I obviously love fabric. And I have a decent collection from shops all around the United States and from several foreign countries. Traveling to teach fabric collage has been a wonderful opportunity to add to my stash.
Of course, in the last 18 months or so, my traveling has been severely curtailed. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t added to my collection.
My Live Online Classes (one of which has just finished up this last week of September 2021) have given me the perfect excuse to purchase fabrics from a couple of my favorite sources. For each group of students I order a selection of fabrics, then assemble them into “fat-eighths” bundles to be mailed to their homes.
These welcome-to-class gifts serve the purpose of showing students concretely the kind of fabrics I choose when working with fabric collage.
Then during class week, usually on day two, I show them how I’d use that particular selection of fabrics in a live demonstration of creating a dog’s nose. Using a close-up camera I assemble a nose based on a drawing of my (dearly-departed) dog Pippin as my students watch via Zoom.
Each time I do this demo her nose comes out differently since I’m using different selections of fabrics for each class.
A time-lapse version of one of the Dog-Nose Demos is available to view in this Online Class post from March.
For the welcome-to-class fabric bundles, I chose to order from venues where I’ve taught in the past—a small way to support these businesses during the COVID pandemic.
Dye Candy Fabrics: Elegant and Artistically Inspired Fabrics for Quilters and Fiber Artists
Chris Daly of Woodland Ridge Retreat in Wisconsin had to cancel her 2020 retreats, she switched gears to start selling fabric through an Etsy.com shop. Her taste in the fabrics she carries—fluid designs and nature-inspired shapes—are perfect for my type of fabric collage. Chris now operates not only from her Etsy shop, but also her website: dyecandyfabrics.com.
From Chris:
Dye Candy Fabrics was created in 2006 out of a passion for dyeing and an obsessive need to keep creating more fabric. My mission is and was to make the best quality hand dyed fabrics available. As my business evolved, I found a passion for fiber art workshops and teaching. It led husband Mark and I to the creation of Woodland Ridge Retreat in 2013. We have been in business for 8 years. Four years ago, our new business had grown to a point where I no longer had time to dye fabrics. At the time we added a small line of batiks to our retreat center for guests to purchase during their stay.
When Covid19 hit, we closed our doors for 3 months and mailed back most of the revenue we had collected since the beginning of the year. In 2020 our retreat earnings were a total loss. Thanks to the pivot to selling fabrics through my Etsy shop we were able to turn a small profit. Many customers have asked if we will continue to sell fabrics. The answer is yes! In 2019 we were starting plans to expand our business to include a larger classroom and a dye lab. Proceeds from our Etsy shop will help us follow that dream.
I stock fabrics that many of our local shops do not. I specialize in batiks and digitally printed fabrics from Robert Kaufman, In the Beginning, Banyan Batiks, Hoffman and Windham. Most of the fabrics are suitable for art quilting, raw edge applique and landscape quilts.
Dye Candy and Woodland Ridge Retreat contact info:
Website and shop: www.dyecandyfabrics.com
Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/dyecandy
Facebook: Facebook.com/WoodlandRidgeRetreatwi & Facebook.com/Dyecandyfabrics
Instagram: Woodlandridgeretreat & Dyecandyfabrics
The Quilt Gallery: Kalispell, MT
The Quilt Gallery was where I was supposed to be teaching this past week, scheduled before COVID flared up again. When I decided not to travel right now, I was still able to ship a little bit of Montana here to Maine and to my students throughout the country. A couple of the fabrics I ordered from the Quilt Gallery featured different color ways of Montana Memories, which the Quilt Gallery describes as its “exclusive signature fabric line, made by Island Batik. Beautiful colors in a vivid wonderful design featuring native Montana plants and trees.”
Montana Memories, which features pine cones, pine needles, and wildflowers from the state, was designed by shop founder and former owner Joan Hodgeboom. I’ve taught at the Quilt Gallery for a few years, and every time I’ve added to my Montana Memories stash, above. I find it quite a versatile pattern that I’ve used for (among other things), dog fur, cat whiskers, butterfly wings, and wispy childrens’ hair.
Quilt Gallery contact info:
Wonderful new shops with all the fabric I could possibilities want. I’m so in trouble! Thanks Susan, I think 🙂
2 areas that I had trouble with in my dog collage that were the eyes and the nose . So far I’ve seen 2 great ways of using the pattern on the design to accomplish it.
Thank you