Fabric Portrait Resources : What I've Found Helpful ...

If you haven't figured it our yet, fabric portraits is/are one of my interests as an art quilter. Here are some resources I've found to be helpful with this journey:

Tutorials / Classes :


This amazing quilt is "Rundy" by Marilyn Belford.

Realistic Fabric Portraits with Marilyn Belford is an online class through Quilt University.
If you haven't taken an online class, it's a wonderful way to
* work with world-reknown teachers
* meet people all over the world
* be inspired by your fellow students
* and get the benefit of the problem-solving brain power of the class.
* And the best part is that you work at home--no schlepping a car-load of stuff to live classroom.


I was able to finish the face of The Oliver (aka Bubble Boy) Quilt by taking Marilyn Belford's class.


Painted Face for Beginners : Workshop on DVD (ASIN: B000XTVALG) by Bonnie McCaffery
and Portrait Quilts : Painted Faces You Can Do (ISBN-13: 978-0976693437)
I got the DVD more than a year ago, watched it, but have not been brave enough to DO it yet. Mostly because the tv and dvd-player at our house are nowhere near my studio space. Bonnie is a good teacher. Have you seen her monthly vidcasts, interviews and demos with world-reknown quilt artists? They are great!



Faces on Fabric - online class with Terri Stegmiller
A class combining quilting with a painted face. This class got me drawing faces, first. Then I wondered why I haven't been drawing faces for the last 20 years!
The photo above is the work-in-progress I made in Terri's class the past few months. I think this might be my new preferred way to do portraits.

Pam Holland has a nice tutorial on her website about portrait quilts.

Although I haven't had a chance to see these DVDs by Lura Schwartz Smith, they are on my wish list :


Workshops to Go : Faces in Fabric
Jukebox Quilts Presents : From Snapshots to Art Quilts

Here's another one on my Wish List :

The Quilting Arts Workshop : Making Faces (ISBN: 9781596681880) with Maria Elkins

Books :

Portraits for Fabric Lovers (ISBN: 978-1-4116-9735-5) by Marilyn Belford. Marilyn Belford explains how to go from a photo to fabric with an applique method. See also the Realistic Fabric Portraits online class at Quilt University. Marilyn is a wonderfully encouraging teacher.



Deidre Scherer does some amazing work! Her books, Threads of Experience (ISBN 0918949920) and Work in Fabric & Thread (ISBN 1571200444) are worth a look just for the inspiration factor alone.



Photo Album Quilts (ISBN-13: 978-1600591891) by Wendy Bulter Berns
Another book the explains the process of taking one of your treasured family photos and rendering it in fabric. Wendy is also an encouraging and enthusiastic teacher. Take one of her classes if you ever have the chance!


Free-Style Quilts : A No-Rules Approach (ISBN-13: 978-1571201027) by Susan Carlson
Susan Carlson is an amazing artist ... The book contains some amazing portraits like this one called Twilight :

I even purchased the autographed lithograph poster (and framed it!) just so I could study her amazing work. This is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to see what Susan Carlson does next!



Faces & Places (ISBN-13: 978-1571200006) and Focus on Features (ISBN-13: 978-1571200532) by Charlotte Warr Andersen are two excellent books that explain the process of going from photo to finished quilt. Very useful for drafting patterns from photos, though I admit, I never did figure out her method of reverse applique. Faces and Places, if available is out-of-print and expensive. Don't forget to try your local public library if you want to look at at these books.


The Dog Lady Speaks (ISBN-13: 978-0970349606) by Sharon Malec is about pet portraits. It contains step-by -step instructions for Sharon's unique free standing applique plus a section on how to design your own Picture Quilt pattern. The how-to-do-it section is useful in creating your own patterns (not just for dogs). Although Sharon has patterns for various dog breeds, you'll want to make your own if your dog is a mutt (like mine).


Photo Fabrications (ISBN-13: 978-0952106074) by Angela Madden offers a good basic process for going from a family photo to a pattern to a finished quilt. Look at some of the other resources listed above for the details you'll want to add.

Do you know of other tutorials, classes, books, resources on fabric portraits? Please leave a comment and I'll add it to the list.

Paulette Insall offers an online mixed media class called All About Faces.