The Fabric Collage Finish Line: Quilted Menagerie

Critters. Why do we love them so much? Even when they don’t love us back, we are thrilled by them. Encounters with wild animals make memories we hold for a lifetime.

Many times it’s these memories that inspire my students’ choices of subjects. Whether it’s meeting a moose in Alaska (Mary McKay), saying hello to a retired mule in Arizona (Sally Carruth), or going for a walk with a rescued goat in her backyard (above, Rhonda Denney), their interactions with animals make a lasting impression that they often want to commemorate in a fabric collage quilt.

The first three animal quilts in this week’s menagerie were started at a MISA West (Madeline Island School of the Arts) retreat at Tanque Verde Ranch, Tucson, AZ in January 2019. The rest came from here and there. As usual, click on any of the smaller images to see an enlarged version.

If you want to submit a quilt for inclusion in a future Fabric Collage Finish Line post use the form and follow the instructions on my Quilt Submission page by clicking the button below.

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Pat Armstrong

The woodpecker Pat started in that Tanque Verde class was based on a photo taken by her friend Ed Wright in Michigan. Just a note that I think I did talk her out of the crane, mostly because of the reflection. Water is very tricky, especially for a first fabric collage quilt.

From Pat:

I had read Susan’s blogs and had purchased her book “Serendipity Quilts.” I started creating some collages on my own, and was very motivated to take a class from Susan. When I saw she was teaching in Tucson, I signed up the first day enrollment was open. Since my 80th birthday was coming up, I decided to indulge myself. It was a great gift and my husband agreed it was so worthwhile! I love the technique and have made a few more.

 

When I first thought about what I wanted to create in Susan’s class, I went to my photographer friend’s file of nature creatures. I fell in love with a photo of a crane in the water with his beautiful reflection. I send it to Susan and she responded that it was much too difficult for my first try. I put the task aside for a while.

Then my husband came up with this woodpecker, commenting that it didn’t look too difficult. I decided to go with it since I loved the red marking below the back of her head and the subtle red belly, the beautiful black and white wings, not to mention her whole profile. I really enjoyed creating her and struggled with the value issues. Susan helped me through that. The feet were a challenge, but I got through that with a little help from my friend Susan. When I got home, I shopped for the gold netting for shading on the log and was pleased with that effect. The netting was interesting to work with.

 

The area I would change if I could would be the tulle covering the whole project. I think it dulled the bird colors a little. On the other hand, perhaps it muted the bright yellow enough to make it look more realistic. I wanted to try some other quilting, but remembered Susan saying to keep it simple so it doesn’t distract from the image. I had fun doing Susan’s special rolled edge binding with a decorative stitch. This was much easier than doing a regular binding.

I’m pleased to say that my photographer friend is very happy with the outcome of Wilma.

 

I’m glad to have her done and can’t wait to start another collage! All the positive feedback that I’ve received from my friends is exciting!

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Lynn Welsch

Here’s another bird from that class in Tucson, this time from Lynn Welsch who lives in New Mexico. She has captured the verve of her backyard flower-garden visitor, with bright colors and a radiant sky.

From Lynn:

My inspiration came from a photo I took of a Roadrunner running through the flowers in my garden. I loved his attitude when he stopped and wanted to recreate him in bright whimsical colors.

He is heavily quilted with invisible thread. All the strips in the sky are little pieces of fabric and all the flower centers are hand beaded.

The quilt was exhibited at the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta and won a third place ribbon in the art quilt pictorial category.

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Mary McKay

Mary had much of her moose done before leaving the MISA Tucson class. When she got home, she continued on her own with help from members of my Susan Carlson Patreon Forum, this is a private group for Patreon supporters. She says I helped with the background and while I did chip in my two cents, the other members also gave her valuable feedback. While you can never recreate the atmosphere of an in-person class, the Patreon Forum and the Fabric Collage Master Class Independent Facebook Group  (for users of the Master Class Manual) are good places for inspiration and support while in your own work space.

