Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Student Work—Finish Line #71

Moose or mouse, face or fish, fabric collage can handle it. That’s what I realize every time I run another Fabric Collage Finish Line post. Whatever your subject is, fabric collage if flexible enough to work for you.

More importantly, fabric collage allows inspiration to go in whatever direction it leads. No dead ends. No road blocks—maybe temporarily, but there’s always a way through.

Look at this week’s collection: a herbivorous ungulate, a semi-abstract panel, a new species of butterflies, and a deep-sea denizen (Kathleen Howard’s quilt, above). Inspiration struck each of these artists differently, but fabric collage allowed them to fulfill their vision.

Once again I am so proud of what these artists have created, and so pleased to share their works with you. Thank you, ladies.

For more “Finish Line” fabric collage inspiration posts, click here. To submit your own “Finish Line” quilts, click the button:

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Dawn Erikson

Dawn Erikson of Chapel Hill, NC, is a long-time fabric collage student that I’ve had the pleasure to work with numerous times—and she’s such a lovely person too. “Mr. Majestic Moose” was a long haul start to finish, but it’s safe to say that the training wheels have dropped off in the creation of this colossal fellow. Congratulations Dawn, you did it! Dawn’s work has appeared in this Fabric Collage Finish Line , in posts about my Fabric Collage Coaching and Choosing Your Subject for Fabric Collage (Revisited)—plus in these two Maine retreat posts: Portland, ME October 2018 and Harpswell, ME October 2019. I loved reading (below) that Dawn was inspired to take drawing lessons to sharpen her skills, and of the collage friends she made in my Maine retreats.

From Dawn:

I have had a fascination with moose and researched photos until I found the perfect photo by Mark Raycroft (www.markraycroft.com). He granted me permission to use his photo.

 

I have completed 6 other fabric collage pieces and have learned from Susan’s Serendipity Quilts book, Fabric Collage Master Class Manual, the blog and coaching sessions. All have provided me a knowledge base to tap into my own creative process.

I started Mr. Majestic Moose during a workshop in Harpswell Maine 10/2019 and am proud to have finally completed this guy. It has been quite a journey to complete and so much learning along the way. I had a great start at the workshop where I completed the first version of the face and antlers. Next, I decided to take a local drawing class to help me interpret lines, shadowing and form, so I could transfer that knowledge to fabric.

Then I had a super fabric collage weekend get together with “my fabric friends” (Vickie Ostrow, Carla Beaton, Kathi Allen, and Christy Beard). Our group started with the love of fabric collage and first met at several of Susan’s retreats. We all gathered at my home in NC and traveled from Maine, Canada, Georgia and Ohio (just before COVID pandemic lock down!). Finally, I invested in two coaching sessions with Susan which were so timely and helped get through several (MANY!) stuck creative blocks. Thank you ALL!!

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Sharon Oldfield

Sharon Oldfield is from Brisbane, Australia. When I hear from far-flung fabric collage enthusiasts like Sharon—who used the Fabric Collage Master Class for this piece—I’m so pleased there’s an online option to share the love of fabric collage. I feel absolutely honored, and a bit teary, when that instruction can be used for such a worthy cause as Sharon’s.

“This is my 3rd project and I love the process,” she says. Be sure to check out Sharon’s fabric collage portrait in this Finish Line post, further demonstrating the flexibility of artistic interpretation in fabric collage.

From Sharon:

I support a world wide organization called Zoe that rescues trafficked children and restores their lives to wellness. This is one of the drawings that some of the children had done and I was given permission to turn it into a fabric collage with the name change. It was tricky working from just a drawing but I wanted something vibrant and full of life. I added wool couching for the butterfly and lettering, and painted dots on the background.

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Kathryn

Thank you, Kathryn from Connecticut, for sending in this lovely butterfly collage, for the story behind it, and heart-felt sentiments attached to it. Also thank you for your kind words of appreciation for our (Tom’s and my) efforts to utilize online resources for teaching fabric collage. Along with owning my book, Serendipity Quilts, Kathryn is a member of the Fabric Collage Master Class, a follower of the Thursday Night presentations, and Saturday blog posts. “Your transition to online education has been very impressive, you have a great team!” she says.

From Kathryn:

I started this collage over a year ago with a Susan Carlson butterfly pattern. Absorbing as much as I could from the Master Class, Thursday nights and the Serendipity Quilts book, I was intending to focus on values and interesting colors. But then – Covid entered our lives full force. I got a call from my son saying he and his staff in San Francisco needed masks, ASAP. I ditched the quilt and began making masks for loved ones and emergency workers.

A friend and fellow Susan fan gave this the name, “Covid Un-masked.” Only 3/4 of the fabric I sewed masks with is represented here. The beads and bangles did not make it on either. My biggest regret: not including some elastic! I did two layers of tulle, navy under copper. And my first real attempt at [free-motion quilting]! I was very fortunate to have this batik for the background, an easy choice.

The story of the quilt is from the top right corner and clock wise:

• Chaos (irregular rectangular quilting)

• A surge of pain and death, (quilted waves of sorrow at the base.)

• Spirals of hope rising like whisks of smoke with the ‘fray’ or fringe of netting (unknown losses, not diagnosed.)

• Shafts of SCIENCE and light emitting near the top and around. The antennae representing the antigen which is actually a ‘Y’ with extra arms.

I completed it on February 23, the day we learned that at least half a million souls were lost in the US alone. And it seems we continue to get complacent and repeat our tragedies over and over.

 

I thought about the lexicon we have adopted; vectors, shed, food insecurity, mono-clonal antibodies, long-haulers, Covid toes, super-spreader events, etc.

 

Help, by encouragement from friends, a talented husband making stretchers, and frame got me to the finish line! We simply wrapped and stapled the piece to a custom stretcher, then sunk it into the frame. Overall it is just under 30 by 23 inches.

 

Here is wishing you good health, happiness and saying ‘thank you’ for helping me accomplish something positive and healing. And yes I still have a mountain of scraps for the next project.

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Kathleen Howard

Kathleen Howard from Santa Cruz County, CA, is another long-term student. Her work has appeared in a couple previous Finish Line Posts (here and here). She most recently was a student in my May 2021 Live Online Class, where she started an adorable quilt of her two dogs Penny and Dejo, a quilt that is now finished and that I look forward to sharing in a future Finish Line!

From Kathleen:

The past year saw news stories of scientific studies about deep sea fish who absorb so much light that they are almost invisible. I just found that fascinating. So, for the monthly [Patreon] Zoom classes, I decided to take on the challenge of working in black and shades of grey to create one of these “stealth fish.” I studied a variety of photos and articles. I bought one of Susan’s fish templates and modified it so that it had an amalgam of characteristics of various species of these deep black fish. I just wanted to try to use shades of black/grey to see what I could do.

It was difficult to work in black/grey tones—and difficult to photograph. The real fish have a sparkle when they are taken out of the water, so I used a sparkly jersey evening gown fabric for parts of the body. That was difficult to work with! I spent quite a while struggling with the gill area. The gills had their own “messy scary” stage. I tried several different ideas, and nothing looked right. I finally hit on the silver/grey and black circular fabric.

I like my Stealth Fish, but I don’t think I will work in black/grey tones again. I found myself missing the interplay of color in the fabric. It was also difficult to find a background that I liked. Fabrics I thought would work were either too bright or too dull. I decided that a green/yellow “shot weave” organza behind him looked like a light from a research vessel. Animals are so often startled in the photos we take of them, especially when we go where they don’t expect to see us.