You are here: Home > Users > Newsletters > Archive of E-mail Newsletters > 2007 - April Newsletter > Interview

2007 - April Newsletter Interview

Erin McMorris, designer of a new spring 2007 fabric line, "Urban Garden" for Free Spirit is interviewed by her mother, Penny McMorris from EQ.

Q: Erin, when you were young I took you with me everywhere. Do you remember having a fabric childhood?

A: I remember being just big enough to peer over fabric bolts, making tents beneath fabric tables, and helping you look for fabrics for the dolls you were making. When I was older, it was huge for me to see Nancy Crow's studio in person, go to Quilt National, and see Terrie Mangat's house. Meeting the artists that influenced the quilt movement was a big influence on me. I was really just a kid when the whole movement started, and I loved it.

Q: You studied Graphic Design in college, and even though you've made a couple of beautiful, simple quilts, you would never consider yourself a quilter. But you obviously love fabric. What made you go into fabric design as a career?

A: I love all design, and I thought the only way to make a living as a designer was being a graphic designer. But it didn't feel right for me. When I got an evening job painting ceramics, I realized painting could be a job I would love. That led thinking about painting fabric. Before that I thought of fabric design as just painting big traditional roses or other traditional designs.

Q: You design free-lance and for other companies. How do you build a fabric collection?

A: It's mixing and matching. I don't like all things in one style. If you look at my apartment you'd see that. I have a modern couch, an old chandelier and a baroque chair. So I mix fabrics of big and small scale and modern and traditional design. I love combining two- and three-color prints with something that's a multicolor. I started Urban Garden with the large floral - a design I'd already been working on. (I design with my living room in mind. Kidding...)
The great thing about working on the computer is you can play until something hits. I already had a colorway for the large floral. I just worked with other prints, based around that.

Q: Did you paint these on paper first, or design them all on the computer?

A: My style is so graphic it translates best done straight in the computer. I just draw like I'd draw and erase like I'd erase, working with a Wacom tablet. It's like sketching on a computer.

Q: What software do you use?

A: I mostly use Photoshop; some Illustrator. I prefer Photoshop because it's the most naturally like drawing. Lots of artists do full sketches, then scan them into the computer. But I usually start with an idea, maybe do a sketch for scale, then scan that in. Sometimes a sketch helps me know where I'm going. Occasionally, I know exactly where I'm going and it's easier for me to just jump in and start it.

Q: So what was the production process on your Urban Gardens collection?

A: I started by showing Donna Wilder all the designs in a variety of possible colorways. We narrowed those a bit. These designs were sent to the printer, and we got back strikeoffs - the first round of printing - it's like a graphic press check, but it's on cloth. You can correct color problems from these because you get to see how the colors register on the fabric. Once we got the strike-offs we put them in groups and determined the final number of prints. That was the fun part - mixing and matching - seeing what was going to work. Then we narrowed these groups a bit more.

Q: How long did this all take? You showed me the paper fabric designs in July.

A: I saw the actual fabric at the end of February.

Q: So what are you going to make with Urban Garden.

A: I'm going to make lots of pillows, because that's about all I can sew. [Ed: not true! Erin made us a quilt.] I also see a skirt or two.

Q: Do you have a favorite print in the group?

A: My favorite is the large overall floral - I'm going to mix the 2 color and 3 color prints with it.

Q: Any other favorite software you'd care to mention?

A: Oh yes, "I design all my quilts on EQ. And I think STASH is invaluable."

Thank you Erin!

See more about this fabric at FreeSpirit:
http://www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/designers.php

Erin lives in Portland, Oregon. Look for her Urban Garden fabrics starting in May/June 2007, from Free Spirit fabrics. To see more of Erin's designs, visit www.erinmc.com and click on the dots.