wall Quilt, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton. Quilt: Sacrifice
2000 – Merit Award, Contemporary New Zealand Quilts, Pataka Museum, Wellington. Quilt: I Had a House in Africa
2000 – Merit Techinical Excellence, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton. Quilt: Raw #2
1996 – Third Prize, Art Quilt Small, Seasons National Quilt Festival, Durban. Quilt: Seasons of the Soul
1994 – First Prize: Tomorrow Innovative Small, National Quilt Festival, Cape Town. Quilt: Journey in May
1994 – Judges Choice, Jonathan Shannon, National Quilt Festival, Cape Town. Quilt: Journey in May
JOURNALISM AWARD – ON QUILT MAKING
1995 – Roland Hill Award, Best Journalism Dissertation, University of Stellenbosch. Dissertation theme: Quilt Making: Art or Craft
SHOLARSHIP
2012 – Aotearoa Quilt Scholarship Award, New Zealand
QUILT JUDGING
2025 – Quilt Judge, Aotearoa Quilters, Members Challenge ‘Winging It’
2021 – Juror, SAQA Oceania: Distance and Diversity, New Zealand and Australia
2019 – Quilt Judge, Great New Zealand Quilt Show, Rotorua, 2019
2017 – Quilt Judge, Fragile Challenge, Aotearoa Quilters, New Zealand
2016 – Quilt Judge, Great New Zealand Quilt Show, Rotorua, New Zealand
2012 – Quilt Judge, Calling All Quilts, Hamilton
2007 – Quilt Judge, NANZQ Elemental Challenge
2007 – Quilt Judge, Human Rights Challenge, Quilt Symposium 2007
2007 – Judging Skills Certificate – Jeannie M Spears NQACJ, Auckland
2006 – Mentoree Judge, NANZQ Quilts Aotearoa 2006, Hamilton
WRITING AND PUBLICATIONS
Norma has written on quiltmaking for numerous publications including:
New Zealand Quilter
Art/Quilt Magazine, USA
International Quilting Times, UK
SA Country Life, Cape Town
Vuka, Tswane
Talking Threads, Cape Town
Woman’s Value, Cape Town
De Kat, Cape Town
QUILT BOOKS PUBLISHED
1998 – A Passion for Quiltmaking, Cape Town
1991 – Patterns for Patch Pictures
1991 – Crazy Patchwork
1988 – Patch Pictures
SPEAKING
2023 – Produced a Lightning Talk for the 2023 Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Conference (link in Intro)
2022 – Wallace Gallery Morrinsville – floor talk during solo exhibition: House Home Place
2021 – Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Conference – virtual studio tour and talk
2019 – ArtsPost Galleries – floor talks during exhibition: Family Making Things – Passing on Tradition
2019 – Judge’s Floor Talks, Great New Zealand Quilt Show, Rotorua
2017 – Floor talks on Year 60 Quilt, Australasian Quilt Convention, Melbourne, Australia
2016 – Talk on Year 60 Quilt, The Great New Zealand Quilt Show, Rotorua
2014 – Guest speaker, AGM, Capital Quilters, Wellington – Walled Garden Quilts
2014 – Guest speaker, Peninsula Day, Patchwork Unlimited Turua – Walled Garden
2013 – Guest speaker, Embroiderers’ Guild, Rotorua – Year 60 Quilt
2011 – Guest speaker, Waikato Embroiderers’ Guild – Year 60 Quilt
2011 – Guest speaker, Waikato Patchwork and Quilters – Year 60 Quilt
1999 – Guest speaker, Palmerston North – A Passion for Quilt Making
1999 – Guest speaker, Wellington Quilt Guild – A Passion for Quilt Making
1998 – Guest speaker, Kapiti Coast, Wellington – A Passion for Quilt Making
1995 – Durbanville Quilt Guild – Working on a theme in quilt making
QUILT MEMBERSHIP
SAQA Studio Art Quilt Associates – https://www.saqa.com
OzQuilt Network – Ozquilt Network Inc : Australia’s organisation for art quilters
Norma Slabbert Quiltmaker 