In this final installment of in-progress work from my May 2023 Live Online Class, there are several collages from this class, such as Mary McKay’s Galapagos tortoise, “Oliver” (above), that I fully expect to see again before they are finished. Along with Mary, a few others are Patreon members. As a thank you for their monthly contribution to help support this blog, I hold a monthly Patreon Show and Share where I invite Patrons to send in images for feedback—the amount of critique time varies from month to month as does the number of pieces submitted—but I always look forward to seeing the collage quilts progress to the finished stage.
It was this May 2023 class, which had only ten students, and the June portraits class of eight advanced students, that convinced me to reduce the size of my next online classes from twelve to ten. I found the pace was less hurried, and therefore more relaxed, which I think everyone picked up on. It seemed to be more conducive to socializing together as a group and the sharing of ideas. I’m always looking to improve these classes and I think this is one small way they can be even better.
If you are interested in exploring fabric collage in a concentrated five day virtual workshop as well, there is space available in my upcoming All Levels class (with a maximum of only 10 students) to be held near the end of September 2023. Click here for details.
In today’s post we finish up covering the May 2023 class with a visit to the final of three breakout rooms named “Animal House.” Previously we visited the “Diggers,” and “Progress Not Perfection.”
Animal House
This breakout room was made up of four veteran fabric collage students. They all had at least two live online classes under their belts already, and one had been to in-person classes as well. I assure you that despite their name, which they borrowed from National Lampoon, there were no drinking competitions, fistfights, or sorority pillow fights—all of which, besides the drinking, would have been admittedly hard to replicate online.
From Grace Crocker:
I have always enjoyed the breakout rooms. This session was especially nice since all of us had taken previous on-line classes and knew the ropes. There was lots of sharing during class time and also when the main room was open before and after class.
Mary McKay
See more of Mary’s work in these posts: Fabric Collage Finish Line #88, January 2023 Live Online Class, and Fabric Collage Finish Line #87: Portraits (among others).
From Mary:
Oliver is a tortoise I met in the Galapagos. I like his smile.
Mary and her husband Frank, had the enviable opportunity to travel to the Galapagos and meet face-to-face with Oliver. Actually, Oliver is the name of the photographer who actually took this photo (used with his permission), but still, Mary met this tortoise, and fell in love with his smile. Why wouldn’t she?
And funny thing, his gaping maw was the first and easiest thing to come together in this collage for Mary. Mary has become so accomplished in fabric collage that hitting a wall or two (which happened) can be unexpected. But still, Oliver is coming together, slowly. He is a tortoise after all—he takes his time.
However, I appreciate Mary’s perseverance and I really like changes and additions that Mary has made: to his neck under his chin—a fabric substitution that has light and dark “wrinkles” ready-made into the print (compare above and below photos); and the gradation of shadow to sunshine on his extremely foreshortened foot and leg (see pair of photos below). Foreshortening can be tough, even when you aren’t working with multi-colored floral fabrics on a prehistoric-looking appendage.
As Mary admits:
Don’t know why I thought Oliver would be easy but he is turning into a trial. He will go on vacation for a bit and then I will pull him out of the closet.
Someday I’ll see Oliver again, but in the meantime, in another week or so, you’ll see Mary’s fantastic collage portrait of Frank, that she has now almost finished.
In the end-of-class questionnaires that we send to students, Mary gave us the comments below based on her experience as one of only a few students that have taken both in-person and online classes from me. And she answered them as others have—it’s not that one or the other is a better format, they’re just different.
What do you see as the biggest benefit of the online format of this class?
The annotations that Susan can do based on photographs, sleeping in my own bed. Certainly, the price enters into it, also. Much cheaper than flying/driving somewhere. Also, there is more Susan time without distractions from others.
What is the biggest drawback to the online format of this class?
It’s not in person.
Leslie Beck
See more of Mary’s work in these posts: May 2021 Live Online Fabric Collage Class—Part Two: Horseflies, 2021’s Virtual Fabric Collage Class Reunion—Live Online, and November 2022 Live Online Fabric Collage Class—Part 3: Hodgepodgers
One of the biggest online plusses is the pre-class coaching sessions. We schedule them for the week prior to class so students still have time to act on photo, drawing, or fabric suggestions I may have.
Lesley is getting better and better with her fabric selections with every class she takes. In the photo below, I was able to point out areas in her fabrics that I could see as potentially working as visual textures on Jack’s hairy portrait.
Within the first day or so, Lesley eliminated the aqua fabrics she tried, and went back to her original thoughts of narrowing down Jack’s color range of purples—ranging from bluish purples to redish purples. She’s also paying close attention to the directional pattern of the fabric designs to match the directions his hair falls.
