Interview with Rebecca Kemp Brent - April 2010
by Penny McMorris
Q: I was intrigued by your latest book, Redwork
from The WORKBASKET, for several
reasons:
- First, it has 100 designs for redwork embroidery from the magazine The
WORKBASKET,
which began publishing in the 1930s. So it's a great source of old authentic
embroidery designs with the romance that brings.
- And second: the CD in the back of the book not only contains the designs
in 9 different file formats (pdf, art, dst, hus, jef, pes, vp3, jpg, exp) including
the .EXP file format. This means you can not only import them into sewing machines
for stitching, but you can import them into EQ6 for designing and pre-planning
your quilt. In a word: Brilliant!
Tell me more about your book, and the idea behind it.
I
was approached by my publisher about compiling redwork designs from The
WORKBASKET magazine into a fresh new book. The idea was exciting from the
very beginning; I remember the little magazine, I've always enjoyed hand embroidery,
I know redwork is popular with machine embroiderers and quilters, too.
My first task was to choose just 100 designs from sixty years' worth of iron-on transfers and embroidery designs that were published by The WORKBASKET. That was an enjoyable walk through history! Some of the designs are too dated to use, but most are either timeless or so evocative of a period a few decades ago they can't help but provoke smiles. The smiling tea cup is a good example.
Once the designs were chosen, I went on to develop twelve new projects using them. Two are quilts, and EQ6 gave me the tools to plan them. The book also gave me an opportunity to tell a wider audience something I often mention in my embroidery classes: Layer 3 in EQ6 lets you preview embroidery designs on your quilts!
Q: Can you explain to me, who has never machine-embroidered, how the CD
in the back of your book will sew out the designs from your book?
The CD-ROM goes into the reader's computer, then she uses Windows Explorer
or machine-specific software to transfer the designs she wants to stitch
to her machine. Each design file is a computer program that tells the machine
what to stitch. Most machines today use a USB stick to transfer designs,
or
a cable for a direct computer-to-machine connection. Some also use memory
cards or floppy disks to transfer designs.
(I grew up a computer nerd of sorts - my dad wrote software for a big textile manufacturer - and I'm endlessly fascinated with the marvels of our embroidery machines and software.)
The designs in EXP format are used by some embroidery machines, but they can also be used by EQ6. Transfer the files from the EXP folder on the CD-ROM to your hard drive, then open EQ6. Click on Libraries>Embroidery Library. In the dialog box that opens, click Import>From .EXP Files, then navigate to the location on your computer where the designs are stored. Select the files you want and click Open. The designs will be previewed in the Library dialog box. Choose one at a time and add it to the Sketchbook; the designs are ready to put on your quilt.
Q: How would hand-embroiderers use the designs in your book?
For hand embroiderers, the designs are provided as JPG graphic files
and as PDFs. They can be printed as-is for transferring to fabric, or resized
with graphics software. The book includes a section about getting the designs
onto hand-embroidery fabrics.
Hand embroiderers can also transfer designs from the EXP folder on the CD-ROM to their computers, then open EQ6 and import those files to the Embroidery Library for a project. They don't have to have an embroidery machine or software.
Q: Can these designs also be used as quilting designs?
Yes! In fact, there's a photo on page 19 showing one of the designs
machine embroidered on a quilt sandwich. I recommend choosing the simpler
designs - the ones without fine details - as quilting designs.
Q: I'm guessing you had to redraw all the designs, to create your files.
Am I right, and if so, can you tell us how you did it?
I hired the best illustrator I know, Missy Shepler of Shepler Studios!
She didn't even balk when I told her there were 100 designs to redraw. I think
she did a marvelous job of cleaning up the old transfers without changing their
lines or diluting their nostalgia factor.
Q: I remember sewing redwork when I was a little girl, back in the dark
ages. I also saw lots of redwork on Crazy Quilts and later quilts. What is
it about redwork that charms you?
So many things. Red on white is a lovely combination. The work is quick
and, at least for hand embroidery, very portable. It harkens back to my childhood,
too, and to the cool, quiet, summery rooms at my grandparents' and great-grandparents'
houses; I can just picture embroidered antimacassars and pillowcases.
Q: Tell us a bit about The WORKBASKET magazine.
The WORKBASKET was literally founded around a kitchen table in the
1930s. It began as a sort of pattern service, intended to provide embroidery
designs for homemakers. The US was living through the Depression, and it was
not only creativity but frugality that led many women to make and embellish
their linens and clothing. The magazine even ran a column dedicated to ideas
for using handicrafts to earn a bit of extra money.
