In our household, dogs are family members. I’m sure that’s true for many of you, too. They are an extremely popular subject for my fabric collage students. Over the years there have been scores of canine portraits begun in my classes—so many I created a video focused completely on creating a dog nose—based on my pup, Pippin.
The dogs included in this edition of the Fabric Collage Finish Line all have boopable noses and deep eyes that you can lose yourself in (such as those of Virginia Dambach’s “Powder,” above). Scientists say that eye contact between humans and dogs releases oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone,” in both. So the bond we have with our dogs has a chemical origin, but it seems to me that canine-human loyalty seems to transcend mere chemistry and pass into the spiritual.
If the love affair with your dog has inspired a fabric collage quilt and you would like to share it (or any other quilt) in a future Finish Line post, click on submission button below—and thank you!
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
Upcoming Live Online Class
We are still accepting registrations for our June Live Online Class. This class will be held via Zoom over five consecutive days, June 23-27.
June 23-27, 2025
Live Online Class—All Levels, Animals Only (especially pups) 😉
REGISTER HERE
Maximum Class Size: 12
Price: $995 $895
Through our online classes each student receives:
Pre-Class Coaching
Individual coaching sessions live with Susan to get you better prepared for class and to familiarize you with the Zoom platform.
Daily Class Videos
Pre-recorded videos of daily class demonstrations on the process of fabric collage are yours to keep and review both before and long after our week together has ended.
One-on-One Feedback
The bulk of the day is taken up with one-on-one feedback. I use Zoom to annotate photos that you send to Tom throughout the day.
A Fabric Pack for Fabric Collage
I have been curating special 10-fabric collections—mailed to every Live Online student since the week-long classes began in 2021—colorful and helpful designs that may come in handy during the week, or to horde for a later project if not.
Pre-Class Meet and Greet
Meet your classmates in a pre-class Sunday evening social. This meeting also serves to further familiarize everyone with our Zoom classroom format.
Mid-Week After Class Social Hour and Show and Share
On a chosen evening after class, we kick back with beverage and food to relax and get to know our classmates better. Usually everyone sends us extra photos to share some of their past work in fabric.
Daily Walkthrough of Student Progress
At the end of each class day we go back and visit the beginning and ending photos of everyone’s subjects—oohing and aahing at the great progress and lessons learned as we worked together.
Donna Konigsberg
From Donna Konigsberg of Fairfax, VA:
During Covid I was looking for things I could make with all the fabric I already had on hand. I tried a different fabric collage technique, but it seemed wasteful. I discovered Susan’s website while searching for everything I could find online about collage quilts. I watched every video, purchased Serendipity Quilts and then started with the Spiral eWorkshop. After that I was hooked. I completed a dozen collage quilts before I purchased the Master Class Manual. Charlie is my 22nd collage quilt but my first in person class with Susan.
I have always avoided doing a pet portrait. I felt confident I could collage a good “dog”; not so confident I could portray “Charlie” and her personality. It seemed like an in person class was the perfect time to start an intimidating project, making the most of Susan’s guidance. Charlie is one of my son and daughter-in-law’s two beloved dogs. (Let me make it clear that I don’t favor Charlie over Grady, but Grady is mostly white and way too much of a challenge for me!) I started with a classic Charlie photo – spotted ear and lolling tongue. She loves being outdoors so it was natural to surround her with green grasses, flowers and plants. Susan’s guidance and instruction was an invaluable part of my ability to complete this project, as I knew it would be. What I had not expected was how much fun it would be to be in a roomful of like-minded people (from all different backgrounds) and how much encouragement and helpful input I would receive from my fellow students.
Virginia Dambach
From Virginia Dambach of Fargo, ND:
I have done fabric collage for many years but never anything like this! I do mostly landscapes and story quilts. Doing a real portrait of a specific animal was way out of my wheelhouse. The Woodland Ridge Retreat in May 24 was just what I needed!
Powder is a beautiful pewter gray and white pit bull owned by my good friend Jill Nona. She has a heart condition and while she’s only 6 years old, her life expectancy isn’t great. My photo of Powder, looking so innocent while sitting in the middle of the perennial garden was my inspiration
Juliet Sandquist
From Juliet Sandquist of Southern California:
Cajun was my beloved Labrador retriever; he was truly my soul dog and I was heartbroken to lose him in 2015. The fabric collage process was a perfect way to commemorate our friendship.
I loved the fabric collage process and learned so much as I walked through Susan’s method and got started in her Asilomar class in 2017. I hit a few snags and returned to her class in 2019, hoping to finish in time to display the quilt at my guild’s show (So much glueing!). I was able to finish “Remembering Cajun” in time for the quilt show and thought that was the end of the story. There’s actually a little post script–Quiltfolk magazine published a special “Quiltfolk Dogs” issue this year and included my quilt as the title page artwork. So much fun!
I have warm memories of working with Susan to finish my Cajun quilt. Her kind suggestions and gentle problem-solving demeanor made this healing journey possible and provided tremendous encouragement throughout this entire process.