Even though this is a “Finish Line” post, I decided to open with an in-progress photo of Maribel Marrero’s tortuga (turtle) above. It’s a detail shot that really shows off the variety of fabrics that can be used in a collage, and how they’re beginning to blend one into the other by how Maribel has cut and placed them into the individual plates of the shell. A great example of how to “blend” fabrics.
As you’ll soon read below, this is the second version of Maribel’s sea turtle, not a second draft, a second turtle. She took apart the first one. I call that de-construction, and it happens sometimes. But as you read Maribel’s turtle story below, she took it all in stride and with a sense of humor. Instead of getting discouraged about starting over, she seemed to sort of re-analyze the fabric collage process and worked through it step-by-step. She let her fabric “speak” to her, which allowed “Miss Shelly Tortuga’s” personality to come through.
Whatever Maribel’s first turtle looked like in the first version, I don’t know, but I love where she ended up with her finished collage, as with the other collages in this post—tiger, bluebird and puppy dog—by two other very talented ladies. Congratulations on reaching the Finish Line!
A suggestion to my readers: grab a cuppa, kick-back and enjoy the quilts and stories—you’re in for some colorful and luscious fabric treats!
Please click button below to submit your own finished fabric collage quilt to share in a future Finish Line post—and thank you.
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
Maribel Marrero
See more of Maribel’s work in this Finish Line post from May 2022.
I think that Maribel Marrero of Cortlandt Manor, NY, may have a love of spirals like I do. Not only did she create the collaged spiral below, but she added spirals to tie together and add extra interest to the plates on her turtle’s shell—very eye-catching. Since I’ve already talked a bit about Maribel’s tortuga, I’ll let her continue in her own words….
From Maribel:
I have been following Susan Carlson for a number of years. I purchased her books, followed her on YouTube and most recently through her “Fly on the Wall” series.
After completing the spiral quilt, I challenged myself to complete Susan Carlson’s turtle. I downloaded the image from her website, blew it up to my desired size and proceeded to work. “How hard can it be?” I asked myself, “Susan has completed dozens of these.” Well, those words came back to bite me. I quickly learned that yes, Susan has done dozens of these and they are all beautiful, but she also has years of experience where I have months. I cut my pieces, placed them down, rearranged them and stepped back, and what stared back at me was a “hot-mess.” When I showed it to my sister she said “It’s not bad.” Oh my goodness, she hated it as much as I did! lol I took the whole thing apart, reread the book, Serendipity Quilts, reread blogs and viewed YouTube videos dozens of times.
I started again, deciding where the sun was shining from, what my color palette would be and I saw it’s personality begin to emerge. Early on I found palm fronds that I wanted to incorporate and pink flowers that would frame her eyes and therefore decided that my turtle was a girl. Her name changed several times and was ultimately named “Miss Shelly Tortuga.” Tortuga being Spanish for turtle. I took my time, redesigned and remade her left leg (flipper?) FIVE times. She is made out of hundreds of pieces of fabric, including some of my late moms clothing. Shelly took 10 months to complete and now proudly hangs in my office/craft room.
Cherie Roux Gooler
Cherie Roux Gooler of Santa Rosa, California, has created a (literally) mesmerizing collage with the use of mixed media. It’s a good example of a question that I sometimes get asked, “do you ever paint or draw onto your quilts for details?” I don’t but many of my students have, with beautiful results. There are so many ways to create our art quilts—you need to follow your Muse when she so inspires you.
This quilt is also designed in a very interesting way by sectioning the tiger’s face into “color value blocking,” as Cherie refers to below. It’s a striking way to play with the light and dark values on a subject. Abstracting the face in this way adds even more visual interest to Cherie’s handsome and regal subject.
From Cherie:
My collage quilt process has evolved from lessons in Susan’s Serendipity Quilts and other instructors.
This quilt is titled: Eye of the Tiger. My quilt group, the Pointless Sisters, offered a quilt challenge themed “Music”. I was inspired by the song “Eye of the Tiger” performed by Survivor. This is raw edge applique without netting. I used commercial fabrics, some hand dyed fabrics, and fabric pastels and inks for shading in the eyes. I revised the ‘color value blocking’ part-way thru the process and changed the lower center area to read darker. I did the quilting on my Bernina Q20 and mounted it on a 7/8″ canvas covered frame.
Pat Beaudoin
See more of Pat’s work in these posts: October 2019 Class, November 2019 Finish Line, February 2020 Finish Line, September 2020 Finish Line #13, and May 2021 Finish Line #23.
