The Finish Line: Completed Student Work Volume 10

One of my more popular blog post categories are these “Finish Line” posts—and this is Volume 10—congrats to all those who have submitted their finished quilts!

For you newbies to my blog, these are posts where I match photos of finished collage quilts with their beginnings in my classes through the years. The finished quilts are usually sent to me via email, though it’s not uncommon for a past student to search me out at a teaching location to proudly show me their completed creation. Sometimes they’re repeat students bringing along their previous projects before starting on a new one. Though I’ve also received images of quilts completed independently either from following one of my books, or someone jumping in from reading these blog posts.

In gathering photos for one Finish Line post, I found there was enough overflow for another one next week, and another in September, and probably more. There was a little backlog since Volume 9 was posted back in January. So sit back, enjoy and appreciate all the hard work—sweat and sometimes tears (though not usually blood)—that have gone into the making of the fantastic quilts that have been corralled for today’s post, as well as all the past and future Finish Line blog posts.

Thank you to everyone who sends in their quilt photos and stories—and stay tuned to when I get the opportunity to post them!

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Empty Spools Seminars, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA

It’s a privilege to have taught for Empty Spools Seminars (at Asilomar) every year, for many years running—at this moment I couldn’t tell you when I started there, it’s been that long. For quite awhile, it’s been two classes back-to-back each year. With 20 students in each, the student count is adding up. So it was no real surprise when many of the afore-mentioned Finish Line submissions were generated from these classes. So much so, that this Volume 10 will be turned over to a few of those students (with more to come later).

April 2015

Even after all the classes I’ve taught, I still find they each have their own personalities. And though April 2015 wasn’t my first year at Asilomar, it was the first that began one morning with googly-eyes on almost all works in progress—with giant teacher-sized eyes greeting me on my own quilt (below left). Another morning, there was an invasion of cute little fabric bees, landing here and there on projects (below right). I can’t be sure, but I believe I’ve figured out who the instigators of such creative additions were, though everyone looked in cahoots.

2015 was the first year that Pam Munns took one of my classes—that’s her iguana above and below. Since then, she and her BFF Bonita (Bonnie) Shaw have attended an Asilomar week in 2016 with me, and a couple days just last month at Morro Bay, CA.

Regrettably, any class photos I took prior to starting my blog (in November of 2015), were usually culled down to final classroom versions, with all in-progress shots discarded. It would be nice to look back and see all the trials and tribulations Pam went through with her iguana, but just look at that final result below. Wow. As always, click on any photo to see it larger.

Right off, Pam “got” the technique of using the prints in the fabrics to add visual texture to her image. None of the prints used are a single large piece of fabric, but a collection of bits and pieces that blend together to give the overall patchy/scaly texture of the reptile.

Bonnie Shaw’s 2015 fabric collage was named “Buddy the Sea Turtle & Friends.” Actually, according to the label on the back of Buddy, it was her “first formal quilting class,” going on to say, “designed, glued, quilted by Bonnie Shaw aka Grammie/May 1, 2015. What an adventure! Thank you Susan Carlson! I think.”

Well Bonnie, you definitely jumped in with both feet. Buddy’s got great personality. When Bonnie sent me this photo of her finished quilt, I decided not to crop out the framing created by her admirable fabric stash.

March 2016

One year later, Bonnie and Pam were back in my Asilomar 2016 class. During the preceding year as practice, Bonnie collaged and quilted those two geckos you see above—based on one of my patterns she had picked up to play with.

But she came to this second class to challenge herself with an image that was important to her. In her words:

With regard to the “I am Crow “ Native American Indian Quilt, I love all things Native American. The theme in my house is mostly Native American, I have been told that there are  ancestors on my moms side of the family that are Choctaw Indian. After searching for a Native American Indian as my inspiration for the second class I took with you, I found this I am Crow Picture from the Kirby Sattler website.  I fell in love with the image and wanted to see it in fabric. An email was sent to Mr. Sattler after I started the quilt to confirm it was ok to use his image.  He sent word back that it was ok and to just give him a mention if the quilt was used in a show.

Bonnie made nice use of black translucent fabric to create the war stripes down the Chief’s face—it allowed the variations of skin tone to show through, as it would in real life. On the back label of this quilt, Bonnie wrote, “Very fun project!!!” She is an enthusiastic person. She also told me, “I love your classes so much and the process is just amazing!!!” Thank you, Bonnie.

