I often search for themes among these Finish Line submissions, a similarity that ties them together. Sometimes they are similar subjects, like pets or portraits or landscapes. Or maybe several of the quilters took a class with me.
In addition to a pup, pelican, and spiral, today’s post begins and ends with the basic theme of the fish, bug, butterfly, and gecko patterns available on my website. Two-thirds of today’s quilts are based on those designs. Take Linda Peterson’s “Goldie” (above) based on the “Carpe Carpem” pattern. And in a first, Anita Liberman-Lampear contributed a series of five (count ’em, five) quilts all based on different animal patterns.
These patterns are a great way to step back and relax with fabric collage (if I say so myself!). They’re simple designs with a few extra touches, that give you a chance to simply play with fabrics without the decision of “what should I do?” Since each person approaches the project with different fabric, different skills, even different goals of what they’d like to learn about the collage process, each finished quilt will end up being unique to itself.
We all need a little less stress in our lives. If you’re struggling with a challenging fabric collage, maybe you can take a break and do something just for the fun of it. A fish or bug could be pieced in just a day, but you can also take your time, savor the process, play with it, and enjoy creating with your fabric.
A big thank you to all the ladies who submitted quilts for this post! If you too, have a finished quilt to share with others, please submit it through the link below. Thanks.
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
Linda Peterson
Linda Peterson is from Iowa and made this goldfish based on my pattern “Carpe Carpem.” What a striking study in the complementary colors of orange and blue, though there’s also a sense of isolation and loneliness, isn’t there? It could be I’m reading too much into this image, but it does make me stop and want to look closer at it. Linda has done a great job using the prints in her fabrics for visual texture and movement in Goldie herself, and then added more variation to the single fabric background with strips of tulle and sparkle netting. Very nice! And thanks for being one of my 2020 students—you get an A+! 😉
From Linda:
This is one of Susan’s patterns offered to us when we signed up for some of her Thursday nights in her studio. I signed up for a lot of her Thursday night classes this year plus I joined her Fabric Collage Master Class Manual. 2020 has been a very challenging year for sure! But one very positive thing of 2020 was the ability to take a class from Susan right in my own home! I am a caretaker for my mother and with the additional problem of COVID, traveling has not been possible. In previous years, I have tried to take classes from Susan in person and they have always been full and I was so disappointed. 2020 has had a few silver linings and being able to take a class from Susan has been one. Thank you Susan! I love your teaching style and the collage technique.
This was my first collage quilt using Susan’s techniques. I did the collaging and the quilting. It was fun sorting through my fabric stash trying to find the right shapes and colors. I do look at fabric different now when I am purchasing new. There is tulle applied to the fish and to the water. She hangs in my bathroom where I see her everyday. She makes me smile.
Anne Bynum
Anne Bynum of Charlotte, North Carolina, says this is her second fabric collage quilt. She has learned through my blog and through my book “Serendipity Quilts.” I love the color choices Anne made for this dark solid-colored dog. Even without reading Anne’s description below, I’d guess that this is a very personable pup—I mean, just look at all those tufts of flowered fur—like a flower-child dog. Anne has used fabric prints beautifully to create the visual texture of Faith’s curly fur. I especially like the leaves winding around her shoulders and the touches of lace.
From Anne:
This is Faith and she is my sister and brother-in-law’s dog. She is 10 years old and has a great personality. Because she is so dark I wanted to give her some color.
It’s so nice to see these in-progress photos and how Anne auditioned quite a variety of fabrics before finding what worked for Faith. A good decision to replace the yellow-green highlights on her head, Anne—the cool colors of purple and aqua work best for her coloration.
Lizzie Stebbins
Lizzie Stebbins of Key Largo, Florida and (relatively nearby) Jefferson, Maine, first saw my quilts in a special exhibit at the Maine Quilts 2018 Show. I had the pleasure of meeting her a year later in one of my Maine retreats. Her donkeys, which she mentions below, were begun during that week and can be seen in two previous posts. They first appeared in-progress (along with the spiral, turtle, and mandala quilts she made prior) in “On the Road: Harpswell, Maine Collage Quilt Retreat, October 2019.” The finished quilt, “Romeo and Juliet,” appeared in “The Fabric Collage Finish Line: Online Submissions 11.” Lovely pelican, Lizzie—great feathers and nice work on that bill! Enjoy that warmth in the Keys, I’ll try not to be jealous.
From Lizzie:
I walk from my house in the Keys to the canal across the street to watch the fishing boats come in each day and snapped a photo of this pelican. He was not begging for fish, but just observing. Unlike my Donkey Love quilt, which took almost a year, this quilt came together so fast. And while I planned to piece the background – had a bunch of “water” fabrics picked out – when I laid him on this piece of ombre, well it seemed like serendipity.
