The South Florida Surface Design Association (SFSDA)2026 Annual Spring Trunk Show, a vibrant celebration of fiber art, surface design, and creative craftsmanship. This special two-day event showcases the extraordinary talents of our member artists and offers a unique opportunity to experience the many forms of contemporary surface design.

Create lovely collages using shapes such as map elements, floral motifs, and /or geometric patterns and shapes using opaque and sheer fabrics.

Explore the potential of intricately cut surfaces created with the Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter. This popular machine can provide precision cutting that leads to beautiful detail.

The instructor will also provide the opportunity to work with elements that are pre-cut with a laser cutter.

Aya Fiber Studio Open Studio in Stuart, Florida provides dedicated studio time for artists to work independently on fiber art projects. Enjoy a quiet, creative environment designed for focus, experimentation, and hands-on making in a professional studio setting.

Aya Fiber Studio Open Studio in Stuart, Florida provides dedicated studio time for artists to work independently on fiber art projects. Enjoy a quiet, creative environment designed for focus, experimentation, and hands-on making in a professional studio setting.

Welcome to my new techniques class!

We’ll cover multiple new ways of expressing ourselves on fabric.

Transfer printing: we’ll use non-toxic dye (provided by me) to transfer designs from paper to synthetic materials, using heat.

It’s a very different way of creating designs, as compositions can be created on dry paper with collage techniques. 

A huge variety of synthetic materials can be used, including sheers.

Also, botanicals can be used with fantastic results, matching or exceeding results achieved through eco printing. Post production: learn how to use various media such as gel pens, markers, and colored pencils, to enhance your stitching after quilting.

Watercolor techniques on fabric: We’ll use fabric paints on cotton to achieve similar effects of watercolor paint on paper, only it is permanent. These can make a great base for hand or machine stitching.

In this workshop, you will first learn how to paint images with Procion dyes on cotton. Learning to control the dyes will be emphasized. Among other things, we will cover blending, layering, special effects and painting without bleeding. All of these techniques can be used to create images as complex as portraits or as simple as a line on a scarf. Each student is asked to bring two or three 18"x 20" designs or drawings that they will transfer onto cloth and then paint. These drawings can be fruits or rounded objects, still life, animals, faces, or anything you would like to paint. Any image can be used as long as it has been made into an 18" X 20" black and white line drawing. It would also help to have an example or an idea of your color choices. In the second part of the workshop, we will explore new ideas about how to use quilting to enhance the look of your painted cloth. The main objective is to use quilting lines to create depth, texture, tension, or shadowing which will give a new dimension to your quilt. Lines can be inspired by an endless variety of things (nature, architecture, technology, etc.) to add visual interest and reinforce your overall design. Even straight lines can become a design in themselves. You will be working with the images you have painted during the first part of the workshop. This workshop is based on free-motion machine quilting but the design techniques can be adapted to hand quilting. Experience in one or the other is required.

Create a beautiful and functional komebukuro—a traditional Japanese rice bag—using fabrics that hold personal meaning or aesthetic appeal. These charming drawstring bags were originally used to carry offerings of rice to temples, and today they make lovely gift bags, project pouches, or keepsake carriers.

In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to piece, stitch, and construct your own fully lined rice bag using a simple boxed-base method. We'll cover design layout, fabric pairing, basic construction, and finishing techniques. You'll leave with a completed bag and the skills to make many more.

Suzanne Connors will teaching at the Madeline Island School of Arts; July 13-17, 2026

The mission of the Appalachian Center for Craft is to promote excellence in American craft by teaching both tradition and innovation in professional studio craft, and fostering access to the highest quality craft education, craft artists, craft works and events in a community arts context.

Suzanne Connors will be teaching at Sanborn Mills Farm; August 12-17, 2026