Susan Carlson's Class

Susan Carlson has authored two books on quilting, Free-Style Quilts, a "No Rules" Approach, and Serendipity Quilts: Cutting Loose Fabric Collage, both available at Amazon.com. I fell in love with the first book and when I learned she was coming to my local area to teach, I quickly signed up...only to have to cancel through the magic of kidney stones. But, not before I was inspired to design my own piece, (thanks Patty.) I had a lizard on my design wall which i had developed earlier based on Highway 101 (also known as Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale). Here is a photo of the highway and you can see where I was coming from.

 And here's a close-up of the lizard I had in mind...

I only needed him (or her) drawn out with a Sharpie on freezer paper and I would be good to go...fast forward by about five years, and voila! I could do a Susan Carlson-inspired quilt.

Now to use her technique to put the collage together. Gather the fabrics, I picked hot pinks. Next, I began fussy-cutting the florals out of the hot pinks, placing them on the left side of the quilt.

Looking at this photo may help you to see how I began...
And this is how it began, filling in the background.

Oh, and did I say that this is a teaser? You have to check back to see the quilt once it is finished and quilted. But you do get the idea, don't you? What I'm not sure you can see from these photos is the raspberry sparkling tulle that is covering the pink collaged garden. It certainly adds to the effect when you see the quilt in real life.