This week I have more gorgeous geckos to share. This past February, during my Glorious Gecko Follow Along, I invited viewers to join me live on Zoom, as I collage pieced a three-foot gecko. Since then I’ve been sharing those viewers’ own results—such as the glorious gecko above, by Marie Sugar. You can see the first two collections of these student works here and here. The geckos submitted for these three posts are absolutely fabulous.
One thing that impresses me about these images is the artistic courage it took to bring them into existence. Firstly, the bravery to simply try something new or challenging. And also the courage these artists exhibited in taking the steps to share their work. I’m so proud of my childhood friend Kathryn Cole (see her quilt below), who had never attempted a fabric collage before. This was her first endeavor and she knocked it out of the park.
I imagine that each of us in our own ways, face and overcome some sort of challenge every day—whether it’s picking up fabric and scissors and glue and making a gecko come to life, or a more personal challenge, maybe both. Everyone every day is struggling with something, and what an accomplishment it is when beauty arises because of or in spite of those struggles.
Thank you to all who took up the gecko challenge, made time to work through it, then shared their beautiful creativity with us.
On Another Note: for a touch of celestial beauty this weekend, there will be a Blue Moon rising on Sunday. A blue moon is a second full moon in any month and only occurs every two or three years. For this year, May 1st was a full moon, as is May 31st, which makes it a blue moon. Plus, it’ll also be a micromoon—when the moon’s orbit takes it to the farthest point from the earth—so Sunday’s blue moon will be the most distant and smallest-looking full moon of the year. And if you need another reason to celebrate the blue moon this weekend, the star Antares, found in the constellation Scorpius, will be shining bright alongside this “rarest moon of 2026” a Blue Micromoon. I hope you have a chance to look up and take note of this unique moment in time.
And now for Glorious Geckos: Part 3—Enjoy. Click on any smaller photos to view them larger and to scroll through the photo gallery.
Kathryn Cole
From Kathryn:
I am attaching Dorothy and her ruby slippers. Dorothy is having many adventures on her small branch. She started as an Autumn Harvest Gecko in Kansas, but my fabrics didn’t work. She had a black and white winter phase, and is somewhere between flowery spring and Florida summer now. I love watching her molt.
Dorothy is made of cotton and cotton blends. Her branch is the backside of heavy upholstery. The background leaves and flowers are outdoor upholstery which have been difficult to glue since I imagine they’ve been weather-treated.
Susan, I’m taking your advice to work on the background before I return to Dorothy. In addition to the flora, I want lots of bugs. Afterall, Dorothy needs food for growth and exploration! (What else would a dietitian obsess on?)
Sara Crocker
Sara Crocker showed us her in-progress piece, “Gloria the Gecko,” in a previous post. Here is the finished quilt—beautiful and oh so glorious.
Marie Sugar
From Marie:
My fabric stash is primarily solid or fabrics that read as solid. ( I thought ). After freezing in indecision a friend let me into her stash and I found a fabric the said lizard. Well that was the jump off. I started pulling fabric from the shelves and discovered a range of multi color and prints.
• I learned that I can work in a space overflowing in fabric without panicking.
• I learned that I don’t always listen to instructions carefully.
• I learned I can color outside the line with no one the wiser.
• I learned not to sew over strips of tulle.
Had a devil of a time quilting the background that had strips of sparkle tulle .(that was all I could find in Michael’s ) I need to find a red tulle to cover the gecko before quilting. Actually not sure how to quilt her. I thought of adding stuffing to increase the 3 dimension.
I enjoyed this class and can’t wait to figure out which critter will be next.
Ursula Johnston
From Ursula:
Here are a few photos of my unfinished gecko. It’s been an enlightening journey for someone who is not used to coloring outside the lines! After my initial terror, I found myself focusing on details instead of laying and laying a foundation, but my technique is improving, and I’m now enjoying myself!
I see that Ursula has a studio cat as attentive and helpful as mine. 😉
Marnie Coke
From Marnie:
I’ve had an engaging time creating my Glorious Gecko. His name is Jimmy. When my oldest grandson (now 12) was 3, he visited us in our Florida rental. We had a lovely birdcage enclosed patio and the geckos loved to run up and down the screen. Mason was afraid of them and so we had him give the gecko a name. Jimmy became like a pet for the rest of Mason’s visit. Jimmy is pictured here at night, on the inside of the screen, with the last vestiges of the sun bouncing some light off tree branches and some wisps of cloud.
I still have plenty of tweaking to do on the gecko as I haven’t completely decided that everything works the way I want it to. I will then add embellishments. Netting will be added to the background for the screen of the birdcage.
Thank you for the follow-along. It refreshed my understanding of techniques and Susan’s dialogue was such a wonderful inspiration and insight into the creative process. I am always challenged with fabric choices and find that I visit many different stores during the creation of a fabric collage. Oh what fun!
Heidi Suppers
From Heidi:
Glorious gecko—final first draft (above left). To get over my fear of cutting up fabric incorrectly, I started with a paper collage (above right) . I learned a lot about the shading. I hate the head, and I love those cherry toes.
Getting started after the first class – it all started with the grapes I placed on the head plate as inspiration.
I was really nervous about working on the toes and froze for a few days. Then, got the toes and draft #1 done, but so many details were bothering me that I kept working on it even without the background
I wanted to place him in water and go bold with the background, but it didn’t work for me. Looked for something that would bring out the reds in the gecko. Tried to make the background interesting but not busy.
So inspiring this morning to see these wonderful works and to read about each person’s struggles. Those same struggles are present in every piece I work on. This post was a reminder that my Gecko needs a home.