Fascinating Bugs and Butterflies: Student Fabric Collage Quilts 1

With the popularity of my Quilter’s Fantastical Trophy Fish Follow-Along Class last February (see the work in these four posts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4), it made sense to bring back a summertime version of this four-week introduction to fabric collage.

My Fascinating Bugs and Butterflies Follow-Along drew even more participants—almost 100!—many of whom were trying fabric collage for the first time. Registrants were given a free Cicada pattern (in celebration of this summer’s “Cicada-palooza”) which I made especially for this class (that’s Liz Imperato’s celebratory version above). They were also able to choose a free bug or butterfly pattern from my collection, so in this post (and in the posts I expect in the future) you will see many cicadas but also some butterflies and other crawlies.

It has only been a week since the last class finished up and the progress they have made and will continue to make is amazing. The student quilts on display below, are almost all still in progress, but they are oh so much fun to see—a perfect treat to sit back and savor as our summertime winds down.

A big and buggy thanks to all who have sent, and are continuing to send in, your bugs and butterflies to share with all of us—they are not only smile inducing, they are fascinating.

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Learning resources include: Fantastical Fish eWorkshop, Serendipity Quilts, Spiral eWorkshop, Facial Features eWorkshop, Fabric Collage Master Class, 5-day Live Online Zoom Classes, and my patterns (including fish and sun/moon patterns).

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Nancy Anders

From Nancy Anders of Washington State:

This is my first large collage quilt and the first using Susan’s technique. I’m not a fan of bugs, but I love watching butterflies and dragonflies in the garden, so choosing between a Cicada and a Butterfly was easy. I chose to use Australian Aboriginal fabrics because most of my Batiks are too mushy in color. I wanted the piece to invite closer inspection to see all of the interesting fabrics I used.

This has been a joyful learning experience. I’ve been quilting for 24 years, and the things that keep me going are the myriad of fabrics and patterns available, and the fact that there is always more to learn. This will not be my only collage quilt!

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Brenda Carter

From Brenda Carter of Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada:

Since working with Susan through zooms and having the privilege to meet Susan at workshop and in person, I could never say that I would ever be bored with this process and/or technique. Susan is so inspirational to me and I am sure others would agree. It has been an absolute honor to a part of Susan’s fabric collage world!

This is ‘Scrappy Pete’ who is a caterpillar that my husband Cal found in tree in our back yard. We have never seen a caterpillar like this before (especially in northern Alberta, Canada). We did some research and believe this caterpillar would become a swallowtail butterfly. I chose this caterpillar because it was an actual photo that we took (no copyright issue here) and I wanted to only use scraps from my stash. Still have to figure out the background yet…so all a work in progress.

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Elizabeth Imperato

From Elizabeth Imperato of Santa Barbara, California:

I felt like Pink, the day I made The Pink Cicada in the Garden. I had a piece of fabric that had pink and green that I wanted to use. The fabric just felt right and it was. I used other fabrics that enhanced this fabric. The day I was done with the Cicada I entered it in to a juried show and it won Juror’s pick. I wish now that I added more to the background but, either way I am happy with it. I am looking forward to making a butterfly and using what I learned from making the Cicada.

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Kay Kuner

From Kay Kuner of Garland, Texas:

I am transitioning from quilt making to ‘picture-making’ with fabric to mount on canvas. I was interested in Susan’s techniques of blending fabrics to produce smoother movements in my appliques. I was also interested in learning how to provide depth in my pictures.

The selection of fabric was more involved than I thought. I began three different bugs with distinct colors until I decided on the ones I used. The lighter tone fabrics worked better for me. I also decided that I will have to look more at blender fabrics and fabric with movement when working with fabric collages.

The information I learned during the Bugs and Butterflies Fabric Collage web workshop was not only informative but was fun. I hope to participate in online workshops with Susan in the future.

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Donna Cook

From Donna Cook of North Hampton, NH:

I’ve watched all of Susan’s videos and classes and finally decided it’s time to start making one of my own. I unfortunately had Achilles surgery the week of the first class so I was non weight bearing for six weeks and I was only able to use fabric I had on hand. I forged ahead and created my first collage.

After looking at my first draft and watching additional classes I realized my quilt didn’t have the cohesion it needed to be great. I scrapped the entire first quilt and began again with a clearer color palette in mind and The Queen was born. I’m delighted with the results and have ordered some embellishments of beads and lace to add. I learned so much from this class, but the two. most important things I would say is put some fabric down and start building the collage, nothing is permanent until the last draft and anything can be changed. After watching Susan apply glue I realized I was using way too much glue.

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Carol Mann

From Carol Mann of West Orange, New Jersey:

I’ve done many different types of collage, but this is the first time I’ve done it the Susan Carlson‘s way. I was in her bugs fabric collage class online. I was guided by what Susan said and pulled out all my batiks and bought one or two more that had prints on them. Then I added some blues (my favorite color). Susan kept saying the background should be a story so I put my bug in the forest (I found the forest fabric by chance) and in a tree in the forest. I used the tulle idea as she suggested, to make the starry sky, and the lace around the wing created a luminescent which I think added to the quilt. I watched many of her videos and was able to use my interpretation of her voice. Cicadian Rhythm and Blues is not yet finished but she is on her way.