This is the second in the pair of posts which are a variation on our usual Finish Line posts. As this post appears I’ve just returned home after two back-to-back sessions of teaching for Empty Spools Seminars 2022, at Asilomar State Park in Pacific Grove, California.
In recognition of the wonderful work that ALL my Empty Spools students have done over the years, we’re featuring the finished quilts begun in 2019 (the last pre-pandemic classes I taught there) below, and finished quilts of the 2016 classes (the first Asilomar posts in my then “new” blog) in last week’s post.
The menagerie of subjects in this selection is canine heavy, with three of the five quilts featuring beloved pets. In contrast to the domestic animals are a fabulous red panda (have you seen the new Pixar movie “Turning Red” yet?), and Kenzie Preston’s stylin’ blue-footed booby (detail above).
To see any image close-up, just click on the photo. Enjoy.
In-Person Class Openings
MISA West (Santa Fe) May 16–20, 2022
Advanced Fabric Collage Quilting
There are currently two openings for this advanced workshop for students who have previously taken two or more week-long fabric collage classes with Susan Carlson. A solid understanding of the fabric collage technique is required.
Dive right in as Susan Carlson hosts a five-day workshop for advanced students only. Susan skips the introductory fabric collage demonstrations and focuses instead on techniques that can take a project beyond the basics. If you have taken two or more week-long classes with Susan previously you probably qualify. Contact Susan ([email protected]) to discuss if you have any doubts whether this class is right for you.
*All students are required to be vaccinated.
Laurie Mutalipassi
Laurie Mutalipassi of Westminster, California, began this red panda collage in the first of the two sessions I taught in 2019. Right away, Laurie understood the subtle aspects of manipulating values within each color-way of this basically three color animal. Congratulations on the well-deserved attention this quilt has received!
From Laurie:
I followed Susan Carlson’s blog via email [weekly links for subscribers] for several years. I bought the book, “Serendipity Quilts,” and tried out the technique by making the spiral as a 12 inch block. Then I had a wonderful time taking Susan’s class at Asilomar in April, 2019. Thank you Susan for developing your wonderful collage technique and for being such a great teacher.
My inspiration came from a visit to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. I saw red pandas for the first time and loved them. I found out they are an endangered species whose population has declined 50% in the last 20 years. They are found in isolated mountainous areas in the Himalayas and China. I wanted to showcase a red panda in a quilt to help keep them from becoming extinct. This quilt will show in the “Animal” exhibit at the Road to California Quilt Conference in January, 2020. Also it will be a featured article in the Spring, 2020 edition of Art Quilting Studio Magazine.
Kenzie Preston
Kenzie also attended the first week of classes I taught in 2019. It wasn’t the first time I had Kenzie as a student though. Years ago, pre-blog posts, she took a Fish, Bug, Butterfly class with me and created an awesome beetle. You can check it out in a previous Finish Line blog post here.
As Kenzie described her thought process below, she mentions wishing to create her bird portrait in its natural colors (as opposed to the wilder colored subjects that often appear in my classes). That may be so, but be sure to notice the great fabric prints that Kenzie chose to portray the feathers and contours of this Galapagos resident. Very fun and interesting.
Circle prints became a repeating theme as Kenzie progressed on her collage, so she added circle designs to her straight-edged collage background as well. And a couple layers of black tulle created an abstracted yet convincing shadow under the fellow, further highlighting his impressive feet.
From Kenzie:
I chose the blue footed booby as the subject for Susan’s class because it was a reminder of a wonderful trip that my husband and I took to the Galapagos Islands. We were able to get up close to these elegant birds to watch their fascinating courtship dance in which the males show off their beautiful blue feet to potential mates. I decided to go with naturalistic colors for the booby (the way to make the most of its blue features), and a stylized background.
Judy Crotts
Here’s a heart-warming quilt by Judy Crotts of Long Beach, California. It’s love personified, in fur-person form. Judy is a former student who has mastered fabric collage—she took to it immediately on a very large scale—and has continued forging ahead with more superlative work. But don’t just take my word for it. You can check out her quilt, “Through Corbin’s Eyes,” here, here, and here, arm-chair traveling to both Asilomar in CA and the Road to California 2019 Quilt Show in the process.
I’m quite pleased that Judy continues to show up in my classes—both in-person and now online as well—not only is she a lovely person, but I love her work and hearing the thought that she puts into these pieces. Judy does seem to have a “way” with eyes. And her comment below is absolutely correct, her friend’s UFO and the way Judy cut and arranged it, is the perfect solution for this cozy couple.
From Judy:
I started collage quilting about 4 years ago in a class with Susan at Asilomar. I was hooked. Since then I have tried several different processes but Susan’s is the best, not only the process but also the artistic freedom it gives you.
This quilt is from a photo of our cat Riki and her best friend Carlos, although Carlos may not always feel the same way. The original photo was of a white cat and a beige dog on a beige couch. It was difficult finding fabrics to make Riki and Carlos look distinct. I also had a hard time with Riki’s eyes. She kept coming out looking like an evil cat. I hope I got away from the evil eyes.