Over the decades, The WORKBASKET evolved into a larger magazine featuring a variety of handicrafts. Its circulation peaked in the mid-1990s with 800,000 readers.
Imagine the changes between the first issue, in 1935, and the last one in 1996: The Depression. World War II. The post-war boom. The space age. Hippies (who heralded a new craft movement). The 1980s economic boom. But this little magazine focused on crafts was published continuously through it all.
Q: In order to find issues of The WORKBASKET did you research public libraries? Or were you able to find and collect the magazine yourself. I've found a few copies, usually with collectors who are reluctant to part with them. The book's publisher owns the rights to all six decades of the magazine's content, so they have many of the issues and transfers. I often hear people say, "Oh! My mother had a big stack of those, but I threw them away!" It's a little sad, but honestly, we can't keep everything.
Q: I know you're an educator. What exactly does that mean, and where do you educate? Do you do lots of traveling or are you main home at your home office? Most of my writing and editing are done from home. I have a staff of two, Paddy and Ramona, my feline companions. The bonuses of working at home are working outside on lovely days and having a very easy commute.
On the other hand, it makes me enjoy my opportunities to teach even more. There's nothing better than the chance to interact with other crafters. I teach at a local (Knoxville, TN) sewing machine dealership and travel as often as I can. I've taught both consumers and dealers, and demonstrated at booths for conventions across the country. My next adventure is a conference at The University of Wisconsin, Platteville, on June 4 and 5, 2010. Among other things, I'm teaching a hands-on redwork hand embroidery class there.
Q: I know you've demonstrated on TV. What's coming up where we can see
you?
You can find my most recent TV experience at www.thequiltshow.com.
I appear on episode 507, Great Gifts.
Q: Count ‘em. How many sewing machines do you have at home?
Hee hee. Let's see: counting the antique treadle machine and three
sergers, I think there are currently ten. That includes the first machine I
bought (with money from my first summer job). Plus there's my mom's straight-stitch-only
machine; it's still at my parents' house, but I have a sentimental attachment
to it because that's where I learned to sew.
Q: I've known you as an EQ user for some time, Rebecca, but am not sure
when you started using EQ. Do you remember what got you started and when that
was?
It was long enough ago that I don't remember exactly, during the EQ4
years, I think. What got me started was the ease of planning and printing out
many variations of an idea. I used some of my earliest EQ printouts as visual
aids in classes.
Q: When planning projects for your Redwork book, did you use EQ6?
Absolutely! It's the only way I design quilts. The flexibility it provides
is incomparable.
Q: What's the funniest thing that ever happened when you were teaching/demonstrating?
I remember once, after finishing a slide lecture, wondering why the next lecturer
was having trouble with the double-projector setup. Only later, well after
her lecture, did I reach down into my skirt pocket and realize what her problem
had been: I still had one of the projector remote controls! What's the funniest
thing that every happened when you were teaching?
We do a lot of laughing in my classes; I think having fun is an essential
part of the equation. I can't really remember a specific incident in a class,
but here's a story I like to relate:
I have a quilted jacket made from the bog coat design, so it's essentially one big rectangle. When I was layering the quilt sandwich I had to piece the batting, so I slid a cutting mat between the backing and batting and cut a wavy line to better conceal the piecing.
You've probably guessed: the mat wasn't where I thought it was, and I cut a wavy line in the backing, too.
It was late, stores were closed, and I didn't want to buy a whole new backing or wait until the next day to work on it. So, I went ahead with the quilting, incorporating the damaged backing. When the coat was finished, I appliquéd a flower with a wavy stem on the backing, covering the cut. It was a totally random element, and I resolved to be more careful every time I looked at the flower.
I entered the coat in a regional show and it won a blue ribbon. When I picked the coat up and opened the judges comments, what was at the top of the list?
"I LOVE the little flower inside the coat!"
Q: What's your next project/book/idea? Or are you taking a rest from this
new “baby?”
I'm hoping the success of Redwork from The WORKBASKET will give me the
opportunity to do one or more additional books of vintage designs from The
WORKBASKET. With so many decades of the magazine, there are an enormous number
of wonderful motifs waiting to be rediscovered. I'd like to continue with
the concept of books for both machine and hand embroiderers, and you can
be sure EQ will be a part of my future projects.
We wish you great success, and more historic design discoveries, Rebecca. Thanks for talking with us.
Visit Rebecca's web site
The link Rebecca suggests for
purchasing Redwork from The WORKBASKET