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Design Star™ 2010 Finalist - Brenda Sutherland |
Check out Brenda's contest quilts at the bottom of this page.
I've been quilting for.. After moving to Northern Ontario and taking a break from my Accounting career, I began quilting in 1994.
I started quilting because.. I grew up watching my grandmother make beautiful quilts and I've always aspired to create one myself. I fell in love with the fabrics and designs, and began teaching others to quilt in 1998 after returning to Toronto. I soon began writing patterns for the quilt store I worked in.
| Early on, my quilting passion was quilts made from flannel fabrics. My first design challenge was to create a pattern that would sell the bits and pieces of flannel that remained on the shelf at the store where I was working. I was allowed to order any flannel line I chose if I could sell the current flannels on the shelf. Courted Love by One Patch at a Time Designs was born! I've always worked at stores that sold machines. That is where my second passion comes in…Machine Embroidery. Many times a design is inspired by a new fabric line, notion (I love rulers), or an embroidery disk. Many of my patterns can easily be adapted to showcase a wonderful new embroidery design or the perfect fabric that is just too pretty to cut up into little pieces. My favorite techniques are.. Most of my techniques are self taught. After taking a few classes, I realized that there had to be an easier, more efficient way to do some of the techniques I was being shown. I enjoy experimenting and creating new, more accurate ways to complete a task. Having always worked with machines, I try to find new ways to utilize all the amazing features available today. Machine education classes are always challenging me to create something new and exciting to share with other quilters. Although my favorite techniques change from time to time, you can almost always be certain there will be embroidery in there somewhere. While I have so much appreciation of appliquéd quilts, I would much prefer to appliqué with embroidery than by regular machine methods. Most of my designs will be blocks that have been pieced.I strive to make my designs more interesting through fabric choices, embroidery, and overall, designing a more abstract looking quilt. |
Brenda Sutherland Whitby, Ontario, Canada |
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Courted Love |
I'm attracted to.. As the months and years go by, my favorite colors or “flavors of the month” change. There is always some new, hot color I just can’t do without. The most recent obsession was chocolate brown/teal. The current flavor only lasts until the next one comes along. Isn’t that the beauty of all the amazing choices we have available to us?
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Boxy Lady |
How big is my stash.. Isn’t that like asking a lady her age or weight? Are we really supposed to admit to just how much fabric we really have? YIKES! Well, let’s just say I've been growing my stash for over 15 years. Working in quilting stores and designing patterns just makes you “need” a bit more then the average gal! If all the stores were to close, I could keep on quilting for a very, very long time. I admit though, one of my favorite types of fabric to collect are Batiks in any color or print. |
What you should know about me.. I am mom to two wonderful young men ages 15 and 24.
I entered Quilt Design Star™ at.. the urging of my friends. All it took was for one friend to email me the link with the simple message “you could win this” and the frenzy of support began. It is an everyday event for someone to ask “what am I going to make with this”, “how can I change this pattern”, or “create something for me from this fabric or notion”. It seemed a great idea to share my creativity with the readers of McCall’s Quilting. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by amazing friends who constantly push me to achieve more.
| Visit me at.. my website (through which I offer an online newsletter). On the site, I offer all my patterns for sale along with a free Block of the Month. I've just launched my online quilting group on Yahoo. This group was formed as a forum to discuss my various Quilting Patterns and Block of the Month programs. It is a great place to ask questions, get answers and show off your versions of my patterns. Another way to keep up with all the daily happenings at One Patch at a Time Designs is my Facebook group. Trunk shows and guest teaching at a variety of Quilting Stores and Guilds are my favorite things to do. Sharing the love of quilting and inspiring other quilters are wonderful ways to spend a day or evening. One Patch at a Time Designs was created so I could share my passion for quilting with quilters around the world. The joy of quilting is that it is ever changing. There is never time to get bored because there is always a new fabric, notion or technique coming along to challenge you to create something new. |
Opposites Attract |
Crazy Animals (below) is Brenda's Design Star™ entry quilt.
A Mother's Love (below) is Brenda's Design Star™ Challenge 1 quilt.
A New Horizon is Brenda's Challenge 2 winning entry.
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