Fabric Collage Finish Line #99: Fabulous Give-Away Second Round Selections Announced!

In this week’s special edition of the Fabric Collage Finish Line—#99 as we count up to our #100th Finish Line post on January 20th—we announce the second round picks of our Fabulous Giveaway. Five names and entries were selected at random (using a computer program) to receive a $100 susancarlson.com gift card.

That $100 gift card could be used to purchase the Facial Features eWorkshop ($99) or most of a private fabric collage coaching session ($129), or of course it could make a hefty discount toward either the Sea Turtle eWorkshop ($149) or the Fabric Collage Master Class ($199).

And now, drumroll please, the five recipients of our second round drawing are: Liza Carter, Dale Goldberg, Andrea Harles, Julie Rush, and Susan Stacey (see her self-portrait detail above). The quilts and stories that these collage artists entered are presented below.

Congratulations again to our Fabulous Fabric Collage Finish Line Giveaway recipients—keep Cutting Loose and Letting Go!

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Liza Carter

Liza Carter of Concord, Massachusetts, has a lovely attachment to this horse, though they are separated by the many countries between the US and Costa Rica. It was a pleasure to see “Conan” come together in one of my Maine retreats in 2019, —I love how he is filled with flowers that also show up in his lush tropical background. About three years later, it was an absolute kick to see him finished, and the “horse meets quilt” photo that Liza sent. This quilt first posted in, Fabric Collage Finish Line #82. Below, Liza has provided us with the great story that generated this collage—enjoy.

From Liza:

In 2019, a quilter friend of mine called me up and said “Go sign up for this course, I’ll tell you what it is about later, but there is no time now as the course has filled and you need to be the first person on the waiting list.” Trusting her judgment, I did as I was told and it turned out to be one of Susan’s week-long workshops in Harpswell. Best impulse move ever!

This wise horse lives in Costa Rica where he works in equine-assisted learning programs. The first activities that happens is that the horses choose who they want to work with for the week. Conan has picked me three times. The photograph of him with paint on his neck is from my first week where I painted a vision of my future on his body. Conan and I had a very special connection when we were working together in Costa Rica. What felt powerful about making this quilt was that I continued to feel the same connection to him during every stage of the process.

I was determined to take the quilt back with me to Costa Rica to show it to him. Costa Rica is very rainy and humid so I knew that the quilt needed to be actually quilted in order for it to be safe to travel. That involved pulling an all-nighter the night before I left during which time I taught myself how to machine quilt using scraps and then quilted the thing. The glued edge binding was added after I came home.

What I loved about showing the quilt to Conan is how curious he was about it. He clearly knew it was connected to him and to us.

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Dale Goldberg

Dale Goldberg of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, is a relative newcomer to the art of fabric collage, at least it wasn’t until the past year (2023) that she seemed to jump in with both feet. She had shown up for our monthly Patreon meetings for feedback on a portrait of her husband “surfing”—a collage that may soon be ready for her to share in another Finish Line. But in the meantime, she attended our September 2023 Live Online Class, and followed up with a few days of September Live Online Class—Loose Ends, independent study. And now there’s “Chet,” lovingly created on her own, with another fun story, and birthday gift deadline. The collages seem to be flowing out of Dale—I look forward to seeing what’s next.

From Dale:

In the Fall of 2021 I saw my first art quilts at a Mancuso Quilt Festival, and was immediately hooked! I had to learn how to do this! So I took zoom classes with several instructors (Roxane Lesso, Phyllis Cullen and Cindy Richards) and scoured Facebook and the web to find other instructors as well. About a year ago I came across Susan (I think it was a video) and fell in love with her methods and her style of teaching. Susan is just so smart, authentic, clear and helpful. I love and share her sense of whimsy. I bought her books (Serendipity Quilts and Free Style Quilts), as well as the Master Class Manual, and have done several Fly on the Wall Series as well.

 

Last fall (2023) I took my first live zoom class with Susan, and learned so much, not just from Susan helping with my own quilt, but by observing, listening to and learning from her comments and suggestions on others’ work as well. I know I am only beginning in my journey in fabric collage , but I feel so deeply excited by it, and actually think of myself as a fabric artist now. I look forward to continuing to grow, learn and experiment with Susan’s guidance and encouragement.

My sister Darryl has a love/hate relationship with squirrels – as many people do, I guess. Her family has given her many squirrel themed gifts through the years (statues, photos, pillows, etc) and as she approached her 75th birthday last June, I thought I would use my relatively new skills in fabric collage to make a squirrel for her.

