Interview met Willyne Hammerstein-Schoonderwoerd

The 68 years old Dutch quilter Willyne Hammerstein-Schoonderwoerd is married to Fred Hammerstein and  together they have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Sewn:
How did you get involved in the “Quilt” world?

Willyne:
I’ve been working as a lawyer for 41 years, 25 years at the University of Nijmegen,
where I ended up as a individual and family law professor of. At that time I worked in several courts as a deputy council/judge. From 1994 until 2010 I was a member of the Council of State.
My whole life I used my free time to do all kind of handiwork. It is during the Dutch Quilters’ Guild exhibition at the open-air museum in Arnhem in the mid-1980s  that I got the quilting virus. At the very beginning, I started without any help, but soon I took several classes at home and abroad, and learned about traditional quilts as well as art quilts. Although I really admire art quilts, my preference goes to traditional quilts.

Sewn:
Where do you get your inspiration from?

Willyne:
Needless to say I read a lot of  quilting magazines and books and most of the time I find my inspiration there, but I try to make my own interpretation by making little changes or choosing other fabrics. The past few years I was interested by mathematical studies and shapes not exactly meant for quilts, but after some adjustments -sometimes many- they become very useful. The widely known Penrose shapes for instance, but there are also many others.

Sewn:
How do you start a quilt?

Willyne:
Usually, as soon as I have an idea I make a little piece. If I like it, it’s fine, otherwise I hang it on the wall, and by looking frequently at it, I try to find what is wrong and how I can improve it. This is why there are often ten projects waiting there for me.

Sewn:
Is there someone who inspires you?

Willyne:
I don’t have anybody who especially inspires me, but I admire other quilters’ work.

Sewn:
Do you have your own style?

Willyne:
I sew all my quilts by hand, mainly because I work with very little pieces, or because the pattern is too complicated; also I get very nervous if I have to use a sewing machine and this is surely not what I want..
My starting point for a quilt can sometimes be a shape - a very mathematical one for instance- then I search for compatible fabrics. Sometimes the starting point is just the fabric and I search for compatible shapes. The last few years I’ve been working a lot with the red country-handkerchiefs and with the beautiful Japanese silks. Generally my quilts are rather colourful; at different instances, they also can be more subdued.

Sewn:
What are you working on at the moment?

Willyne:
At the moment I’m working on quilts I want to get finished for the exhibition in June. I do not know how many quilts I can hang there, but my intention is to show different aspects of my work.

You can get an idea by looking in the book published by Quiltmania last September; I am very proud of it!  Its title is “Mille Fiori”.

Kind regards, Willyne