After seeing Susan’s exhibit at the Maine Quilt Show several years ago, I was hooked. I bought her book and made a spiral, then a turtle, and was lucky enough to be picked from the waitlist for a class in Maine in 2019, where I started my donkeys. I’m currently working on my first human so stay tuned….
Susan Brier
Susan Brier of Hendersonville, North Carolina, was inspired by a friend who took a class with me. When it comes right down to it, I’d always recommend a spiral as a first fabric collage project, just like Susan has done. I love hearing when a collage “breaks away” and takes on a life and energy of it’s own, and spirals tend to do that. I also like seeing all those added pieces of netting and tulle layered with the prints. Do keep in mind Susan, that the glue is water soluble, so washing that pillow will release the glued edges and create more “texture” than you had envisioned. Vacuuming is fine. I look forward to see where you take the technique!
From Susan:
This spiral was my first attempt. I purchased “Serendipity Quilts” and am excited to be working through Susan’s suggested projects. I decided it was to be a pillow when complete, so I could feature it in my living room. It started out as a smaller square but as the spiral design became more and more exciting, the spiral had to break free of the smaller square. I also used some satin stitching to emphasize the movement of the design. I am a graphic designer, and not a “regular quilter,” so this technique really appeals to me.
Anita Liberman-Lampear
And last, but certainly not least, is Anita Liberman-Lampear of Ann Arbor, Michigan. As Anita mentions below, she’s been in a couple classes of mine, and has attended many of the Thursday Night presentations of 2020. She always has a smile and has had fun with all her fabric collages, which can be seen in these Finish Line posts: first is “Lucy” of the famous grape stomping scene from I Love Lucy, then “Playground Fun!,” and from one of my last classes in 2019 is “Flaming Affair,” finished in 2020. The playfulness of this celestial double portrait leads right into Anita’s newest quilts (below), a series entitled “In Plain Sight,” referring to the many objects “hidden” in these quilts. She told me her plans of these quilts for her grandchildren a little over a year ago. It took Anita 10 months to finish them all, completing the last in October 2020. Each of the following five fabric collages are about 26″ square.
I know exactly what she means when she talks about the Hidden Objects feature of Highlights Magazine. I wouldn’t have thought it was still in print—I got it when I was a kid (just a few decades ago)—and finding the hidden objects was the first thing I did when that magazine arrived. As a special bonus to this post, Anita sent me the list of objects to find. They’re listed here under each of the finished quilt photos below. So pour yourself a second cuppa, and join me in finding the hidden fabric objects. And be sure to note the fun and fanciful qualities she’s given the animal subjects themselves. Thanks Anita!
From Anita:
I used 5 of Sue’s drawings that I purchased at Art Quilt Tahoe 2019. I have taken Sue’s class twice at AQT. Spent many Thursdays these past months on her zoom classes learning more and being further inspired to keep on working on these. I have completed at least 3 other pieces under Sue’s tutelage and inspiration.
Each one has many hidden objects in them. On the back of each quilt is a list of what objects can be found and how many of each. I only changed one drawing—the butterfly, as I didn’t want to make it so wide. This project was inspired by the Hidden Objects pages from the Highlights Magazines that my grand-daughter gets each month and loves. Hopefully my grandson (now one year old) will also love the game. While I do a fair amount of quilt piecing, I love creating these art quilts and have another few in mind. Thank you Sue for getting me on this path!
Can you find these?—12 beetles, 3 baseballs, 4 ladybugs, 2 flowers, 3 bees, 1 sun, 1 owl, 2 Saturns, 2 moons, 1 tow truck, 1 fire truck, 1 backhoe, 1 bicycle, 1 scooter, 1 truck with scoop
Can you find these?—10 butterflies, 1 feather, 13 flowers (purple and blue), 5 dragonflies, 1 squirrel, 1 mouse, 3 rabbits, 2 hedgehogs, 2 moose, 2 deer, 1 owl, 1 bird
Can you find these?—3 starfish, 2 mermaids, 1 snail, 2 seahorses, 3 octopus, 4 goldfish, 1 lily pad, 6 single (yellow/gold) bubbles
Can you find these?—1 gecko, 1 sun, 1 camper, 4 cars, 1 bus, 1 each: Thing 1 and Thing 2, 1 Cat in the Hat, 1 Ham the Cat, 1 onion, 1 beet, 2 carrots, 3 pumpkins, 3 pea pods, 2 elephants, 1 corn, 1 worm, 4 lions, 1 tiger, 1 cactus
Can you find these?—4 turtles, 3 narwhals, 3 whales, 2 shells, 1 coral reef, 3 seaweed plants, 5 water lilies
I’m in the middle of a difficult and time consuming collage, and in need of some destressing and fun I’ve begun one of Susan’s beetle patterns. Anita’s hidden objects have inspired me to add some objects, and a bit more fun, to my beetle. Thanks Susan and Anita!