The Dog Days of Summer. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we’re in the middle of them. But the Dog Days have nothing to do with our furry companions, but rather Sirius the Dog Star, found in the constellation of Canis Major. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, rising and setting with the sun in the summer months (I have not looked into how this works in the Southern Hemisphere, so please excuse that lack of information on my part).
In any case, the ancients theorized that the additional “heat” from this bright star brought on the additional heat of July and August. Hence, the Dog Days of Summer.
So for this week’s post, I’ve picked out a few pup-portraits—and other creature quilts such as a cat, bunny, bugs, burro, and more—to include in this Volume 11 of completed student work. In my “Finish Line” posts, you get to see not only the finished quilts, but also the in-progress shots (when available), to demonstrate the transformation that these fabric collages go through in the process of creation.
The Quilt Gallery, Kalispell, MT: June 2017
Here are two collage portraits of Julie Sherrick’s dogs. The one below left is of beautiful Stella, begun at the Quilt Gallery in 2014 and included in Finish Line: Volume 9. This year when I was in Kalispell, Julie stopped by to show me the completed quilt of her handsome “King” Rufus, below right, begun in last year’s class.
Julie decided begin her portrait of Rufus with his front legs. I do say, when in doubt, start with what’s on “top” as far as the design goes. Working top-down allows one to take best advantage of the design that’s drawn onto the fabric foundation. In this case, Rufus’ legs were certainly on top of everything else, and in the photos below, you can see it worked well for Julie.
She used great fabrics—lots of flowers and petals—to represent his fur. I remember that Julie searched hard for a fabric that was bandana-like fabric for a neckerchief. Finally, she just bought a real bandana at a store.
Julie was just getting into Rufus’ face when I last saw this quilt and it was so fun to see it completed. I’m a sucker for dogs, and have a special place in my heart for any that are shepherd-like, and I just love how this portrait turned out.
Note the glued binding which I talk about in class as well as in my book, Serendipity Quilts. The background is very colorful and fanciful—if I remember right, it’s an abstraction of a real location, a favorite walk of theirs in the mountains—complete with play ball and, of course, a bright summer sun.
Julie also brought in to show six placemats she collaged using my bug patterns. I can’t imagine eating on them! They’re such fun little quilts, with an “I Spy” sort of theme to go with the names she gave each piece (see below).
Empty Spools Seminars, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA: March 2018
Getting back to the Dog Days of Summer, here’s Kathy Sandner’s pet portrait, with dog, begun earlier this year at Empty Spools Seminars in California. As I mentioned in last week’s Finish Line post, I’ve been receiving many images of finished quilts generated from this teaching venue, as the student count has been growing over many years. I saved out Kathy’s quilt for this pup-post.
I only have three in-progress shots of this collage, but they’re good examples of two important points. First, in the photos above, you can see the nice drawing that Kathy generated from her original photo. She took the time to get the features placed correctly, and had enough detail to indicate the edges of faces, coloring, highlights and shadows. And also, she didn’t draw in too much detail. It’s easy to get caught with trying to show too much, like a “crazy paint-by-number” drawing, and Kathy was able to walk that fine line between enough and too much detail.
The second important point is that the photo below shows how far she got in the 5-day class, and that’s okay. She had a good drawing, and in the course of the week, she got a good start. Look at the eyes of that cat and how the face is starting to emerge. I could see that Kathy was “getting it”. Plus, she knew that blue fabrics can work for a white dog, what to look for in printed fabrics to portray tufts of fur, and she had a good range of values selected in the colors for each pet.
I’ve come to believe that it’s not how far someone gets in class, it’s their understanding of the fabric collage process by the time the class ends that counts. And Kathy’s finished quilt is an example of that. Only a few months later and it’s done. Great job, fun “furry” quilting, and very nice eyes. Note how Kathy changed her dog’s eyes in the end. Much better and truer to her dog, Blue.
Empty Spools Seminars, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA: April 2015
Prior to the beginning of my blog in November 2015, I didn’t think much about saving the photos I took in class of student work in progress. I considered them teaching tools that had run their course. When the memory on my digital device was full, I deleted the pics, leaving only the final version for reference if ever needed in the future. Ahh well. Such is the case for Verna Wheeler’s bunny below.
