Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Dispatch: Greetings from Beautiful Bar Harbor!

Our reporter in the field, Susan Carlson, checks in from her recent assignment in Bar Harbor, Maine. For this dispatch Susan has sent in photos and captions of show and share work from her fabric collage students. As she says, she “turned the tables” on her students and had them tell the stories of their quilts.

Susan also passed along a few “atmospheric” shots to give our readers a sense the place and the occasion. This is Susan’s third such assignment in Bar Harbor, where she has been sponsored by Madeline Island School of the Arts (MISA). Susan will be collaborating with MISA again in October 2027 when she teaches a ten-day workshop in Pacific Grove, California, at Asilomar State Park (click here for more info).

Check back for more coverage of the 2026 Bar Harbor Fabric Collage class in future weeks.

Signing off,

—The Editor

DISPATCH:
A message or report sent in haste, like a journalist’s report from a distant location.

We lucked out with some beautiful weather this week. All the hotel rooms face the water for lovely sunrises. On our last day together, morning was greeted with thick fog!

Being able to drive to Bar Harbor from my home, it was easy to bring a few extra quilts to show. So each day I would display a different one as an example for our morning Q&A demos.

My classroom both last year and this year was set up with some comfy seating for those daily gatherings.

One morning, I “turned the tables“ on the group and anyone who had been able to bring some finished quilts to show and share had the spotlight under our overhead mirror demo table. It was nice to be able to sit back on a couch with my cuppa while others were presenting at the demo table. Darlene Determan started the show with three pup quilts. She had worked on in past classes.

Barb Grant finished her pig, “Edison,” in time to fly him from California back to Bar Harbor, Maine, where he was begun in class last year. She had the goal to show other returning students where he ended up!

Sandi Bond shared her sweet and colorful pup quilt, also begun in last year’s September class. We all browsed the very impressive share table, heaped with fabric scraps from quite a few of us.

Lizzie Stebbins brought in her two beautiful award-winning quilts, moose and bear, two more that began their creation in the 2025 two week Bar Harbor class. Plus a sweet sun – moon combination most recently completed.

Of the 14 people in this 2026 class, Ann Carr was the last of the seven returning 2025 students to report on her progress—a finished leopard and in-progress swan collages.

A creative messiness filled our week together.

Barbara Grant demonstrates how a collage quilter‘s fabric could become an interesting head covering.

Nan Sorensen and her selection of colorful, sheer fabrics brightened the foggy start to the last day of class. The collage portraits of her three grandchildren are equally colorful and will be featured in an upcoming blog post featuring the awesome art of the fabulous students in this 2026 Bar Harbor, Maine class. See you then!