Portraits (of people) are perhaps the most challenging subjects for fabric collage. Partly because portraiture is tough no matter the media you work in. Partly because when you choose to make a portrait it’s usually of someone you know and love and you want it to turn out just so—and when it starts not turning out just so it’s anxiety producing.
For those that complete their fabric collage portraits (such Angie Smith, whose portrait of her daughter appears above), the challenges are all worth it, as you can see from today’s submissions to the Fabric Collage Finish Line.
If you too have a finished fabric collage quilt that you would like to share with us, please click on the submit button below for more info. A big thank you to all who share their collage quilts in these Finish Line posts. And a special thank you to these runner-up’s in our recent Fabulous Fabric Collage Give-Away—you guys are all fabulous to me.
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
Learning resources referred to in this post include: Serendipity Quilts, the Fabric Collage Master Class, Collage Coaching, 5-day online Zoom classes, Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch, and Patreon.
Click on any of the smaller images below to view them larger.
Facial Features eWorkshop
Designed as a supplement to the Fabric Collage Online Master Class, or for those who have a good understanding of the basics of Fabric Collage. Lifetime Access. Intermediate or advanced levels suggested.
The Facial Features eWorkshop contains 8 videos and over 8 hours of in-depth instruction for creating each feature of a portrait in fabric. The videos are annotated with “Jump Points” allowing you to scan forward and backward to the information you need. Facial features PDF templates are included as reference and basic designs to work along with. Like the Fabric Collage Online Master Class, membership in this eWorkshop is for life.
Grace Crocker
From Grace Crocker of Chico, CA:
[I learned fabric collage] first from Serendipty Quilts and the Master Class followed by Zoom classes with Susan. Plus good feedback from Patreon supporters. Zoom classes are a wonderful way to learn the process. Getting annotated feedback from Susan is a perfect way to learn and improve your techniques. An additional learning experience is participating in Fly on the Wall sessions where you watch Susan work and explain her thought process, as she does so. I always learn some additional tidbit in these sessions.
It was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I was in another Zoom class – a perfect time to create “Making Grandma Smile.” When I had a double mastectomy, followed by chemo and radiation, I needed cheering up. My 12 year old grandson, Will, donned a beehive wig, coconut boobs and a hula skirt to make me laugh! He succeeded.
The wig has bees and pink ribbons added to it, the skirt is free flowing raffia, and the coconuts are trapuntoed for realistic effect. The background includes our barn and the almond trees that were decorated with pink ribbons, by my quilting friends, as I returned from the hospital.
24 years later, Will is an attorney in Los Angeles. When I sent him a photo, he responded, “Ha, of all the things you could have quilted you chose that!” Yes I did, it was a perfect memory.
Lorna Millen
From Lorna Millen of Madison, WI:
I started quilting to be able to take classes with my sister who quilts. I saw Susan’s work online and made a quilt using her book. Then I was able to take a class with her in Maine in 2018, and another class in WI in 2021. I have always relied on her blog posts for reference when working on my quilts, and joined her Patreon to take advantage of the quilt discussions there.
I enjoy working in fabric collage because to me it is like painting with fabric. For this piece, my inspiration was a photograph I took of my daughter at a local sunflower and pumpkin field. Since moving to Wisconsin from Texas, this is a fall tradition that our family enjoys every year. It was a beautiful fall day with an overcast sky, and she climbed up on top of a rock to look out at the flowers, while I held her hand for balance. It seemed to me to be a metaphor for how she is growing up—sometimes so mature and contemplative, but still needing my support.
Angie Smith
From Angie Smith of Richmond, Virginia:
This is my favorite picture of my 4 year old daughter. I learned how to look at fabric differently in Susan’s class. One example of this was trying to mimic curly blond hair with patterned fabric. I also added sea creatures on her vest as the grown up Elizabeth had just completed her masters in Marine Biology!
Your work and the work of your students is fantastic and inspirational. Thank you for all you do.
All the best,
Margaret Tobin????????????????
These are great. And I KNOW what a struggle this can be. My quilt “”Joy” hangs in my living room. It represents me washing my elephant for the day — which had been a bucket list item
which was accomplished for my 6oth birthday. I found it, as Susan knows, to do your own face — never to be attempted again. I so much love my times with Susan and all her support and assistance. You can never learn enough from her.