Our Teacher of the Month: Catherine Redford
WonderFil Specialty Threads
English Paper Piecing with InvisaFil
English Paper Piecing with InvisaFil
Catherine joined the WonderFil Teacher Program in 2015.
Catherine grew up in the Northwest of England and learned to knit and sew at an early age. While she was in university studying for a degree in Food Science, she took up knitting and cross stitching. She also met her husband there, and together they raised four children. In 1995, they moved to Naperville,Illinois, just after she had published her first cross stitching pattern.She took her first quilting class at Stitches and Stuffing in Naperville in 1998.Five years later she started teaching quilting at Pieceful Heart Fabrics and taught there for 10 years until they closed their doors in 2013. In 2013, she was invited to appear on Quilting Arts TV and has since taped several segments on various topics. She is a regular contributor to Modern Patchwork magazine and is the author of two Modern Machine Quilting QATV workshop DVDs.
Q: Tell me a bit about how you started quilting.
A: I have sewn since I was a little girl. I used to teach cross stitching when I still lived in England. When I moved to the United States, many of my new friends were quilters. My daughter had to make a qulit as a project, so we took a trip to a quilt store together, and it all started from that.
Q: You do many different quilting styles: free motion, Modern Quilting with the feed dogs up, hand appliqué and embellishing. Do you have a favorite technique?
A: I still really enjoy hand stitching. I like to sit and take the time with my work. But I also really like to finish my own quilts. I am a Bernina embassador, so I do all my quilting on a Bernina domestic machine. When I taught at the quilt shop, the owner would see something new and ask me to teach a class, so I took a lot of classes myself and was able to learn a lot of new techniques.
Q: You are new to the WonderFil Teacher Program. How did you hear about us?
A: I had heard from other quilters about WonderFil and I was intrigued by the many different threads. I had purchased some Tutti and Konfetti ( 50 wt cotton) at a show and decided to use it for a quilt I was making for QuiltCon. The thread stitched beautifully. I also went to one of Andrew's presentations and he emphasized how well the 80 wt ( DecoBob) and the 100 wt
( InvisaFil) worked for piecing. I was doing English Paper Piecing at the time. I decided to give it a try although I was sure that it would be too fine. I was wrong; it was really easy to use and did not slip or break.
Q: What are your favorite WonderFil threads?
A: As I said, I love the InvisaFil for my appliqué work and for English Paper Piecing. For the hand work, I love Eleganza. I am so impressed with the quality. The thread runs so smoothly through the cloth, and I love the many bright, solid colors.
Q: What is your favorite part about teaching?
A: I am a very curious person and I love to learn. But when I learn something, I want to tell people about it. I've always enjoyed passing along what I've learned. I love to be able to explain things to people in a way that they will understand. I want my students to be inspired to go home and create.
Q: What is coming up for you in 2016?
A: I will be travelling to new places this year ( Calgary- my first trip to Canada, Tennessee, South Carolina). I will also be teaching at IQF in Houston. Apart from raising my children, this is the hardest I've ever worked. I love it!
"After April Showers" Made using WonderFil's 'InvisaFil'
Pattern published in Modern Patchworks Magazine, Spring 2015
"After April Showers" Closed up