This evening, February 6th, we begin our 2025 Fantastical Fabric Collage Fish Follow-Along—this year I’m choosing a goldfish design and a palette of blue fabrics, though you can make your own choices for your fish. I may already have a name for my (future) piece, “Goldie Swims the Blues.” I tell my students that if they have, or can come up with, a story, it can help with decisions that need to be made along the fabric collage journey. I talk a bit about that—as related to getting started—in this Fish Follow Along post from a couple weeks ago.
In between then and now, Tom and I spent some time updating my Fabric Collage Online Master Class. I get a lot of questions about fabric selection, so I gave special attention to updating info there. But among other things, I also added in more encouragement to create a Fabric Collage Palette—before you even get going on the collage itself.
I’m mentioning that now because I’m taking my own advice to heart as I prepare for the first presentation of February’s Fantastical Fabric Collage Fish Follow-Along later today (7pm Eastern Time). I’ve got my “Goldie” design enlarged and traced onto my foundation fabric, picked fabrics and cut a palette (below).
But a couple days ago, I realized I really should do more of what I say, and at least start a spiral collage as a warm up to my fish project. Do I need to? No. Will it give me some idea of how my fabric choices are going to look together—cut into smaller pieces and overlapping? Yes. Will it be a good example to you guys. Probably so.
So here you go. I took maybe a couple hours to further cut down my palette pieces—about one of each to fit the scale of the spiral—and started to see what would happen. For me, a spiral is a sort of meditation practice—I get in a zone when I see how the fabric patterns and, in this case, how the blues flow together. I had to pause where I did for it to be a good example to show in the presentation, as I take what I observed about my fabric choices, to now apply to my fish drawing—live, in front of you, starting tonight.
For the four Thursdays in February, I’ll lead you through the creation of a new fabric collage fish quilt. This is a live event, so Zoom with us (me and Tom) if you can, especially to take advantage of the live Q&A. If you can’t join us, the presentations will be recorded and emailed to you the next day, Friday. And if you sign up at any time before the end of February’s final class, you’ll receive all four recordings of the weekly presentations.
For those who want to create their own Fantastical Fish, a supply list and a free fish pattern of your choice (though you can make your own design) is included when you sign up. More February Fish class info following below. Hope to see you there!
Today’s Throwback Thursday revisits last year’s February Fish Class—Part 3 (see preview photos above)—with more of the wonderfully fantastical quilts that were made by my (fabulously prolific) students. The variety, color, and creativity displayed in these quilts is absolutely inspirational—thank you everyone for sharing!
Do you have a Fantastical Fish to share in a future Fishy Finish Line post? Click on submission button below—and thank you!
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
Even More Fish in the Sea: Fantastical Fabric Collage, February Results! Part 3
February 6, 13, 20, 27, 2025 — 7 pm, Eastern Time
Fantastical Fabric Collage Fish Zoom Follow-Along
REGISTER HERE
Price: $78
For more information click here
Fabric Collage Online Master Class—Updated
Now Available as a Monthly Subscription!
The Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Online Master Class Manual is a multi-media resource guide to the process of fabric collage. Using video, photos, text, and links to my blog posts for further relevant reading and information, I take you from beginning to end in creating your own fabric collage masterpiece, following my guidelines in a step-by-step format. Lifetime Access. Suitable for all levels, including beginners.
Read all about the process of creating the Master Class—explanation of its genesis—the whys and hows Tom and I made some of the decisions we did in this post: Online Master Class Now Available: Some Reflections.
Click here for more information about the Fabric Collage Master Class.
Monthly Subscription
Price: $15/month (plus a one-time $15 registration fee)
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Purchase
Price: $199
Lifetime Access
Suitable for all levels, including beginners
Interested in attending a 2025 Fabric Collage class with Susan? Both in-person and online classes are scheduled and open for registration. Click the link below for more information, including dates, fees, and descriptions.
2025 Live Online and In-Person Fabric Collage Classes
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Special Notice: One space has opened in the May 28-June 1, 2025 Woodland Ridge Retreat, Downsville, WI—please click on link above or call Chris at 715.664.8220, for more information!
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Further Susan Carlson Learning Resources include: Facial Features eWorkshop, website, Serendipity Quilts, patterns, blog (in general), YouTube videos, Sea Turtle eWorkshop, Fabric Collage Online Master Class, Patreon. , and our February Fantastical Fish and Summertime’s Fascinating Bugs and Butterfly Work-Alongs
NOW AVAILABLE!
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Fantastical Fish eWorkshop I
INCLUDES:
• All four recordings from the four-week class.
• Extended 10-minute edition of piecing time lapse (see below).
• Over six hours of video instruction.
• Annotated videos with “jump points” to help find the information you need.
• Materials list
• Links to helpful blog posts.
• Free fish pattern of your choice.
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Sea Turtle eWorkshop
Learn fabric collage through a start-to-finish project—from pattern and fabric selection through quilting and binding. Each step is clearly written, illustrated with photos, and further demonstrated with videos. Learn the technique with a Sea Turtle then launch into any fabric collage project you wish. Lifetime access and suitable for all levels, including beginners. Sea Turtle Pattern included
Read all about the Sea Turtle eWorkshop in this blog post: Fabric Collage Sea Turtle eWorkshop Launch.
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.
Book: Serendipity Quilts—Cutting Loose Fabric Collage
Full color throughout. Five projects of increasing complexity, four patterns to enlarge are included.
These books will be signed by Susan and can be inscribed to a particular person.