I remember Verna from class though, she has such a pleasant personality and as her quilt developed, it seemed to take on that same quality. It made me smile.
At the end of last year I heard from Verna again when she sent the photo below:
Hi Susan, Here’s the quilt of Sunny Bunny. I took your class at Empty Spools in April of 2015. Again, I loved the class and I love my quilt. I didn’t finish it until 2017. I was intimidated by the quilting part at first. —Verna
And yes, she made me smile again. Every so often a quilt comes along that looks like it should be illustrating a story or fable. This is one of them. I want to know about the asparagus trees and the giant cabbages and the frogs and why Sunny Bunny is looking to the sunrise…. There’s a lot to look at and I appreciate all the details, including that great sky collage. Thanks, Verna. PS—nice job with the quilting.
Alegre Retreat, Gateway Canyons, CO: April 2018
This spring I taught for the first time at Alegre Retreat at Gateway Canyons Resort—where they treat you well. You can read all about it in the link above. Already, I’ve received photos of finished quilts from a couple students, and here’s Karen Adams’ loveable creature, Earl.
Earl didn’t retain that butterfly on his nose, but Karen worked in other fancifulness and color to give him his unique personality.
When I last saw Karen in class, she was auditioning various fabrics, thinking of an Arizona sunset. Here’s what she said when she sent me the finished photo below:
I took your class at Alegre and finally finished Earl. I had a challenge due from another group where I had to use the Arizona landscape in a photo so hence, I created the fabric for the mountains for Earl. This is his natural environment. He was a joy to make and will not be my last with your gluing technique. I know I thanked you but again, I thoroughly enjoyed your class and Alegre. What a treat to go there, learn, relax, hike, ride a helicopter and eat like royalty. Hope to see you again!
I followed up and asked Karen to refresh my memory about this particular burro:
Here is a story I wrote about Earl. I’ve submitted him to the Chandler Quilt Show about ecology. Hoping he and his story make it in. I first met Earl the Burro in Oatman, Arizona in March 2018. Earl was goofy looking with his big erect ears and tuff of fur on his head. Being attracted to animals with personality, Earl and I hit it off immediately. It helped I had carrots in my hand. Earl’s ancestors had been abandoned in Oatman as gold mines closed and early prospectors found more lucrative diggings. The burros (not the prospectors) have been running wild in the Arizona desert since. Stated in an article by Karin Brulliard (March 4, 2016) in the Washington Post, “Arizona Has a Wild Burro Problem”. There are approximately 4800 burros roaming in Arizona and they are a living symbol of the historic and pioneer spirit of the west. Because of this, their fate lies in either adoption or dependence on the harsh Arizona landscape. Based on the burro population doubling every 4 years, our ecology and lawmakers have a big challenge ahead of them.
Good Luck, Earl.
Empty Spools Seminars—Session 1, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA: March 2017
Do you know what a “chuckwalla” is? Well I do now, and that’s it below. Here’s why Terry Millett decided on a chuckwalla as a subject in this Asilomar class:
I live on the desert and love all the lizards. A friend of mine was on a hike somewhere else and took the pic. I do have an email from her giving me permission to use it. This one had different coloring than those that I have seen in my area so piqued my interest. I pushed the colors to the extreme for fun and impact.
Terry did choose some great colors and values that really worked to bring out his rounded lizard body. Like you could pick him up off those rocks. And look at all the work in those wonderful toes.
At Empty Spools Seminars earlier this year, Terry showed this quilt at a show-and-tell. She recently told me that she’s now named the quilt “Lucky Chuck.” I guess she left him in the room at Asilomar. Thanks to the organizers and friends with phones, he was only out of her hands for 4 days. Whew!
Empty Spools Seminars—Session 2, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA: March 2017
Another lizard you could just scoop up and cuddle is “Iggy” the iguana, which is just what Asilomar student Cindy Thompson did on a vacation. You can see in the photo below how happy she was about it too. I agree, I’d be pretty thrilled to meet a fellow like that.
