DESIGNER PROFILE
Sewist, pattern designer and artist Nancy Purvis has spent time exploring all areas of quilt design. We sat down to discuss books, sewing with pre-loved fabrics and breaking the quilting rules
Sewist, pattern designer and artist Nancy Purvis has spent time exploring all areas of quilt design. We sat down with her to chat about books, sewing with pre-loved fabrics and breaking the quilting rules
Tell us about your creative journey. While I have always been creative, I didn’t actively pursue my talents until much later in life. My mom passed away when I was a teenager, and my dad gifted me her sewing machine when I got married. It sat in a closet for a few years until one day I decided to teach myself to sew.
At this point, I had a baby at home with me, but I felt isolated from the world, and I missed the times I had spent making things with my hands or learning a new craft. I wasn’t too familiar with blogging, but in 2011 I started owen’s olivia as a way to connect with people. The blog began as a home DIY and crafting blog with a few small sewing tutorials but transformed into a sewing blog after I was introduced by a friend to modern quilting.
I made my first quilt for my son in 2012 with help from a few blogs. I purchased 13 yards of organic cotton... to make a baby sized quilt! I didn’t know binding could be made from less than a yard of fabric. My mom’s machine had given me so many headaches during the quilting process that I had almost completely given up. But I decided to try it again months later, and I made a quilt for my sister. That experience was so different from my first that I began to make more quilts, and I purchased a Bernina sewing machine to help the process go more smoothly.
I set up an Etsy shop and began selling a few of the quilts I had made. By this time, I was sharing a lot more on my blog about quilts, and that is how an editor for Interweave found me. I published my first book, Quilting from Every Angle, in 2015. I quilted some more but then fell pregnant in 2016, and my energy and creativity suffered from it.
About a year after my girl was born, I had that same itch as I did with my son, and I wanted to do something again that was creative but didn’t require a sewing machine. I bought a surface tablet and quickly began drawing during down time. I started drawing my quilts instead of making them and taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Surface design became an interest to me as well, so I began exploring that too.
The iPad was so convenient for me with a little one. I could take it out at any time and quickly put it away. It still gave me the time to be creative without the headaches of pulling out a machine and my supplies only to have to put them away shortly after.
What inspires your quilt designs? Inspiration comes mostly in two ways for me. One: it can be the literal translation of inspiration we find around us and turning that into a design. The lines in a sidewalk, a building’s architectural details or an artist’s work. I can look at these things and find shapes and lines within them. I can replicate said inspiration, or I can use it to bounce off ideas to create new ones. The second way inspiration comes to me
When I began my book I needed pat terns, so I took up a daily ritual of drawing. I had to awaken and work a different part of my brain that I didn't even know existed
is through practice. When I began my book, I needed patterns. I didn’t have a sketchbook of quilt patterns ready to go. I needed to start somewhere, and so I took up a daily ritual of drawing. Maybe I only drew a few squares or lines, but I did this every day. It was really difficult at first, and to be honest, the patterns I was cranking out were mediocre at best. But that didn’t matter. It was a starting point, and I was able to return to those designs at a later date and tweak them. I had to awaken and work a different part of my brain that I didn’t even know existed. The ability to design is hard and is something that is not easily learnt if you don't already have some natural ability to do it, but that doesn’t mean you can't do it. It’s easy to copy someone else, but it’s much more difficult to create your own material. It takes time and dedication and consistency in training your brain to think differently and to push boundaries.
Tell us about the process of making Quilting from Every Angle.
The process from contract to publishing was about two years.
A lot of time is spent going back and forth via email with the editor writing and checking edits. I think many quilt authors approach a company with ideas for their book, so they have their designs ready to be seen by an acquisitions editor. I started from scratch, just like any other quilt author, but what made my experience a little different was that I didn’t have a book of ideas or quilt patterns ready to be made.
My son was three at the time, and I was trying to be a mom, a wife, a pattern designer, writer and maker all at the same time. I was juggling so many balls, and miraculously, it all worked out. I pieced and quilted 18 quilts in five months, which resulted in an overuse injury in my right arm. That was a lot of quilts, so if I ever make another book, I will have a team of quilters to help lighten the load! Overall, I’m grateful for the opportunity Interweave gave me to share my talent with a bigger audience. The process was an invaluable experience that taught me many lessons that I would not have learned otherwise if it hadn't been for them.
Describe your signature style.