It was last month in the Morro Bay class that I got to see the finished version of “I am Crow”… Carlson. Now, this needs an explanation. You see, one day I came into that 2016 class and everyone had added “Carlson” to the end of the titles of their projects. The common denominator between the 2015 and 2016 classes, with the googly-eyes, bees, and quilt titles? Bonnie and Pam. Hmmmmm.

June 2018: Seven Sisters Quilt Show, Morro Bay, CA

As I mentioned, these ladies have, so far, been in one other class of mine, the 2-day Fish, Bug, and Butterfly class in Morro Bay, CA. Pam brought her stink bug quilt (above) to show the class, a project she had done on her own. In Pam’s words:

The big bug quilt is called “I Like Big Bugs and I Cannot Lie.” I can’t help but think that’s not original because of all the bugs that have been made in a Susan Carlson class, someone probably thought of it first! (side note: my husband would have named it Hinky Stinky Parlais Vous because I have an antique sheet music page with that song in my studio that he makes fun of all the time.) There was a stink bug in my studio and I had to put the old boy OUT!  I then went about drawing a realistic picture of a stink bug, although the colors are made up!

In getting information together for this blog post, Pam also sent me:

The iguana was originally named Thor Carlson, but after a little research on coloring and the anatomy of iguanas, I think HE is a SHE.  Thor’s name is now Donna…the Iguana…Carlson.

I’m almost finished with Cuda Carlson, Susan!  After class I went home and made one of your spirals just for fun.  It has morphed into something else that I’ll be getting finished and will share that also.  As always, we loved your class and seeing what everyone else was doing.  It never gets old.

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March 2016: Empty Spools Seminars, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA

My first stop on that trip to Morro Bay, was at the Seven Sisters Quilt Guild Show in San Luis Obispo, CA. There, as I mentioned in my blog post about that teaching trip, I got to say hi to Linda Edell, the chair of this year’s show, and a former student from Empty Spools Seminars 2016.

Linda escorted me to where her completed fish from the class with me was hanging. It’s name? “Hot Lips Carlson.” Of course. On the tag for the quilt, Linda wrote:

I took a class from Susan in March of 2016 at Asilomar. I had a wonderful time and this is the result. It was one of those classes that everyone just clicked. We had so much fun in the class that all of us surprised Susan by naming our quilts with Carlson at the end.

Previously, Linda had emailed me:

I will never forget the moment Bonnie was trying to be so stealth about the Carlson addition with you standing there.  I laughed a lot last week.

I think the fun Linda felt in the class is reflected in her fish. She’s another one who used the prints in her fabrics very nicely to portray the fish parts, and blending the yellows and oranges for a body that glows. And some darn good lips too.

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Another submission from the 2016 Asilomar class was from Elaine Swatniki, of the completed portrait of her granddaughter, Sloanie. From Ellen:

Thank-you for a fabulous class-even though day 3 was painful😂.*  I love this finished piece!  I did use a touch of fabric paint here and there but not much. My friend, Gloria Mauno, quilted her for me. “I Can Dress Myself!”  will be a favorite for years to come.

(*I usually warn my classes that they may very likely hit a wall with their project a little way into the week.)

I remember Elaine worked hard to find the best possible fabrics to accurately portray the mis-matched wardrobe that her granddaughter tended to gravitate toward. If you look closely at the in-progress photo below, you can read the working title: “Sloanie ‘I Can Dress Myself’ Carlson.”

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March 2017: Empty Spools Seminars, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA

Bouncing back to the Seven Sisters Quilt Show last month, was another quilt I recognized, a pelican from a 2017 Asilomar class, by Karen Gray. I remembered that it was a particular and special pelican, nicknamed “Morro.” And a year later, here I was, able to experience Morro Bay and it’s circling pelicans myself.

Now, I’m all about color, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to be. Karen had her reasons to stick with the coloring of a California Brown Pelican—mostly, it need to be this pelican. She made good use of the visual textures in her printed fabrics—there’s layers and direction in the feathers, accomplished very nicely by the prints instead of re-creating each and every feather. I especially liked the use of the script lettering to give highlights to his wings.

In the description for the quilt show, Karen wrote:

I designed and made this from a photo I took of a rescued pelican named Morro, who cannot fly. He is being cared for by Willow Creek Wildlife. I made it in a class at Asilomar by Susan Carlson in 2017. After the show I will donate it to them.

Lucky bird. Enjoy your new home, Morro.

And with Morro, I’ll end this week’s collection of finished quilts. More to savor next week!