Our Featured Teacher: Susan Slesinger
WonderFil Specialty Threads
Cattails By Susan Slesinger
Recently shown at the Patchwork and Quilt Show in Mexico City, uses InvisaFil™ in the bobbin, InvisaFil™ for the raw edge applique and to stitch down the couching.
Susan Slesinger
Susan Slesinger has been embroidering, sewing and knitting since she was about three. She is completing her City and Guilds level-3 Certificate in patchwork and quilting with Linda and Laura Kemshall of Design Matters. Her passions include art quilting, wearable art, and fabric postcard exchanges.Susan enjoys introducing novices to the joy of sewing as well as unleashing her students’ creativity. Her work has been featured in Designs in Machine Embroidery, America from the Heart, Creative Quilting, and The Secrets of Digital Quilting. Her quilts and garments have been displayed nationally and internationally at the Festival of Quilts (Birmingham England), the International Quilt Festivals (Houston, Chicago and Long Beach), Pacific International Quilt Festival, and Road to California.When she is not teaching or sewing, she rides a tandem bicycle with her husband, listens to and composes music, and is a volunteer ski instructor for people with disabilities.
Susan loves unleashing her students’ creativity and is a member of C & T Publishing’s Creative Troupe. She enjoys introducing novices to the joy of sewing, and teaching experienced sewers all about the fabulous features on the top-of-the-line Berninas.
Q&A INTERVIEW
Q: You have been sewing since an early age. How did you learn to sew?
A: My mother taught me hand sewing, and my great aunt was a wonderful dressmaker, so she taught me the machine sewing. Growing up in London, UK, the girls were taught to cross stitch when the boys went out to play cricket! I moved to the US in 1974 to get my MBA in international business (I also have 3 degrees in music). For much of my career, I worked in the hospital/government sector in Pasadena, and for an international health care company. I started to teach sewing towards the end of getting my music doctorate.
Q: You are skilled in all types of creative work. What is your favorite?
A: My favorite things to make are small art quits and fabric postcards.
Q: Is there a skill or technique you teach that you love to teach?
A: I like to teach beginner classes and get people well started on the basics. I also enjoy teaching machine quilting, and I love to teach customers how to use the new high end Berninas.
Q: Do you have a favorite WonderFil Thread?
A: I love InvisaFil™. I use it in my bobbin when I am making art quilts, and for applique and as a top thread when I am couching, so the couched thread looks like it is floating on the fabric. I like the way it disappears , and I feel it behaves so much better than a monofilament. I also like to use the 12 wt Fruitti™ for finishing the edges of my postcards. When I use a close set satin stitch with the heavier thread, it does such a nice job of the edge finish.
Q: What do you have coming up in terms of shows or classes?
A: I have 3 quilts in a show in Mexico City. I also teach 3-4 days a week, mostly in local shops. The rest of the time, I keep busy creating!
Royal Progress By Susan Slesinger
Uses InvisaFil™ for the bobbin and couching and Mirage™ (rayon) for the blue quilting.
Square Root By Susan Slesinger
Uses InvisaFil™, Splendor™ (rayon) and Spagetti™ (12 wt cotton thread).