Pat Beaudoin of Dundas, Ontario, Canada, has a lovely touch with using the prints in her fabrics to create visual texture and contours found in her subjects. If you missed this past Throwback Thursday post, you may enjoy seeing her beautiful lioness collage—be sure to look for the bits of souvenir fabrics she included in that memory quilt. It’s realistic and fanciful at the same time, just like this beautiful bluebird. Great job again, Pat, very convincing tufts of down in his cheeks and belly—you can almost see them lifting in a breeze.
From Pat:
I have followed Susan for years. I was lucky enough to have attended her October 2019 workshop in Maine. Prior to that I had worked through the Master Class, studied her book and followed her blog. My first attempt was the spiral, then I tried animals. I have now completed a lioness, 3 dogs for friends, this bluebird and have another couple of projects in my head waiting for precious time to work on them.
My husband is a big supporter of the Bruce Trail and I wanted to do a quilt they could use for one of their fund raisers. As they are trying to attract bluebirds back to this area I chose a bluebird as my subject. This is actually a compilation of a couple of photos my DH took.
And to finish up this post is a second finished collage quilt by Pat Beaudoin, Rosie. This is the third fantastic and soulful canine portrait that Pat has submitted, all of them of similar colored dogs and all of them sweet and adorable. She certainly has the knack for working with monochromatic whites and creams and tan colors—not an easy thing to do. Check out “Emma” in this post, and “Bernini” in this post. I think that Pat must have some very good (and lucky) friends to be receiving these art quilts from her.
A friend moved into a new house – this was her house warming present. The edges are not finished as she wanted to frame it.
Spaces available in two Live Online classes this May and June, 2023
May 2023 Live Online Class
You are invited to join me via Zoom for a 5-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Class. This class is for all levels of fabric collage proficiency, from beginner to advanced.
Subject matter is animal subjects only—furred, feathered, or scaled—pets, exotic animals, birds, insects, sea life, sea slugs, whatever type of animal appeals to you.
• Five-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Class—Animals Only
May 29-June 2, 2023
Class size: 12 max—all levels
2 Spots Remaining (as of April 29)
Price: $995 per student
Register and pay here:
https://susancarlson.com/product/may-2023-live-online-fabric-collage-class-with-susan-carlson-animals-only/
I have included an update of the number of spots available and will do my best to keep it updated as it changes. If you find on the registration page that the class has sold out and would like to be placed on a waitlist, please email Tom ([email protected]). Thank you.
Included: Forty-five minute private pre-class coaching session to prepare you for Day One of class.
Required Class Fee: $169 for the Fabric Collage Master Class—an online resource “manual” to refer to before, during, and after class—yours for life ($199 regular price; contact tom@tomallenbooks for coupon code for discount. This fee is waived if you already own the Master Class)
Hardware and Software Requirements: Computer, tablet, or other larger-screen device; reliable internet; ability to photograph and send images of collage in progress (a cellphone is recommended); Zoom meeting software (free to download)
See link below for more information.
https://susancarlson.com/2022/10/29/upcoming-fabric-collage-learning-opportunities-with-susan-carlson/
June 2023 Live Online Class
For the first time ever, I will be offering a portraits only class. Portraits of people—usually people we know and love—are the most difficult of fabric collage pieces because we hope to make them look like the person, of course. In order to open up more class time to focus on specific portraiture issues, I’m limiting this particular class to 8 students.
I’m also classifying it as “intermediate level” as I feel that students need to have a certain amount of familiarity with fabric collage (as I teach it)—either through previous classes with me or independent work through my book, Serendipity Quilts, or my Online Fabric Collage Master Class.
• Five-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Class—Portraits Only
June 26-301, 2023
Class size: 8 max—intermediate level
1 Spot Remaining (as of April 29)
Price: $1490
If you are interested in this class or have any questions, please email Tom ([email protected]) with “portraits only online class” in the subject line.
For more information see the description of my Live Online Fabric Collage Classes.
Included: Forty-five minute private pre-class coaching session to prepare you for Day One of class.
Required Class Fee: $169 for the Fabric Collage Master Class—an online resource “manual” to refer to before, during, and after class—yours for life ($199 regular price; contact tom@tomallenbooks for coupon code for discount. This fee is waived if you already own the Master Class)
Hardware and Software Requirements: Computer, tablet, or other larger-screen device; reliable internet; ability to photograph and send images of collage in progress (a cellphone is recommended); Zoom meeting software (free to download)
These are all spectacular! So inspiring! Thank you for sharing.