 

I scoured photos online, looking for a “fresh, brazen” squirrel, and found………….Chet. The name Chet popped into my head and just seemed to fit him. By the way, Chet was a stock photo, so I was free to use him for my portrait. I had so much fun making Chet, every day I would come into the studio and chat with him – Chet chats – honestly, if I didn’t love my sister so much, I would have kept him for myself.

Making Chet was challenging and very interesting – I learned a lot about blending fabrics. I particularly enjoyed making his eyes – the fingers on his hands were challenging to make, giving them depth and dimension. I am very pleased with how the wooden fence came out, with a “distressed” look, and in general just love how he turned out.

 

Anyway…………I flew to Florida to surprise Darryl for her birthday (I really did surprise her – I hid inside of a box that she opened – she screamed!!) and gave her Chet. She loved him and we hung him up the same day. She swears that Chet’s eyes follow her around the room, lol. Now, she has little daily Chet chats too.

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Andrea Harles

Andrea Harles of Washington, DC, first learned of my way of working with fabric collage in a class presented to members of Quilter’s Unlimited, in Northern Virginia. I remember the class, mostly, it was so many years ago that it was pre-blog (so before November 2015). It was a fish class, though it may have been open to butterflies as well—I wish I could easily pull up the photos and be able to show you what Andrea created. But in any case, the technique definitely stuck with her and has led to works that are now included in two books! Named and linked below.

In addition to helping to open eyes to environmental concerns, Andrea mentioned an artist and sculpture that inspired her—and now I have been introduced to both as well. I included that link as a great example of how the influence of art spans the centuries—from stone to fabric.

From Andrea:

This quilt was made for participation in the Inspired by Endangered Species quilt challenge organized by Donna DeSoto. The tear is a reference to a favorite sculpture by Gislebertus in the Church of Autun. Eve is reclining and reaching back for the apple. She has a tear in her eye.

This quilt is still traveling in shows around the country and was included in the book, Inspired by Endangered Species. It follows my contribution to the National Parks quilts which was a loon constructed using Susan’s methods and has similar color and water environment. I look forward to having them hung together.

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The last two selections of this second round in our Fabulous Fabric Collage Finish Line Giveaway, happen to both be self-portraits. They are so very different and I so appreciate both of them—realistic and abstract in their own ways. Julie Rush uses realistic colors on an abstracted face, Susan Stacey creates a realistic face with a variety of colors. What great quilts to end this post of fantastic collage quilts with. Enjoy them all as I do, and see you next week with our five final selections and grand prize recipient of our Finish Line Giveaway.

Julie Rush

Julie Rush of Eldon, Missouri, submitted a wildly colorful spiral for our Online Submissions 23, having learned this method for fabric collage quilting from my book, Serendipity Quilts. As she mentioned in that past post, she is more of a realistic pictorial fabric artist, but enjoyed the new process. Now with, “Imperfections,” I really enjoyed seeing her new interpretation of a portrait—it tells an interesting story—even without reading her thought provoking comments behind its creation.

From Julie:

This is a self portrait. It was made as part of a series of self portraits in various styles. This portrait was done in flesh tones as a challenge to capture both abstraction and realism in one artwork. It is also a soul statement as we are all imperfect human beings in art as well as in life. It remains without binding to remind me that art as well as life has boundless possibilities.

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Susan Stacey

Susan Stacey from Harpers Ferry, WV, has created an engaging portrait with her use of color and value for form, and fabric patterns for contours. Though I have not had her in a class, I can tell she’s a good student by her “pins” quote below (I do say that!). She made some other very nice comments below, and it’s easy to see that she has indeed found this fabric collage technique to be freeing and creative. Having worked this way for quite awhile, I heartily agree.

From Susan S.:

I found Susan Carlson online years ago. I followed her and watch every video I could find. I purchased Serendipity Quilts and began teaching myself the cut loose fabric collage method. I have tried other methods but find this to be the most free and creative collage process. As Susan says, “It’s not finished until you run out of pins!” I also use Susan’s method of finishing all of my quilts with a boxed binding that fits perfectly over a stretcher bar frame. It’s such a clean and beautiful way to display an art quilt. [Demonstrated in both Serendipity Quilts and the Fabric Collage Master Class]

 

Previously I tried so hard to make my fabric collage quilts as realistic as possible. With this collage, I was determined to use Susan’s method and let go a little, use color, have fun. I tried to capture my colorful personality and happiness, especially when creating a fabric collage!