Glad New Yr! We’re starting 2025 with new initiatives in thoughts—colourful, playful, dive-into-your-fabric-stash type of initiatives—with low-stress topics that may assist you (painlessly) study all concerning the cloth collage course of.
To start out, we’ve been posting a refresher course on the fundamentals of cloth collage. The six-week assessment (three weeks in 2024, three weeks in 2025) is an introduction to the material collage approach—particularly chosen for individuals who extra lately began following my weblog—but it surely’s additionally preparation for my upcoming stay Zoom Comply with-Alongs starting in February (see beneath for information and registration).
In December we lined gluing, making a palette for material collage, and selecting cloth. At present’s submit is about what to contemplate in approaching and making use of the layers of cloth collage. Excited about the sequence wherein these layers are positioned onto the drawn design could be fairly useful—giving a plan of action when simply “getting began” could be daunting. Over the subsequent few weeks, we are going to proceed to focus on preparatory steps associated to a cloth collage mission.
The photograph above, is a element of the segments seen on a turtle shell—first come the multi-sided plates, then come the dividing strains. Learn all concerning the causes for that type of sequence within the submit following beneath.
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The fish collage beneath, Heads Over Tails , additionally employs a sequence plan—first the fish, then their round background, then the blocked-in remaining background. In case you have my guide, Serendipity Quilts, you’ll acknowledge it as the duvet picture and likewise as one of many included initiatives within the guide. The quilt can also be a terrific instance of the type of mixing approach that I’ll be specializing in within the upcoming Fantastical Fish Comply with Alongside.
The Fantastical Fish Comply with Alongside in February, will use a fish sample (of your individual design or one which you will select from my assortment) with a 2025 concentrate on “mixing”—considered one of my most requested about abilities—the method of utilizing the colours, values, and prints in materials to merge one into one other, usually to create the phantasm of kind, with highlights and shadows.
The Bugs and Butterflies Comply with Alongside in June and July (additionally your individual design or primarily based on my patterns), will concentrate on butterflies and the best way to strategy the flowing and colourful shapes of their fascinating wings. Study what to search for in your materials and the best way to work with their printed designs to create motion and kind—letting the material do a lot of the give you the results you want.
Use the hyperlinks beneath to register for these four-week lessons, held every Thursday night time at 7:00 p.m. jap time.
Within the meantime, particularly if you’re new to cloth collage, it could be useful to assessment the fundamentals via this present sequence of posts overlaying the material collage approach earlier than these lessons start. In following posts we’ll proceed with the matters of: backgrounds, and sheers.
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February 6, 13, 20, 27, 2025 — 7 pm, Japanese Time
Fantastical Cloth Collage Fish Zoom Comply with-Alongside
REGISTER HERE
Value: $78
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July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 2025 — 7 pm, Japanese Time
Fascinating Cloth Collage Bugs and Butterflies Zoom Comply with-Alongside
REGISTER HERE
Value: $78
Should you’ve ever thought of giving your self the present of a 5-day week-long cloth collage class expertise with me—and will not be scared off by staying cozy in your house, not touring anyplace, and maintaining your cloth stash shut by—do we now have a particular supply for you—a $100 low cost (which supplies you the chance so as to add extra cloth to that stash!).
January 20-24, 2025
Susan Carlson 5-Day Dwell On-line Class—All Ranges, Animals Solely
Value WAS: $995
NOW: $895
REGISTER HERE
Reap the benefits of this particular supply solely for January’s “Cozy” Dwell On-line Cloth Collage Class
Additional Susan Carlson Studying Assets: Susan Carlson Quilts web site, patterns, weblog (on the whole), YouTube movies, Spiral eWorkshop, Patreon, and our February Fantastical Fish and Summertime’s Fascinating Bugs and Butterfly Work-Alongs
Sequence in Cloth Collage Half 1
First revealed February 15, 2020
One thing that isn’t apparent about cloth collage (as I educate it) is the significance of the sequence wherein you strategy the development of your picture. The place you begin, and the order wherein you proceed, could make a giant distinction within the ease of progress and end result of your quilt.
Over the subsequent few months I’ll be contributing to an ongoing sequence of weblog posts that may focus on the very best sequence to strategy a cloth collage mission utilizing numerous quilt examples.
Not too long ago I’ve been arduous at work on my upcoming on-line eWorkshop, Susan Carlson Cloth Collage: Sea Turtle (above, in-progress photograph). The shell of a turtle presents skinny strains in its design. It’s related the truth is to a different quilt I made, “Monarch Maia,” which encompasses a portrait mixed with the wings of a monarch butterfly.
The Monarch wings in that quilt have been made in a really related trend to how I reveal making the shell on the ocean turtle within the new eWorkshop.
In every case, panes or plates of coloration are surrounded by skinny darkish strains. Working the best way I do, the full-size sample primarily based in your picture is traced onto a plain basis cloth. The temptation for a lot of, when confronted with such strains of their design, is to chop a darkish cloth to fill your entire wing or shell first, then add the coloured shapes on high.
The issue with this strategy is that after you have positioned the massive darkish coloration over your entire wing or shell, you’ve obscured the opposite shapes that you’ve drawn in your basis cloth. How do you fill in these shapes should you’ve lined them up?
The reply can be a template strategy—hint the shapes, quantity them, lower them out, pin them to your alternative of materials, lower them out once more, and work out the place to put them on that stable piece of cloth. Let me say proper now that it’s not “incorrect,” it’s simply not how I strategy cloth collage, and the way I educate it.