Cindy brought a nice variety of fabrics with lizard-like prints to class, and used them to create not only the texture, but the highlights and shadows of the iguana’s form.
Last year, Cindy sent me the finished photos. I had already known that she was going to place Iggy on a branch—as opposed to in her arms as in the original photo. Here’s what she had to say:
I have finally completed “Iggy”. It was sure hard for me to choose the background, it took me days to find what I thought wouldn’t camouflage Iggy from the piece. I hope you like him…. I entered him into PIQF and he was accepted. I was so glad people got to see him in all his glory. Take care…see you next year at Asilomar.
And I did see Cindy and Iggy this year at Asilomar. I think Cindy made a good choice for the background, and I really like the quilting. She added some nice movement with the leaf design—like a summer breeze cooling off this lounging lizard.
Also in the March 2017 Asilomar class was Terese Siefert, a good friend of Cindy’s. I don’t see many boats as subjects in my collage classes, probably because it’s not what people see me doing, but Teresa made a beauty of a boat. She brought it to show me prior to quilting (below), when I was teaching at Asilomar this year.
Below left is an in-progress photo from the class. Boats and other broad, smooth surfaces can be deceivingly difficult to create in an interesting and cohesive way. Teresa ended up doing a beautiful job with a variety of smooth surfaces—boats, sails, and water. The photo to the right is a detail shot of the finished quilt. Beautiful.
In emailing Teresa, she shared that:
I really enjoyed your class and have recommended your class to others. Cindy told you the news. The quilt has been accepted in Houston this year. Thank you again for all your help.
Congratulations, Teresa!
And in case you’re wondering why I decided to include Teresa’s boat quilt in this Dog Days of Summer post? In it, I see a sultry summer afternoon, the way the light and sky change before a thunderstorm, and a perfect way to beat the heat. Works for me.
Back Home in Harpswell, ME
And now my armchair travels are done for the week, and it’s time to turn to our dogs for my summer days. As you can see below, the adoration between Kali pup and my husband Tom, is mutual, with evening belly-rubs year-round (but not outside in the wintertime).
Felix pup, above right, is the best helper for shucking corn—it’s just the best treat I could offer him—time to pick up some more ears of corn from the farmer’s market.
And this summer, Felix has decided he likes to swim—a really good exercise for “tripods” such as him. On our morning walks I go wading into the bay, which seems to give him a little extra confidence to go a little farther and swim a little longer. And it’s a great way to cool down, for both of us.
Yup, it’s the Dog Days for sure. Enjoy.
Oh the last one is unbelievable. Reflections in water add so much dimension to a piece. I wonder how she managed the water piece.
These are fabulous, Susan!! Thanks so much for sharing the student galleries; they are always so inspirational. I just started working on a dog portrait for my son who adopted a terrier mix…it’s going to be a project, but I’m anxious to get started after looking at these!
Yeah Verna! The bunny is so cute, love what you did. I sat next to you, was doing blueberries which I have yet to complete but it is on my list. My grandson ran his hand across the design wall one day over the quilt and many pieces rained down. I will finish however.
Exciting to see my “Iggy†on your Saturday post. More exciting is to see my two friends Kathryn Sander and Teresa Seifert who are both in my Modesto Guild in the post as well. Teresa and I loved our experienced in your class at Asilomar and Kathy couldn’t wait to take your class there as well.
Thank you for highlighting my talented friends and all the other talents that go through your classes.
Julie did such a great job on Rufus–really captured his happy face, which we all know is no easy task. Another good solution to the background bugaboo (my term for “challenging”). I love Karen’s compassionate treatment of the burro and her efforts to bring about solutions to their overpopulation. I can’t imagine them getting enough food and water in Arizona’s climate!
I love seeing everyone’s finished pieces! Loved Iggy! He would be a fine boyfriend for my Donna the Iguana! I have been taking pictures of boats and Teresa convinced me I’m on the right track. Happy to see someone else do it before me! The pup pieces are wonderful but Earl has my heart!! Great story. Well done, everyone!
All of these are wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing the photos and the info.