Ria Mille, along with her friend Rit Verhoeven, have the distinction, I believe, of traveling the furthest to attend one of my classes here in Harpswell, Maine. Ria and Rit came from Belgium in 2013 to my Harpswell Maine Quilt Retreat where they excelled in class, returning home to continue creating large and impressive fabric collage pieces—such as Ria’s ostrich above.
For years after that I’ve received occasional updates from the two, which included pictures of quilts featured in three Fabric Collage Finish Line posts (see below). Ria has been especially prolific.
In 2021, they were both looking forward to exhibiting their work in a large quilt show next door to Belgium in the Netherlands. Sadly, before the show opened, Rit passed away. It was such sad news to receive. I feel privileged to have met both of them when I did. What a pleasure it was to observe their friendship and to see how both Ria and Rit took to the technique of fabric collage—and started on their fabric collage paths.
Ria and Rit’s previous work has appeared in the following posts:
Since that Maine class in 2013, Ria has produced 18 fabric collage quilts. Most are of large animals, often based on the photography of Joel Sartore. Sartore is a photographer for National Geographic. His “Photo Ark” is an attempt to document “20,000 species living in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries.” He has been exceptionally generous, allowing those who ask permission to use his work (with attribution) as subjects for fabric collage. Read about Ria’s experience using Sartore’s images in this post.
Exhibit photos and Ria’s newest work appear below. Congratulations, Ria!
Click on any photos to see them larger.
From Ria:
[Based on] another great photograph by Joel Sartore. Whenever I am low on inspiration, I can always rely on this very talented photographer.
And again the orangutang with baby proved to be a real challenge. What about all these orangey brown long strands of hair? Not the easiest thing to mimic. I worked on this subject during an earlier exhibition of my own quilts. Many visitors were intrigued, which turned out to be quite a trigger to go on and make things work.
Having made several animals after Mr. Sartore’s work gave me more confidence, and it all turned out quite satisfactorily. So, another animal in my private zoo.
From Ria:
One look at this innocent bird, and I was happy instantly. Those big eyes, long eyelashes which I wouldn’t mind myself, and the big blue African sky. What great change of environment in this corona-age.
Great fun! The eyes were a bit more complicated than usually. I had to start over several times. Only when covering the eyes with a transparent purple fabric, did I get the right result: a veiled look.
My granddaughter (8) thinks he is her favorite. Probably because of the setting in a blue sky.
The quilting, as usual, was done by my friend Anne Lillholm (Denmark).
From Ria:
When receiving quite some grey fabric from a friend, this wild creature with its big horns was the perfect subject.
I worked on it during summer in my garden shed. Although I felt very confident with this treasure of new fabric, composing the correct ridges in the horns was rather difficult. A young neighbour, boy of 13, saw me struggling, and kept me on my toes with his keen eye for errors.
Mid October I was invited to participate in a quilt show in the Netherlands. Over a period of 9 years I have accumulated 18 collages. The visitors’ interest was overwhelming. Very proud to say I could share my passion with so many interested quilters.
As we were wrapping up this week’s post, Ria sent us one more email containing the photos below. As I sit here amid a Maine snowstorm, I just had to include this newest in-progress collage of Ria’s—a breath of springtime in the depth of winter—and a glimpse of Ria’s work for 2022. As she wrote, “So you see, I am still hooked on the collages. Love, Ria.”
Be sure to examine the close-up of these hungry nestlings, you can pick out the individual pieces of fabric and see how Ria has arranged and grouped them together to create, from a distance, a seemingly seamless “painting” in fabric.
Ria, you continue to amaze us. Thank you for sharing, again. Love, Susan
International Live Online Class and One-on-One Coaching
If, like Ria, you are from Europe (or anywhere else in the world), and find the distance too far to travel to one of my classes, you do have other options.
We are considering creating an Live Online Class for international students. The time of the class(es) will be adjusted to account for the European (or other) time zones. Please let me know you’re interested in a class and where you’re from. Contact Tom ([email protected]).
If we can gather enough interest, I’ll put together at least one strictly international Live Online Class. I’m afraid you’ll have to have a good understanding of English, though I can gesture with the best of them. Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch (due to German relations) and Tom has some “tourist” Spanish, but otherwise we are (regrettably) monolingual.
For those of you in the the Western Hemisphere—or otherwise able to adjust your sleep patterns, we do have a couple more slots open for our upcoming Live Online Class starting on January 24 (one-on-one coaching begins the week prior). See below for more info.
Fabric Collage Coaching/Independent Study
For international students, Fabric Collage Coaching may be a great solution. The one-on-one feedback can be scheduled to meet your needs.
Fabric collage coaching is hour-long, one-on-one Zoom sessions where I can help someone begin, continue, or finish their fabric collage quilt. With the online annotation I can make on their photos, screen-shots, and an included recording of the session, students are able to take all that information and work on their own at their own time and convenience.
This option would be especially relevant for anyone who would like to delve into people portraiture—a subject that I have yet to develop into an online class, due to its highly individualized nature.
The price for a coaching session has increased from $100 to $129 per session. HOWEVER, I am making a special New Year’s offer through January 31, 2022: Reserve and prepay for as many coaching sessions as you would like for the 2021 price of $100. Actual dates for your coaching sessions—anytime in 2022—can be determined later.
Contact Tom ([email protected]) for more information or to arrange purchase or scheduling of coaching sessions.
Upcoming Live Online Class starting on January 24, 2022
ONE SPACE LEFT for our Live Online Fabric Collage Class for January 24-28, 2022. That’s five days plus a 1-hour private coaching session to be scheduled the week before class. For those of you who have been waiting to join such an online event, we took a good look at 2022’s schedule and realized this will likely be the only 5-Day Live Online Class until later in the fall, as I have in-person teaching obligations to fulfill in between.
Here’s the link for more information.
And here’s the link to register for the class.
This is a five-day, animals-only class. The class day typically runs from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time to accommodate those on the west coast for whom it runs 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
And here’s a link to peruse the work and comments from our 2021 Live Online Class participants.
Please feel free to contact Tom with any other questions ([email protected]). And if you live in another part of the world where our time zones are quite incompatible, yet you’d be interested in a live online class, please let us know and maybe we could come up with an alternative solution.
Oh that ostrich! Fabulous!!
Your newsletters are always great but these with Belgian connection have been really inspiring. I have always wanted to do a chanticleer, now I am motivated to make it happen sometime soon. Thanks so much
Susan B.
Thank you for all your awesome newsletters! I may never make a collage quilt but love to see all the beautiful ones that are made. So many talented people. These Belgium ladies are wonderful.
Susan, you have to feel accomplished in how you have led Ria to develop her talent for fabric collage. Her work is amazing and surely brings joy and satisfaction to you AND to her! Congratulations on your ability to share this gift. I am glad you plan to do less traveling and make time for more of your own creations. Sending love and best wishes to you and family!
Hello Martha,
Thank you for these words of praise. I never knew I had this talent until I met Susan. So yes, she certainly is at the base of all this creativity!