I developed this type of cloth collage in my quest to make the method of making a picture in cloth extra quick, extra painterly, much less paint-by-numbers. I wished to have a look at my topic and instantly reply by free-hand chopping and putting cloth straight onto a basis cloth. Templates have been, to me, unbearably tedious—for the way I wished to work.
So how do I strategy making a butterfly wing or a sea turtle shell?
I begin with the panes or plates first. As an alternative of making these smaller shapes with one piece of cloth, I like to make use of a number of, relying on the scale of the given space to fill. This to me provides the piece a richer extra fascinating look—like a number of dabs of paint—under no circumstances the one coloration of a paint-by-number. As I glue the material items down I ensure that I go away their edges, particularly these on the fringe of the plate or pane, free. As soon as the panes or plates are accomplished, I am going again and slip strips of cloth between them and below the free edges, once more utilizing not only one cloth for the contrasting strains, however as many as I like, relying on the look I’m making an attempt to realize.
Within the photograph beneath of the turtle shell from my eWorkshop, I’ve lower a sliver of brown and black cloth to slide into the hole between the plates. I’ve left the sides of the plates free and lower the material sliver wider than the hole itself so as to make sure that the muse cloth is roofed and the hole is stuffed.
Right here that sliver of cloth has been positioned between the plates.
Be aware that I select to fluctuate the colour and worth of the material I take advantage of to fill the gaps. I do that so as to add curiosity, however extra importantly to make sure that the plate and the hole materials have contrasting values. That is one thing that may be very tough to preplan should you positioned a big darkish cloth down first then created the plates on high of it.
Within the video excerpt beneath—a preview from the eWorkshop—I reveal how I select, lower, place, and glue the strips of materials to fill the gaps between the plates on the turtle’s shell.
For an additional demonstration of this method and different strategies for creating very nice strains, go to a earlier weblog submit: “Get in Line: Skinny Traces in Cloth Collage.”
I prefer to work this manner each due to the sense of (relative) immediacy it provides me and due to the personalized outcomes I get. Principally, ’trigger I like the best way it seems to be after I’m executed.
Monarch Wing Instance
Within the following pictures I present the sequence wherein I strategy the wings—particularly the decrease a part of the correct wing—on this fanciful portrait of my niece, entitled “Monarch Maia.” I’ll be referring to the 2 elements of the correct hand wing—please observe that the decrease half overlaps the higher half.
Under, the sample I created has been traced onto a basis cloth. My subsequent step is to determine the place to begin. The place would you begin?
Right here’s the reply: you begin with what’s in entrance. I began along with her face—particularly the nostril, eyes, and mouth— as a result of that’s what is in entrance of the wings.
Now that the primary draft of the face after which hair is finished, I preserve transferring backwards on my topic to the wings, that are behind the hair. The decrease proper wing is in entrance of the remainder of the wings, so I start with that one. And on every a part of the wings, I start with the orange “panes.” Why? As a result of they’re in entrance of the darkish strains.
By selecting to work with the shapes which are in entrance of others first, I can see precisely the place the orange shapes match and what form they need to be. I retain the flexibility to work with my drawn strains and take full benefit of the work I put into the design.
I do use a number of items of cloth to fill every pane. The usage of a number of materials permits me to mix simply from one worth to the subsequent—darkish to mild— and I really feel the number of prints provides a richness to the visible texture of the piece.
Within the photograph beneath I’ve accomplished a primary draft of the orange panes on the decrease proper wing, however due to all of the pins, I can inform they’ve but to be glued in place.
I’ve additionally lower down groupings of “white” spots from one other cloth, picked to signify the white spots of the Monarch wing edges—that are additionally in entrance of the black background of the wing. I go away slightly of the black print surrounding the white spots, it saves me some work and can ultimately mix with the remainder of the black materials anyway.
All these materials shapes are nonetheless in entrance of the (eventual) black wing background. Right here the primary draft of the panes and white spots is full. As I glue each bit of cloth onto the muse, I tack solely the facilities with glue, leaving the sides free, which is able to enable me to slide the darkish materials behind both the orange or white shapes.
This fashion of building is sensible to me and appears very logical—what’s in entrance overlaps what’s behind, proper? Create the orange panes and white spots (what’s in entrance) first, then tuck the black behind.
Be aware in photograph above the numerous completely different varieties and patterns of “black” I plan to make use of.
The primary draft of the darkish background is in progress above and beneath. It strikes rapidly since I’ve already executed the work creating the orange and white shapes. The black bits of cloth simply slip below these shapes and fill within the open spots on the muse cloth.
Under, the primary draft of decrease wing is now full. I ensure that I’ve trimmed the black higher edge to my drawn line earlier than I transfer on to the highest wing part—the subsequent space in my entrance to again sequence. As soon as that line is outlined and the black materials secured with some glue (maintaining edges free), I can begin tucking the orange materials of the higher a part of the wing behind the decrease a part of the wing and repeat the method.
Under I’m making progress on the higher a part of the entrance wing. The orange panes abutting that black edge tuck proper beneath, the distinction making a easy, definitive division between the 2 elements of the wing. Try extra in-progress pictures of “Monarch Maia” right here.
Keep tuned for extra examples of this—begin with what’s in entrance—cloth collage building sequence utilizing different quilt topics in following months.
Addendum to Sequence in Cloth Collage
The month that the above, Sequence in Cloth Collage Half 1, was written and revealed, the Covid pandemic additionally got here into being. Like many issues for all of us, plans for 2020 have been rearranged. New Sequence posts did nonetheless get written and posted, in 2021. You may learn them within the hyperlinks beneath.
Half 2: Faces—initially revealed February 20, 2021
Half 3: Utilizing Sheers—initially revealed March 6, 2021