Monday 30 August 2010

About Brenda


Brenda and Trudi helping at the Festival of Quilts
I met Brenda a couple of months ago when she came up for a visit to see the New English Quilter. Brenda went home with a frame and I gained a friend. Brenda was an accomplished machine quilter long before she ever saw our frame. She's been teaching classes and making amazing quilts for years. In the end she opted for a frame, to take the aggravation out of the machine quilting process. She was fed up with wrestling with all that fabric under the arm of the machine. She wanted a way of quilting that was kinder to her back and neck.

The challenge for Brenda was going to be translating her expertise from off-the-frame to on-the-frame quilting. The photos here are some close up shots of Brenda's practice pieces. You can see pretty clearly that she more than met the challenge! Clicking on the images will give you a better view of the stitching.
Brenda has an enquiring mind of a practical nature. She's always trying to figure out why things work or don't work and how to make it better. While Brenda was getting acquainted with the frame, she began emailing me all sorts of hints and tips for getting the most out of it. She's used the frame in ways I never would have thought of. and come up with solutions to practical issues that I would have just put up with.I'll be sharing more about these tips in future posts.I'll end this one with some shots of Brenda's Baby Trapunto.


6 comments:

Trudi said...

A wonderful lady imho! Wow how much I learnt and had my eyes opened to!

bernie said...

Can you share the type of thread you are using in needle and bobbin and what your tension settings are, etc.? Thank you. Bernie

Martha said...

Hi Bernie, I can tell you what we were using at the show for Trudi's practice piece. Both Trudi and Brenda are using a JUKTL98-P on a NEQ frame. The JUKi tension goes 0 to 4; the tension is set on 1. The bobbin tension is loose too, so that when you take the bobbin case out and hold it by the tail(thread) and give it a short sharp shake; it goes down a bit and stops. The needle is a titanium coated 100/16 topstitch needle from Superior Threads and Trudi was using Rainbows on top and a Bottom Line pre-wound in the bobbin. Brenda is just about to start a blog and then you 'll be able to ask her directly. Meanwhile, you could catch her on facebook.

Maria said...

This is what I aspire too, so a bit more practise for me then!!!

I look forward to reading Brenda's hits and tips.

bernie said...

Hi Martha, Thanks for answering my question on thread and tension. I have a Juki TL-98 and was wondering if the Rainbows thread from Superior is like the King Tut as far as thickness. I really enjoy your blog and pics and hope to have a NEQ someday! Bernie

Martha said...

Thanks Bernie. The Rainbows are slightly less thick than King Tut. I use the Rainbows when I want a shining shimmery look. The tri-lobal polyester fibres that make up the Rainbows thread are light reflecting - just lovely to work with.