BEAR PAW PRODUCTIONS - Key Persons

Brenda Henning is a compulsive quiltmaker with a fondness for traditional design and a desire to incorporate today's speed-piecing techniques with yesterday's well-loved patterns. Brenda's machine sewing experience began at the early age of 10 on her grandmother's treadle sewing machine with the first quilt following at age 14. Brenda became a compulsive quilter in the mid-80s, and began teaching quiltmaking in 1988, when her third child was an infant. Writing and self-publishing that work have been byproducts of teaching quilting. Brenda is the author of numerous books and individual patterns available under the label Bear Paw Productions. Stained glass quilts were first introduced to Brenda in a workshop. All steps of the process - basting, bias tape placement, quilting - were completed by hand. With three young children, and a busy schedule, Brenda knew that she could not complete a second stained glass quilt in the time available. She set out to devise a method to reduce the time necessary to make a stained glass quilt without compromising the results. The introduction of fusible bias tape has really streamlined her approach to stained glass quilts. Brenda lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her husband, Richard, and their three children, Beth, Christi and Joshua. Two Rottweilers, Kaia and Jade, share copious quantities of black dog hair with every quilt that leaves the premises. The addition of a cleaning lady to her life has greatly reduced the stifling effect of housework! Brenda teaches shops and guilds throughout Alaska and the United States.