Transform your own photographs into bold, graphic landscape quilts in this immersive multi-day workshop with quilt artist Vicki Conley. Students will learn how to move from photo inspiration to original quilt design—without needing advanced drawing skills or perfect precision piecing.
Vicki will demonstrate how to combine multiple reference photos into one strong composition while simplifying complex imagery into powerful graphic shapes. Students will explore tracing techniques using clear sheet protectors or tracing paper, as well as digital design methods using the iPad app Procreate. Discussions on value, color, and fabric selection will help students create depth, movement, and visual impact in their work.
Students will practice both Turned Edge Machine Piecing and Fussy Piecing techniques while constructing a simple rock study before beginning work on their own original landscape quilt. Turned Edge Machine Piecing creates a clean, finished edge, while the Fussy Piecing technique used for the sky creates a wonderfully dynamic look that can also be applied to many other quilting projects and design applications.
Designs will be enlarged and traced onto Floriani Stitch and Wash Fusible stabilizer (available from Vicki), which remains inside the finished quilt. This unique construction process allows the quilt pieces to be sewn directly to one another rather than appliquéd.
On the final day, Vicki will also demonstrate creative ways to incorporate lettering into quilts using printing, stenciling, and appliqué techniques—perfect for adding titles, poetry, or personal meaning to your artwork.
As an added bonus, Vicki will hold a pre-class Zoom discussion where students can share their photos for feedback and guidance on which images will work best for these techniques while covering important design principles and composition ideas. Students interested in learning Procreate before the retreat can also explore Vicki’s online course through C&T Publishing.
This workshop is perfect for quilters who want to turn personal photographs into original art quilts, love expressive landscape imagery, and enjoy improvisational creativity more than precision sewing. No perfect points required—just your photos, your imagination, and a willingness to experiment creatively with fabric.
About Vicki Conley
Vicki Conley grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has lived in the mountains of southern New Mexico for the past 46 years. A creative person all her life, she recently retired after a 42-year career as a studio potter, selling her work throughout the western United States at fine art and craft fairs. In 2000, she opened Piñon Pottery, a gallery in her hometown of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, where she showcased her own pottery and art quilts alongside work by other artists.
A fiber artist for more than 20 years, Vicki now focuses on art quilting and enjoys teaching at guilds and retreat centers across the country. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and was included in Quilt National 2017 and 2025. Her pieces are held in both public and private collections.
Vicki’s formal education is in the sciences, with a BS in Chemistry and an MS in Physiology. She brings this background to her textile work, interpreting the natural world through fabric and thread with the goal of highlighting the beauty of—and need to conserve—public lands. She is best known for her original national park poster–style art quilts. Vicki and her husband travel extensively in their RV with their two dogs, always searching for the next source of inspiration. Her work ranges from bold, graphic representational imagery to abstract, improvisational quilts that continue to reference the natural world.
Vicki’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including Machine Quilting Unlimited, Art Quilting Studio, Art Quilt Quarterly, Quilting Arts Magazine, Artist Magazine, and Patchwork Gilde Deutschland. She has been a guest on The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, where she demonstrated techniques used in her national park art quilts, and has also appeared on Quilting Arts TV (series 3100 and 3200) on PBS.
Vicki is a Juried Artist member of Studio Art Quilt Associated (SAQA), the founder of the art quilt collective 4 Common Corners, has served on various Global SAQA committees and is currently the regional rep for the SAQA New Mexico region.
Rates & Enrollment
Day Student Tuition: $1,045.00
Full 5-Day Package*: $2,898.28 (double occupancy pp) or $3,112.12 (single occupancy)
*5-Day Workshop Package includes: Tuition for 5 full class days, 6 nights of dinner, lodging, breakfast, daily cookie and fruit breaks, unlimited coffee and tea, and welcoming wine and cheese reception. Your choice between a room to yourself (single occupancy) or bring a friend and split a room (double occupancy).
Get more information about your options to enroll here.