The problem of the beige couch was solved when my good friend Juliet offered a UFO. It was perfect! At first I tried to use the blocks uncut but it didn’t look like a blanket. It was hard but I started cutting up the blocks with Juliet’s encouragement and it worked!
The night I got home from Asilomar I placed my design board on the floor. That is Riki at the bottom of the picture pulling pins out of Carlos’s side of the collage; maybe not BFF’s after all.
Juliet Sandquist
Juliet Sandquist started the quilt of her dog Cajun at Asilomar in March 2017 and the main purpose of taking the class in 2019 was for her to finish the pup-portrait for an upcoming quilt guild show. Deadlines are great motivators.
And she made the deadline.
Juliet is the sort of person that can’t help but make you smile, and I’m sure Cajun made plenty of quilt show viewers smile as well.
But it wasn’t until she sent me the final write-ups and photos that I realized how many “firsts” this quilt represented for Juliet. So enjoy “Remembering Cajun,” in Juliet’s own words below.
From Juliet:
The real-life Cajun was a retired show dog who joined our household when he was a year old. He was still puppy-like and curious, but also very calm and sort of an “old soul.” On walks, strangers were drawn to him–attracted by his serene nature and soulful eyes. He was my faithful companion for the next twelve years and my first choice for Susan’s fabric collage technique.
This quilt represents several other “firsts” for me; first art quilt, first attempt at free motion quilting, and first time entering a quilt into a quilt show.
From the first moment I saw one of Susan’s spellbinding fabric collage quilts, I couldn’t wait to try her technique to create a fanciful version of my chocolate lab, Cajun. I bought tons of chocolate brown fabric before my workshop but most of it went unused as Cajun happily morphed into a much more colorful canine!
Susan’s influence and creativity cannot be understated—her input was vital from my first workshop at Asilomar in 2017. Drawing a clear, concise pattern is truly essential. In areas where I “stalled,” it was usually due to a flawed or unclear feature in my drawing, and once I referred to the original photo, I got back on track. Seriously, Susan should issue a warning when she teaches; I found this technique habit-forming. I enjoyed all the little pieces of fabric, finding just the right pattern in the fabric, continuing to put the free form puzzle together and watching the image come to life.
And, when I came to a second Asilomar workshop this year with a background for “Cajun” in mind, Susan improved on the original idea. She suggested additional background fabrics to tell more of Cajun’s “story.”
He enjoyed water wherever he found it, balls, dog bones, cats, flowers and the meadows and woods of Yosemite. Cajun loved car rides, too, so it’s fitting that he’s pieced using batiks, metallics and novelty prints, many collected over the years on various road trips together.
I’ve included a couple of pictures after he was glued up. He’s on our king-size bed–just like he was in real life. Talk about art imitating life!
My last observation is more a personal one. I found Susan’s teaching style encouraging and her suggestions were thoughtful additions to help accomplish my vision for Cajun’s quilt. I’m excited about my next project–I’ve already started “The Ride”, featuring Eileen, the Clydesdale! And, fingers crossed, I’ll be seeing Susan once again at Asilomar in 2020. [Alas it was not to be, Juliet! —Susan]
Laura Schmidhammer
Laura Schmidhammer, from San Diego, California, is a two-time student, blog follower, and Fabric Collage Master Class user. You can see the fish she started at the Flying Geese Quilt Guild of Orange County, CA in its completed state in this Finish Line post.
Laura made a big jump in fabric selection from colorful goldfish to white dog, but was determined to give it a try. She got Murphy’s mischievous expression early on in class, and yes, she struggled with the subtle value changes in a white animal, but she persevered. I was glad to hear that she went on to learn more on her own about value, something I would encourage anyone who wants to delve deeper into the art of fabric collage. Like Laura says, this is like painting, just happens to be with fabric as the medium.
From Laura:
I’ve loved collage since the ’60s. I discovered Susan Carlson, attended a couple of her classes, follow her blog and Master Class. The skill to transform fabrics into a collage painting with attention paid to color values is the ‘next step’ from just having fun with colors and fun shapes.
Murphy is an unusual dog. Even as a puppy, he is planning parental domination . . . And has been successful! Of course, doing a collage of a white dog is not recommended, but he is white, so what’s another challenge!?!?!?! I started it in class, loved what we learned about eyes and the nose, but became frustrated with his ears and paws. So when I got home, I asked my textile art mentor, Desiree Habicht, for a frank review. We discovered I had developed “color value dyslexia” ! I had lights where darks belonged and had broken the number one skill of seeing with your eyes, not your mind! So I ripped it up and redid it, making sure I followed my value chart and line drawing. And ended up satisfied with the results.
When I send it to Murphy’s parents, John Chapman and Wendy Wheeler, for a house warming, they sent me photos of Murphy’s approval.
Is it something in the Californian air? All these quilts are just beautiful. Good group-spirit!