I have two styles which both gravitate towards high contrast and geometry. One style is improv, while the other style is more orderly and clean. Black is my signature colour, so I try to incorporate that into my work as much as I can.
Has this changed since creating your book?
My improv style really took off after the book, so yes. There were so many rules to follow with the book
that I really craved spontaneity and the freedom to explore and do whatever pleased me once I was finished. I really wanted to toss all rules out the window, and that is how the idea for F*ck the Quilt Police (previous page) was born.
What is it about the style of improv quilting that you enjoy? What I really love about improv quilting is the uniqueness in each design and the freedom I can experience while creating. The process can be carefree when there are no deadlines or when you have lots of fabric that isn’t necessarily special to you. It’s not to say that you never run into headaches with improv quilting. I guess it just satisfies the artistic side in me more than traditional piecing. I also often like to bend or break the rules, and with improv, you can do just that.
How does it feel seeing quilts that people have made from your patterns?
It makes me happy. I know the time and energy it takes to make a quilt, so the thought of anyone wanting to make a design of mine is special. Tell us about your pattern, On Point, being released last June as part of Pattern Drop?
I really enjoyed working with Katie Blakesley, the owner of Pattern Drop. It’s so nice when a company believes in the work you do and supports you in that way. It’s always great to have a quilt pattern released and receive positive feedback too. People really loved the On Point quilt pattern, and you can still purchase the pattern from the Pattern Drop shop (patterndrop.com).
Do your quilts inform your digital art, and vice versa?
When I began my digital art, I was heavily influenced by my quilting style. A lot of the wonkiness from my hand drawn lines and blocks reminds me of the imperfections that come from making improv quilts. It’s the kind of style I want to emulate when I’m not looking for perfection.
I try to keep up with a practice of drawing, and I do so when I can. Sometimes, quilt ideas can emerge from the marks I make on my iPad. I like to reflect on my work often because I can see things with fresh eyes. My digital art has the potential
What I really love about improv quilting is the uniqueness in each design, and the freedom I can experience while creating
to be a big influence on my future work, so it’s information I keep close at hand and always refer back to.
Do you focus more on the process or the product?
Most definitely the product. I’m so visually driven that I care more about the end product, the overall aesthetic, than what steps it took to get there. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the process or the quality of work that goes into it or that I try to take shortcuts in the work I do. Not at all. I do value these things and find them critically important in producing a highquality end product. But because I value so much in what I see and touch, I focus more on the product.
Do you enjoy slow sewing?
Yes and no – I have tried English Paper Piecing and hand sewing quilt blocks in the past. I don’t enjoy either that much, but I am finding more time for hand quilting and get much satisfaction from sitting under a quilt that I’m putting the final touches to. It’s nice to listen to a podcast or play a favourite Netflix show while hand quilting, or sometimes to sit quietly with my thoughts and I watch the needle and thread go through the fabrics. I also enjoy slow sewing projects, like appliqué, that can easily travel with me. I prefer to keep my hands busy, and small crafts work well for this when I’m on the road.
You’ve made quilts with recycled fabrics before – can you tell us a little about that?
I have made a few quilts out of recycled fabrics, and it is definitely something I would like to continue doing in my practice. I love thrifting for my home, so it only seems natural to incorporate used goods into the things I'm making as well. My go-to choices are 100% cotton or linen.
I look for bedding, table cloths and clothing. Most thrift stores here in the U.S. will price clothing at a fixed price, so you have to think about yardage. I can get more fabric out of an extra-large shirt than from a size small shirt, but I don't let the size stop me from purchasing. I like to use as much of the clothing as possible, keeping anything that is unique to it, like pockets for example, intact. I believe it adds a nice touch to the quilt and reminds me of where the fabrics came from.
I usually keep the fabric in its original state before I am ready to use it, and when that time comes, I will cut articles of clothing in such a way as to get them to open up flat into one large piece of fabric. Recycling fabrics is a great way to reduce waste and save money.
What’s your favourite thing about patchwork and quilting?
I love designing and creating textile art. If I am piecing improvisationally, I enjoy the little surprises along the way. The discovery of new shapes, lines and intersections that can result in new ideas and quilts. If I'm sewing something that requires precision, it’s satisfaction that I was able to morph material into a design that originated on paper. Another cool thing about quilting is how useful it is. A quilt can keep you warm as well as decorate a space. When I touch a quilt with small details, like hand dyed fabric or hand stitching, something really sparks inside of me. I want people to feel that too. I want them to love it as much as I do.