I had seen Brenda's quilts at many of the major exhibitions, often sporting a rosette or complimentary judge's comment, and it was so lovely to see them all and hear from her own lips the inspiration behind them and techniques that she uses in their making.
This is "Layers of Polperro" which is the first quilt that Brenda entered into an exhibition.
Brenda said that she started creating her very first quilt using free fabric (mostly furnishing) in case it all went wrong! She needn't have worried as it was lovely! Nevertheless she has continued to use all manner of different fabrics in her hangings and not just the more usual cottons. She tried out many methods to sew around and on her applique pieces, including using stitches on her sewing machine that we all think we'll never have a need for.
Brenda started by sewing a binding to her pictures to finish the edges, but now simply "bags" them (right sides together and sew all the way around, then turn the right way through a slit cut in the backing which is hidden by the sleeve), or she adds a facing. I really like the way that the houses, etc extend right to the edge.
This is a link to Victoria's tutorial on facing a quilt.
This mini below is only A4 size but all the detail is super - it's looking out of a window towards the harbour.
Brenda is renowned for her coastal scenes as above, but she also does other more abstract work and I love this sunset over the sea.
Brenda is doing a two day workshop at Cowslip on 28th and 29th March 2019 and there may be places available should you be interested.
Thank you Brenda for sharing all your work. We had a great evening and I'm sure there's many a scene being designed by Flowerpatch members even as I write - so very inspiring.
You can see more of Brenda's quilts in my previous posts:
Spring Quilt Festival
West Country Quilt Show
and Quilt Festival in Exeter
Our next meeting is on 14th March 2019 when we will be joined by Susan Denton.
Happy Stitching - Anita x
