Summer in Maine is not the most conducive season to stay undistracted in my studio and get my fabric collage work done. The season only lasts a short time and there’s a whole lot of stuff going on outside that keeps calling to me, and to Tom too. It’s really quite the same every year—not in a bad way though. We love living where we do, in Tom’s hometown and just 1/2 mile from where Tom and I met 37 years ago—in the middle of the summer.
So when I looked back on what I wrote about and shared in photos from the last two years of Summertime posts, there really wasn’t much new to talk about—there’s gardens that begin with good intentions, morning walks to the shore and then sunsets over the water, help from the dogs to shuck corn for dinner, my self-imposed job of raising monarch butterflies, and Tom’s kayaking. Last year we explored more places, and as far as giving you a taste of Maine, and what our summers are like, I couldn’t have done better this year.
All-in-all, it makes a good excuse to turn this year’s Summertime Edition into a Throwback Thursday post—especially since I’m in the process of unpacking from last week’s 5-day teaching up the road in Bar Harbor, Maine, and re-packing for next week’s class at Woodland Ridge Retreat in Wisconsin. Stay tuned for those “On the Road” posts in the weeks to come.
For today, in the post links below, I hope you can sit back and enjoy several cuppas while on an extended tour of our home state over the course of previous summers—the views haven’t changed and my monarch caterpillars still go through the same fascinating and magical transformation, though I only had about 50 to release this year. Our migrating monarch butterflies are having a tough time surviving as a species and this summer were classified as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Tom has also included three new kayaking videos for your viewing pleasure, toward the end of this post—one is from a spring trip to Scotland and the Isle of Skye!
Bon Voyage on on our Throwback Thursday—and may you have a sparkling Celestial Equinox next week—moving into Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, or Spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
But first a reminder:
Upcoming Live Online Classes
For a description of our live online fabric collage classes, visit this link.
November 7-11, 2022 (as of 9/14/22, six spots remaining)
REGISTER FOR NOVEMBER CLASS
January 30-February 3, 2023
This class is now full, please contact Tom ([email protected]) to add your name to waiting list if you are interested.
Throwback Thursday: The Summer in Maine Edition
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: 2021 Summer Reflections in Maine
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: What We Did On Our 2020 Summer Vacation
Tom’s summers are all about sea kayaking. Maine’s coastline is a world-class destination with its thousands of miles bays, peninsulas, and islands. He especially likes creating videos of his excursions. This summer of 2022 was less about exploring the coast and more about playing in its rocks and waves as you will see in the videos below. Plus he started off the season with a trip to the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Fabric Collage Master Class
For instructions on the entire fabric collage process, you can purchase the Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Online Master Class Manual. Using video, photos, and text I take you from soup to nuts, beginning to end in creating your own fabric collage masterpiece.
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Spiral eWorkshop
Wondering if fabric collage is for you? This eWorkshop is intended for beginners in fabric collage. The spiral project is simple, low stress, but still teaches the basic techniques of fabric collage. It also serves as a handy refresher course for those with more experience.
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Sea Turtle eWorkshop
Learn fabric collage with Susan Carlson. Each step is clearly written, illustrated with photos, and demonstrated with video. Learn with a Sea Turtle then launch into any fabric collage project you wish.
Serendipity Quilts for Sale
$29.95 plus shipping. Full color throughout. Four complete projects, start to finish, of increasing complexity. Learn fabric collage with this book.
Enjoyed discovering your summer hobbies – Monarchs and Kayaking. The kayaking videos were awesome and I could almost smell the mix of cool air and sea spray! The work you are doing with monarchs is admirable. I have planted a yard full of native host plants and nectar sources for butterflies and appreciate the work involved. Two years ago, out of 43 chrysalis’, only 6 monarchs emerged, the effects of predation and disease. Your netting is a good idea.
I’m looking forward to your free Introductory Zoom class. I don’t do any quilting, but since we are distantly related by the Carlson-Peterson relations, I am delighted to learn more about you and your creative style of quilting.