More than a year ago, I was invited to have an exhibit of my quilts at AQS Quiltweek-Paducah 2022. The invitation seems like a long time past, but now the event, running April 27-30, is almost upon us. Next week I’ll be packing up the 12 quilts in my “Specimens” collection, including “Kaloli Moondance” (detail above), to ship to Kentucky. Stevie the Saltwater crocodile travels in her own seven-foot tube and I’ve been told she has a prominent location in the show waiting for her. She’s very excited to be getting out again.
I expect the enthusiasm that quilters and other fabric folks normally exhibit when gathered at quilt shows such as this, will burst at the seams with pent-up excitement from the past two years of pandemic restrictions. AQS’s flagship show in Paducah is considered one of the largest and most prestigious quilt shows in the world. Hundreds of quilts, vendors from every part of the quilting world, and thousands of visitors from all over descend on the city of Paducah, Kentucky to celebrate this love of fabric that we share. I am honored and privileged to participate.
I plan to attend the show and am giving a lecture on Friday the 29th at 11am, focusing on the quilts in my “Specimens” collection. (You can register for the lecture here). I will also take time from perusing the vendors and quilts to hang out at my exhibit to meet visitors and answer questions. If you drop by, please introduce yourself. Between teaching in-person and now online, I meet hundreds of people each year, so I may recognize your name or your face (and almost always recognize the collage I helped you with!) but putting them all together is sometimes a challenge.
Following the special notices below of openings in upcoming in-person classes this year (a reminder that I’m taking a break from in-person teaching in 2023) is a preview of “Specimens” at AQS QuiltWeek – Paducah. This virtual version of the exhibit is for those unable to attend the show, or those curious to read about the making of and other background stories of each quilt, or both.
Under the photo of each “Specimens” quilt is a link to the “Quilt Stories” post(s), which thoroughly documents each image. If you start exploring them, you’ll need more than one cuppa! Just sayin’.
In-Person Class Openings
MISA West (Santa Fe, NM) Fabric Collage Quilting—Advanced
May 16-20, 2022
There are currently two openings for this advanced workshop for students who have a solid understanding of Susan’s fabric collage technique.
Dive right into this 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 or have worked extensively through her Fabric Collage Online Master Class, you may qualify. Contact Susan ([email protected]) to discuss whether this class is right for you.
* Please note: All students are required to be vaccinated.
* * * * * *
Woodland Ridge Retreat Center (Downsville, WI) Fabric Images—All Levels
September 20-24, 2022
There are currently four openings for this all-levels workshop. Create a fabric collage quilt of your own chosen subject using Susan’s innovative layering/collage method. Individual design, fabric selection, construction, borders, and quilting will be discussed. Class size is limited to give students the extra attention toward each of their unique subjects.
* Please note: Proof of Vaccination and a Negative Covid Test Required for this Workshop
And Now Back to “Specimens”
specimen noun
an individual animal, plant, piece of a mineral, etc., used as an example of its species or type for scientific study or display.
With these quilts I hope to help the viewer see all creatures—great and small—with fresh eyes. Unlike those of a scientist, my specimens are not “lifelike.” A pink rhino, a polka dotted dodo, a much-larger-than-life-size golden toad: the liberties I take, the choices I make are intended to provoke a response. Typically, I hope to invoke a sense of wonder. I could have made my saltwater crocodile any size I wanted. It would have been much easier, trust me, to make it smaller. But I chose to make it twenty feet long because that is what is truly awesome about this species. The size of the quilt is the point.
In some ways, my images are simple. The compositions are basic, simple profiles displaying as much of the animal as possible, often mimicking the posed figures in museum cases. In other ways my images are complex. Seen up close, the sheer number of pieces of fabric used makes for a density of color and texture. That, too, is part of the point. Each of these creatures is easily recognizable. Because we think we know them, our familiarity may lead us to dismiss them too easily. It’s only when we look closer that we understand how unique each is and how irreplaceable.
However, political or social or environmental statements are not the main point of my quilts, or let’s say that the statements are of the most obvious kind: our world and its inhabitants are at risk. I make quilts because I love fabric for its color and texture. I make quilts of animals because I’m an unabashed animal lover. That’s it, really. If my “Specimens” can speak to others at a tactile level and encourage them to look at animals at a deeper level (make people more aware of these animals), then that’s a good thing, I think. I think that’s enough.
—Susan Carlson
Kaloli Moondance
Quilt Stories: Kaloli Moondance (Update with Slideshow)
Crocodylus Smylus
Quilt Stories: (Re)Introducing “Crocodylus Smylus” (Update with Slideshow)
Golden Temple of the Good Girls
Quilt Stories: Golden Temple of the Good Girls
Dixie Dingo Dreaming
Quilt Stories: “Dixie Dingo Dreaming” (Update with Slideshow)
Million to One
Fructos
Polka Dodo
Quilt Stories: Polka Dodo–Welcome Home Update
Gombessa
Tickled Pink
Exuberance
Quilt Stories: Fire Beetle & Exuberance
Fire Beetle
Quilt Stories: Fire Beetle & Exuberance
Samuelsaurus Rex
Congratulations! How exciting to show all your beautiful quilts again . Paducah is a big deal and you deserve to be front and center. I miss you!!
Enjoy all the accolades from all your admirers at the show.❤️
I am going to Paducah, yay quilt shows are back, and am so excited to see your quilts for real plus am attending your lecture. Can’t wait.
This is so wonderful, Susan! I wish I could see it in person! Best wishes!