Birds are a common subject for fabric collage. They can be done quite successfully as the stunning examples in this Finish Line show. If a student does run into trouble, it’s often because they are trying to re-create every single feather individually. I talked about this at length in a blog post, Creating Feathers in Fabric Collage, but the idea is to create the suggestion of feathers by grouping them together—creating clumps of feathers rather than making them one-by-one. If the bird is larger and especially if the wings are spread, you might indeed create those flight feathers individually, but for the body and neck, that’s not a winning tactic.
Vickie Ostrow’s swan, above, is a perfect example where she lets the fabric “imply” feathers. She lets the fabric—and the quilting—make us see feathers where really you can’t pick them out. It’s an illusion in the end—it’s almost magic.
Daphne’s lovebird, Mango, further below, is another great example. In that one it’s easy to see how the patterns in the fabric create clumps of feathers for us based on texture and value.
Of course, while the quilts in this Finish Line are great to examine for tips on technique, they are first and foremost, works of art to be appreciated for their beauty.
Thanks for sharing, ladies!
If you have a finished fabric collage and story that you too would like to share, please consider sending in photos and descriptions for future Finish Line posts—and thank you!
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Click on any of the smaller gallery photos in this post to view them larger and to scroll through the photo gallery.
Kathleen Howard
To see more of Kathleen’s work, including in-progress photos, visit these posts.
From Kathleen Howard of Santa Cruz County, California:
I met Susan at Houston, standing by her work. I knew I wanted to learn collage from her. Just before the pandemic hit, I gave myself the birthday present of her online Masterclass. During the pandemic, I had the great fortune to follow Susan’s various online offerings and classes and try my hand. I’ve had a collage or two in progress ever since.
While in a park on the edge of the San Francisco Bay, I took photos of a group of pelicans fishing in a small lagoon area. Suddenly they took flight. I snapped a series of photos, one of which is represented as a collage here. (I have come to love collage as an expression of my photos.) There were many pelicans in the group that took flight. I chose a group of three to focus on for the collage. I gave each of them an individual, bold color to reflect the visual impact these large birds have when they move as a group.
I have worked on this collage for several months, appreciating the feedback I received from the Patreon group that shares and critiques work. I have finally quilted the piece and have submitted it to a local quilt show for display in February. The background is a little more sedate than I originally thought it might be, but everything else I tried seemed to fight with the birds. I guess they wanted to be shown in their true, watery world after all.
For fun, you might visit read this story by Kathleen’s son, where her pelicans were featured.
Vickie Ostrow
To see more of Vickie’s work, including in-progress photos, visit these posts.
From Vickie Ostrow of Kittery Point, Maine:
I first heard about fabric collage years ago in a quilt shop in Portsmouth, NH. I think Susan was just trying out teaching classes, and I signed up for one of her early ones. I bought Serendipity Quilts, and then I saw Susan’s examples in class, and I was hooked. What she was doing was so much more than quilting, and so expressive. In the following years, I managed to take several in-person classes with Susan in Maine and purchased her online manual, and slowly I produced a handful of collages. Then COVID changed our lives.
In 2022, I started attending Susan’s Fly on the Wall classes and then participated in an online class with her and others in November. That’s when I started my Trumpeter collage.
This quilt is based on a John James Audubon print on a Trumpeter Swan. My husband and I have had a framed copy of that print for many years – a gift from my parents-in-law – but it isn’t an “original.” I loved the lines of the print, and I had been considering it as a collage subject for awhile, but I was hesitant to use it because I had heard Susan explain why it is hard to work with white in a collage and make the subject look life-like. Then Susan started collaging a polar bear! I guess that was what gave me the push I needed to stop worrying about how difficult it might be to collage something I wanted to look white and to just jump in.
I researched copyright questions and issues until I knew quite a bit about Audubon and made sure I could use the image freely. Then I started reading about trumpeter swans.
My progress in the online class was slow, unlike the inimitable Grace Crocker, who was in my supportive group during the class, but I settled in and have worked on the swan for most of the past year. I made progress, with Susan’s help, learning how to give some movement to large areas of white, and I blended that with what I learned about trumpeter swans to gently shade my swan to fit what I wanted to achieve. Susan sometimes sends students a small bundle of fabric as inspiration to widen our choices at the beginning of a class, and a piece she sent to me became the line where the water meets the land in the background. I figured out how to continue the bird’s body underwater, and I used more tulle than I’ve ever used before.
The swan now hangs over the fireplace in our living room. It makes me feel serene and yet ready to soar every time I see it.
Daphne U.
To see Daphne’s goldfish quilt, visit this post.
From Daphne U.:
This piece is a portrait of my niece’s lovebird, Mango. While nearing the end, I booked an online consult with Susan to talk about some sticking points. A fresh set of eyes is always helpful, and expert level feedback even more so. I hadn’t realized I would receive the feedback as part of a group, and it was interesting to also hear the advice given to the other attendees, and to see their impressive work.
I’m thrilled to have finished this piece after letting it languish for years. It was so satisfying to finally do the quilting and binding. One thing I learned while doing this second collage is that I do not want to work on this small scale again because the pieces of fabric were correspondingly tiny. Sometimes I just piled new fabric on top of old because it seemed too difficult to extract the earlier ones. So this collage has a sort of ‘underpainting’ in parts. Next I’m turning my attention to other unfinished (non-collage) projects, and then will have some fun with more collage.
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2026 Live Online Classes
More about the 5-Day Online Fabric Collage Classes
I’m excited to announce my 2026 Live Online Class Schedule. Looking for a quilt retreat-style experience while staying at home? By working together, Tom and I have been making the 5-Day Live Online Fabric Collage classroom experience easy and productive since 2021.
5-Day Live Online Classes via Zoom
July 13-17, 2026
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8 students limit
Price: $995
Through our online classes each student receives: Pre-Class Coaching, Daily Class Videos, One-on-One Feedback throughout the week, a Fabric Pack for Fabric Collage, Pre-Class Meet and Greet, Mid-Week After Class Social Hour and Show and Share, Daily Walkthrough of Student Progress
2026 In-Person Classes
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Immersion: A 10 Day Workshop at Woodland Ridge Retreat
April 21, 2026 – May 2, 2026
Menomonie, WI
FOR MORE INFORMATION — Three spaces remaining!
Susan Carlson Fabric Collage in Bar Harbor, Maine 2026
September 14, 2026 – September 18, 2026
Bar Harbor, Maine
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OMG! The quilting on Mango! Nice work!