From Mary:

I started Mama Moose in Susan’s class at Tanque Verde in Tuscan in January, 2019. It was a wonderful class filled with highly motivated and talented women. Susan is an exceptional teacher who finds time to work with and encourage everyone.

Mama Moose is a reflection on a moose photo I took on the Kenai peninsula. For the most part, I am happy with it although there are so many things, that looking back on it, I would change. The toughest part for me was the background and trying to develop a cohesive theme. Susan had some ideas and that helped enormously. I like to think of Moose as enjoying an Alaskan summer evening and dreaming about the wonderful things that life in the Alaskan bush holds.

 

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Sally Carruth

Sally brought her finished quilt “Sadie, American Mule” with her to this year’s MISA Tuscon class but it was started in MISA West 2017 and she finished it on her own. Sally refers to the wisdom in this old girl’s eyes. I have to agree. And I think Sally caught the wonder of “What could she tell us if she could speak?” in her quilt.

From Sally:

Sadie is a retired Forest Service mule. She was adopted by a friend of mine and now lives in the White Mountains of Arizona. I took a picture of her a couple of years ago and was drawn in by the old wisdom in her eyes. An old working girl with many stories to tell I’m sure.

 

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Rhonda Denney

Rhonda says she wanted to capture the character of her rescue goat Henry in this piece. Well, if she was shooting for humorous, she nailed it. What a good-natured guy he seems to be. This quilt was started at the 2018 Alegre Retreat in Gateway, CO.

She doesn’t say how many other animals she has rescued, but says she is “moving all of our animals to Emporia, KS, this month.” Good luck and bless you for caring for these creatures.

From Rhonda:

Henry is one of my rescued goats. This piece was inspired by a photograph I took of him through the front glass door, as he was waiting for me to take him for one of our usual daily “walk/browse-abouts.” He is such a character and I wanted to try to capture that.

I love this approach. I have done other similar quilts. I loved Susan’s teaching style. She let me do my own thing but provided valuable input. I have entered Henry in several shows including the International Quilt Show in Houston. And, he was accepted to be in Sacred Threads!

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Angelika Busi

Angelika took a class with me way back in 2016 with the Prairie Star Quilt Guild in Illinois. That class was a two day class, so she did a moth (still unfinished, she admits). The elephant below she did on her own, using the collage technique she learned in class, as a gift for her friend, so I’m very impressed.

Because the quilt is so small, it uses very few pieces of fabric. But she makes those few pieces do a lot of work. Look how the variation of color in the tan piece on the forehead provides a highlight in just the right place. Very nice!

From Angelika:

While visiting a dear friend in Hannover, Germany, she showed me a picture that another friend of hers took of a young Asian elephant at the local zoo. It had incredible details; one could even see how hairy that baby animal was. She was so exited about it that I spontaneously decided to use it for a fabric post card for her. Although the small piece turned out a bit larger than originally planned, the fabric collage technique was perfect for the small scale. Because it was an Asian elephant, the border that frames it was inspired by an Indian door shape. I was able to give it to my friend soon after she had moved into a senior home where she had only limited space. Unbeknownst to me, among the things she had kept, were two small elephant sculptures that had special memories for her. The small quilt was a surprise for her and she loved it. Despite the little wall space of her room, it is now hanging above the two elephant sculptures.

 

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Sharon Grab

At my October 2018 Maine Retreat at the Harpswell Inn, I remember that Sharon did a really good job indicating feathers, without cutting—each—individual—feather—a time-consuming and tedious method. Instead she used fabrics which impied feathers, especially with the tiny feathers on the head.

Aside from photos of the finished piece (below) Sharon sent along these photos below, showing how a work space should look (nice and messy!) during the construction of a fabric collage quilt! In-class space to the left, at-home to the right.

