Meet the former fashion buyer making beautiful, Nordic-inspired quilts
Liberty visits the Finnish founder of Projektittyny in her Dorset home
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Meet the former fashion buyer making beautiful, Nordic-inspired quilts
Liberty visits the Finnish founder of Projektittyny in her Dorset home
By: Team Liberty
Have you heard about The Patchwork Collective? In celebration of Liberty’s 150th anniversary, we’re creating a giant collaborative quilt, constructed from patches made by Liberty’s creative community. To get inspired, we visited some of our favourite quilt makers around the UK, including Nora Nilsson, the Finnish founder of Projektityyny. Here, she tells us more about designing her beautiful, Nordic-inspired quilts, and why the Christmas holidays are the best time to get creative.
If you'd like to make your own patch for The Patchwork Collective, you can find more information here.
How did you first get into quilting?
I was actually in fashion to begin with - I worked in buying offices for over 10 years. I started dabbling in cushions and soft furnishings because I found some really amazing pieces of fabric and embroidery on my travels. I started making cushions and slowly it became something that I really loved. I created a website and I did some markets in London. Then, when I was pregnant with my third child, we decided to move to the countryside. I made the decision to leave my full time career and start my brand, Projektityyny.
Where are your quilts made?
I’ve worked with the same factory in India from day one. We kind of started the journey together. They’re absolutely amazing at quilting - they do it all by hand, so we don’t use machines. That’s why on our quilts you can see the stitches and the wonkiness, which is what I love.
Where does your aesthetic derive from?
I think it comes from the fact that I’m Nordic, and I’m drawn to things that remind me of my childhood. I remember where I saw my first patchworks: we had a summer house by a lake in Finland and there were these patchworks that my grandma had made. They were quite garish - they had this yellow border, horrible flocked velvet patches. That was how patchwork was done in those days! I wanted patchworks to become more contemporary and something that I’d put in my home. So their palettes would be much more subtle, and the prints would be prettier. You can make such beautiful quilts these days that can sit in modern homes. That’s how it started - and now, patchwork is trendy. But it wasn’t a few years ago when I started!
What kind of creative community have you developed through your work?
My quilting community is the people around me that make all these things happen. The factory is absolutely amazing. Over the past seven years, they haven’t got a patch wrong. Through my work, I’ve also met so many people - photographers, florists, set builders, set designers; people from all walks of life.
Why are you so drawn to quilting?
What draws me to patchwork is the fact that you have all these tiny, tiny scraps of triangles and squares, and in the end, you get this amazing piece of art that’s been made by hand. Something that was going to be discarded turns into gold. That’s really amazing. Nothing goes to waste in this business - we will use even the tiniest scrap to make a quilt.
When do you feel most creative?
I’m so looking forward to Christmas, because it’s the only time of the year where time stops and it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or what day of the week. It’s really slow - that’s when I like to make things.
You use a lot of Liberty fabrics in your work. What do you love so much about Liberty?
A few years ago, when the quilts started selling quite well, my partner asked me, “What is the ultimate quilt that you would like to make?” And at the time I thought, I’d love to work with Liberty fabrics. I love the Tana Lawn quality, and I love a ditsy floral. They're ideal for quilting because you can place it any which way on a quilt and it works. And the prints are usually quite small scale, so when you cut it, you don’t end up with plain areas. No matter how you mix and match them, it always looks amazing. I’ve never had a quilt that’s failed when I’ve used Liberty prints. I like to use solids in my work, too, so I’ll often pick a colour from the prints that sits well with them.
You’ve created a patch for The Patchwork Collective. What excites you about the project?
To be part of a piece that celebrates 150 years of Liberty is really amazing. It will be a piece of history. Maybe that quilt will end up in a museum!
