In this post I have the pleasure of sharing more finished fabric collage quilts—a couple were submitted from students in recent classes, such as a serene llama (detail above) by Lizzie Stebbins. This past week, I had the pleasure of teaching twelve more lovely ladies in my most recent class. As the week was coming to a close, they were expressing their hopes to see the continuing progress and final results of their classmates, after days of watching projects develop and seemingly emerge from the blank foundation fabrics. Each class seems to have a similar bonding experience—a sort of trial by fabric collage.
That’s why I love seeing the finished quilts submitted for these Finish Line posts—it’s all work from those with desires to create images in fabric and who persevered through the process—collages begun in past classes or from my book and blog posts or from the online resources of my Master Class and eWorkshops (Sea Turtle and Spiral).
I appreciate the thought, time, and work in each and every one of them—and I know those of you reading these posts do as well. Tom and I are beginning to run a little low on submissions, so if you’ve got a fabric collage quilt you’d like to share for a future Finish Line, please click on the button below. Thanks from the two of us, and so many other readers!
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
And now, without further ado, please enjoy this installment to the Fabric Collage Finish Line—and thank you for sharing your creations, Carolyn, Lizzie, and Linda.
Carolyn Mathieu
I have to smile when I hear from someone like Carolyn Mathieu of Stephens City, Virginia, who gets ahold of my book Serendipity Quilts, and then “practically sleeps with it under her pillow.” Well, Carolyn certainly absorbed the information well, creating a warm and dreamy celestial orb hanging out in a backdrop of stars. I thought her solution to having trouble with free-motion quilting was perfect—make it work with what you do have, such as decorative stitches on your machine.
From Carolyn:
I can’t recall when I first fell upon Serendipity Quilts or Susan’s blog posts BUT I fell in love with the concept of fabric collage! The whole concept of cutting loose intrigued me so I gave it a go! I practically slept with the book under my pillow and referred to the blog posts FREQUENTLY!
From the get-go, my zodiac sign is LEO and I was hooked! I do not have an art background therefore my most difficult challenge was learning about fabric values and placement. I frequently stepped away from this project cutting and placing fabrics in all different ways. I did use many scraps that I owned. Actually the free motion quilting did not fly BUT I used my machine decorative stitches to finish the work. I did place this piece in our local non-juried quilt show with numerous accolades to Susan! I was delighted to share this art form with the public!
Lizzie Stebbins
As I mentioned earlier, Lizzie Stebbins of Key Largo, FL and Jefferson, ME, was recently a student of mine, as well as in previous years. This past September she attended a class in Bar Harbor, Maine, hosted by MISA—Madeline Island School of the Arts. Lizzie brought “Me Llamo Llama,” along with other quilts, to class for show and share. You can see them in the post linked above, plus here and here and here. I’m sure many of us fabric lovers find inspiration in our fabrics—Lizzie happened to find a llama eye in hers. I love it.
From Lizzie:
I’ve had this picture for a long time, intending it for fabric collage and when I found a piece of fabric printed with river rocks, I thought aha! That is the eye of my llama. And my collage took off from there.
Linda Draft
I looked forward to meeting Linda Draft of Kenosha, WI, this September in a class held at Woodland Ridge Retreat in Downsville, Wisconsin. Though actually this was the second time I met Linda, the first was working with her online via a Zoom fabric collage coaching session. Linda became acquainted with my work through my book, Serendipity Quilts, and then through my blog. I’m sure that working with values on sweet Teddy, above, gave Linda good experience for her class project of a bald eagle in flight—though she did branch into quite a few more colors. You can check it out in the Woodland Ridge link above (and hopefully in a future blog post!).
From Linda:
Our goddaughter is going to college in the fall and wanted to take her dog Teddy to college with her. (Very impractical for a collegiate athlete and full time student). So I decided to put Teddy into a fabric collage she could hang up in her room.
It was my second attempt at collage and when I saw on Susan’s site that I could purchase an hour with her on Zoom to help me – I did so immediately. She made all the difference! Without her excellent instruction and the ability to look at the video over and over, I would not have created a work that met my expectations. I can’t thank her enough for being such a giving person and sharing all her experience with the world.
This past week’s Live Online Class may have completed my classroom teaching for the year, but not the learning opportunities that Tom and I have put together for you. I’ll be returning to our new Fly on the Wall series of online presentations in December and January—demonstrating how I work on my own fabric collage artwork. Every Thursday in these month-long series I invite you into my studio as I choose fabric, cut, pin, glue, talk to you and answer questions on a new collage. See full write-up here (including save-the-dates for new 2023 online classes), or jump in and sign up to be a fly on the wall, below!
Register for Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch 2022-2023
Registration is now open for two upcoming Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch series.
• December: Winfrieda the Lace Polar Bear #2
December 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022
$78
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
All those who sign up for this December Fly on the Wall series will be given access to an hour-long video combining the four opening slideshow presentations from the October Winfrieda series #1 (see beginning and end photos above). This will allow those who may have missed the first series to easily catch up to where the second series will begin.
• January: Sunshine Oma
January 5, 12, 19, 26, 2023
$98
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Watch—and work along with me—as I create a collage portrait of my lovely mama (a.k.a. Oma) as a radiant sun face—to have ready for her 90th birthday at the end of January.
For those who wish to try their hand at a sunface portrait, in addition to the slideshow, demo, Q&A, and full recordings of the four presentations, registrants will also receive all of the following:
• A free PDF of my Sun Portrait pattern.
• Free access to the Thursday Night in My Studio Live! recorded presentation (see preview below) that explains how to adapt my Sun Face pattern to a photo of a particular person.
• And a $20 discount for a one-on-one coaching session scheduled for January or February 2023—in case you’re interested in specialized help with your own work-along creation.
Marvellous work all 3 ladies. I am envious of your talent but you inspire me to keep trying! I especially love the sun/moon collage which features in Aztec culture. It’s a stunning depiction.