On the Road: Alegre Retreat, Gateway Canyons, CO
One of the only downsides of my job is that I have to travel. A lot. At least it seems like a lot to me. I’m such a homebody in … Read More
Susan Carlson Throwback Thursday: Desert Dreams
Coming up on the regular Saturday blog post I’ll cover my trip to Alegre Retreat at Gateway Canyons Resort. This desert-oasis retreat in western Colorado brought to mind another trip … Read More
Fabric Collage Flowers: My Love-Hate Relationship
Have you seen that Pixar movie, The Incredibles? It’s one of Tom’s and my favorite animated movies. Anyway, it’s a story about a family of superheroes. At one point, the … Read More
Susan Carlson Throwback Thursday: Choosing Fabric for Fabric Collage
Choosing fabric for fabric collage is such an important topic that it took me two tries before I felt I had done the subject justice. I took my first crack … Read More
On the Road: April 2018 Maine Quilt Retreat, Portland
Some travels take me far from home—some are a bit closer. Portland, Maine, is near enough to be an “evening out” destination for Tom and I. This particular week, Portland … Read More
Introducing Susan Carlson Fabric Collage “Throwback Thursday”
Surprise! Bet you didn’t expect to hear from me today. I’m trying something new. It’s been two and a half years since I began writing this weekly blog. That’s a … Read More
Get in Line: Skinny Lines in Fabric Collage
At some point in every fabric collage quilt, typically as you’re adding those final details, you’ll need to add a little thin line to your piece. Whether it is in order to outline a feature or as part of the feature itself, such as laugh lines around an mouth, these little details add a lot but are sometimes frustrating to manage. How do you cut a line so thin that you can barely pick it up and glue it down?
On the Road: Empty Spools, March 2018, Week 2 of 2
It was my second week teaching for Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar State Park Conference Grounds on the Monterey Peninsula in California, and the cycle of rain and clouds broke … Read More
On the Road: Empty Spools, March 2018, Week 1 of 2
It was mid-March and I found myself preparing—as I have so many years before—for my annual pilgrimage to Asilomar to teach two sessions at Empty Spools. As I was packing my … Read More
Eye Spy: Using Novelty Prints in Fabric Collage
What types of fabrics do you use for fabric collage? I am often asked that question. It would probably be easier to answer the opposite of that question: What types of fabrics don’t I use for fabric collage? I use them all, if appropriate. But what about novelty fabrics? Do I use them? Oh, yes. All the time.