Lesley volunteers at an equine rescue organization, but has become attached to another rescue on the farm, below. She took photos to share with us after one of her afternoon visits.
Grace Crocker
Grace’s works have been recently collected together in her own Fabric Collage Finish Line post. If you missed it on July 1st, you should check it out now—one of our most popular posts of all time!
There’s not too much I can add that I already didn’t already say about Grace in that post, except that both Tom and I adore her—all 87 years of her. I think anyone and everyone who has been in a class with Grace wants to be her when they grow up.
From Grace:
Harper, the Dachshund, is my grand-dog. She often sits on the back of the couch and enjoys the sun. I wanted to do the quilt for my daughter but couldn’t get excited about it until I added Nutso, the squirrel. This little squirrel keeps us entertained by climbing the tree, behind Harper, and reaching for the bird feeder. This addition gave my quilt a real story.
Grace absorbs as much as she possibly can from not just her own projects but from other students’ as well. She came to the pre-class coaching with the (very nice) composite drawing above, then sat in as I coached the others in the class.
I enjoyed being able to sit in on the pre-class coaching sessions. It’s amazing how much one can pick up during those meetings. It also gave me a chance to learn a little about my classmates. Though I did not participate, I was a “fly on the wall.”
As per usual in a class, Grace began her collage immediately after pre-class coaching and arrived to day one with her project well under way, photo above left. Photo above right, is from the end of day two. In other words, according to Grace, she essentially achieved her class goal in two days:
My goal was to create a black dog in non traditional colors. She is purple, yellow and teal. I accomplished that!
But then there was Nutso. And he was Grace’s wall to hit, kind of. It was an exercise (for me as well) in really looking at a subject to see what exactly is happening body-wise as a squirrel stretches from tree to feeder. The annotations on the screenshots above and below show what Grace and I were looking at.
I particularly enjoyed the end-of-day wrap up sessions when we were able to see the progress made in each breakout room. It was a real encouragement to the entire group, I’m sure.
By the end of the week, both Harper and Nutso were in place (above), and another 2-1/2 weeks later at out Patreon show and Share, Grace submitted the photo below for final feedback before sending off “Harper and Nutso” for quilting!
I have taken numerous in-person classes (none with Susan) and attended sessions at both Asilomar and Alegre. The ability to stay in my own home and have access to my own stash are added benefits. Let’s face it, I’m 87 years old and travel is not as fun as it used to be!
I am a true Susan Carlson groupie. I have both of her books, the Master Class, and many of her videos. I particularly enjoy the “Fly on the Wall” sessions with Susan, when you watch her work and hear her explain her procedure. This was my third on-line class.
Brenda Carter
See more of Brenda’s work in these posts: January 2023 Live Online Class and May 2021 Live Online Class.
From Brenda:
‘I love Lucy!’ This was my niece’s English bulldog who lives in Ontario. Lucy passed away almost a year ago now. I have always had a huge love for bulldogs pretty much all my life but have yet to own one. In any case, my niece Tara, always holds a special meaning in my heart. Tara sent me pictures of Lucy over the years that I always treasure to this day. When I was able to get to Ontario from Alberta to visit, Tara always made it a point to bring Lucy with her. I wanted to create a fabric collage in memory of Lucy, for Tara.
Just like Grace, Brenda arrived at Pre-Class Coaching with a very nice drawing of her subject—Lucy. In the screenshot above, Brenda and I were talking about and figuring out what percentage Brenda may want to enlarge her drawing for the collage image itself. The most critical part of Lucy’s portrait was her face (of course) so we focused on that, aiming for a 12 x 15 inch face at the end. The rest of Lucy’s slouchy body would be enlarged accordingly.
Brenda has a great eye for color and pattern and for Lucy’s impressive folds of fur and skin, Brenda found a parrot-patterned fabric that gave her the visual texture and directional “movement” she needed. I think just about every part of those parrots was used, somewhere—including beaks and feet. Take a close look at these photos, click on the ones below to see them larger.
This was my third workshop with Susan. When it comes to Susan Carlson I refer to any and everything on line and her books for reference. I am part of Patreon, Polar bear and portrait [Fly on the Wall] seminars. I attended an African Quilt summit last year that Susan brought to our attention. It is nice to meet persons with the same fabric collage interests.
Don’t forget our September online class for all levels. There is also an October class for advanced students, but only one spot out of eight in that class is still remaining as of yesterday evening, July 28, 2023. Click here for details of both classes.
Another fabulous group of collages! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s always inspirational to see the great work of others!