From Sharon:

I thoroughly enjoyed the class in Maine in October and everything I learned there. That was just the beginning and pretty much reworked most of the duck when I got back home surrounded by even more fabric choices. I also found it very interesting how my fabric choices and placement changed as I studied every single part of that photo! I worked on the duck many weekends since the class, amazed at how her personality just came to life as I added and tweaked my fabric selections.

Sharon Grab

Sharon Grab

This collage is based on a photo taken by my son Michael (gravityglue.com) at Boulder Creek in Colorado. Of course, the background had to reflect that setting so I decided to just continue with the collage into the background. The background (trees, flowers, water, rocks, and the reflection in the water) was inspired by many of his rock balancing photos over the years [I highly recommend checking out Sharon’s son’s photos of his amazing art with rocks]. Michael’s given his artistic stamp of approval and coming from him, that’s a good thing. I’ve named my quilt “Boulder Balance” for a number of reasons and it has been accepted into the 2019 Houston Quilt Festival in November (first time”¦ I’m a little nervous lol).

 

This collage is based on a photo taken by my son Michael (gravityglue.com) at Boulder Creek in Colorado. Of course, the background had to reflect that setting so I decided to just continue with the collage into the background. The background (trees, flowers, water, rocks, and the reflection in the water) was inspired by many of his rock balancing photos over the years [I highly recommend checking out Sharon’s son’s photos of his amazing art with rocks]. Michael’s given his artistic stamp of approval and coming from him, that’s a good thing. I’ve named my quilt “Boulder Balance” for a number of reasons and it has been accepted into the 2019 Houston Quilt Festival in November (first time”¦ I’m a little nervous lol).

I’ve been creating contemporary art quilts in some form or other for the last 35+ years, and it honestly feels like I’ve been training all those years for this collage technique. I knew from the minute I first saw Susan’s work that this was something I needed to pursue. It was my good fortune when a spot opened up due to a cancellation. This first collage has been the most challenging, frustrating, and most of all so rewarding project I’ve ever done! Many thanks to my grown kids for critiquing the many in-progress photos I sent their way over the last several months! And thank you so much Susan for your patience, guidance, and inspiration to give me the confidence to launch into this beautiful, colorful, and artistic world of endless possibilities with fabric.

 

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Kathleen Cavanaugh

Kathleen attended a class with me at MISA on Madeline Island, WI in 2018. She says she loves the facility and location having attended classes there before.

Believe it or not these shaggy cows—Scottish Highland Cattle (a.k.a. Heilan coo) turn up fairly often as subjects in my classes. Part of what makes Kathleen’s so striking is the off-center cropping, giving a lot of attention to the sweeping curved horn.

From Kathleen:

This quilt was designed from a photo taken by Jani Ylikangas from Kikkola, Finland. I love subjects that capture the viewer face on. Susan explained the importance of the movement in the pattern of the fabric in creating the elements of texture needed to mimic the hair, horn, muzzle etc. I wanted to stick to traditional colors in the picture, and I was happy with my fabric choices but Susan taught me to use color to improve my project. I learned so much in her class. She was very accessible—holding daily lectures and one on one follow up with each student throughout the class day.

 

In class at MISA.  I had several fellow students offer material that would work with my quilt. Part of the class experience is the camaraderie of fellow students.

I found that as the class proceeded I changed my original fabric choices many times. Even after I got home and continued to work on my project! It was a work in progress.

I was happy with the final result although I thought of ways to improve my project even after the final quilting was completed. My friend Merna Bowman hand painted the background fabric and showed me how to make/add embellishments in the grass area. I sewed a hidden binding and I used a smoky brown tulle over the face to secure the edges of the pieces. That said, I would have preferred to leave the tulle off to show the colors from all of the fabric.

I bought and read both of Susan’s books: Serendipity Quilts and Free-Style Quilts to learn the fabric collage method and I also read her blogs and visited her website. BUT taking the class was the best for me. Getting together with Susan and all of the other students, discussing fabric options, color, value, print movement etc. I plan to sign up for the online Fabric Collage Master Class for my next project.