I live a long, long way from Fargo. Can I still place a custom order with Willi Nilli?

Absolutely! Susanne works with clients from all over … Just drop an email to info@willinilli.biz and Susanne will guide you through the process.

Where do you get your fabrics and leathers?

Everywhere and anywhere. Susanne has a great collection of remnant and vintage fabrics. Her absolute favorites are the silks. She loves to find unique fabrics in antique shops in in the remnant section of out-of-the way fabric stores.

Seriously, does one person really design and make everything? How do you have the time?

Seriously, yes. Susanne does design and create everything at Willi Nilli. She has a sketch book by her bedside and in her purse. If you ever stop by Willi Nilli in Fargo, you’ll find her busy creating something beautiful!

Why do you call the shop/studio Willi Nilli?

To most, the phrase “willy nilly” means “haphazardly.” For this business venture, the name is a play on Susanne’s last name — Williams. More importantly, it’s a nod to her need to chase a dream–doing so was something she had to do, whether she liked it or not. Willi Nilli!

Here’s a great description of the term from Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words website:

“Whether one likes it or not; haphazardly.

“The original sense of this odd word appears at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when people used it to suggest that something must be done no matter whether one is willing or unwilling, whether one wants to or not. It’s a modified form of an older phrase that is variously expressed as will I, nill I or will ye, nill ye, or sometimes as nilling willing.

“Will here is used in its sense of wanting to do something, to wish or desire that something should happen (when you make your will, you are using the same sense: you are expressing your wishes for the distribution of your goods after you die). Nill is very old, known before the Norman Conquest, but has long since vanished from the language. It was the opposite of will, so to nill is to want not to do something, to refuse or reject some course of action.

“So will I, nill I can be expanded into “be I willing, be I unwilling”, combining the two sentiments with the implication that it doesn’t much matter what you feel. More recently, this conflict gave rise to an implication that a person was not sure whether to do something, and so suggested he was undecided or indecisive. Even more recently, the associated sense has grown up of embarking on some project without direction or planning or in a disorganised way.

“There is an equivalent Latin phrase nolens volens, formed from two Latin participles that mean “unwilling, willing”. It is sometimes said that willy-nilly is actually a translation of the Latin phrase. It may have been an influence, but it’s hard to tell.” (see http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-wil2.htm)

And, just who is Susanne?

Susanne Williams officially opened her studio and showroom, Willi Nilli, on Friday, October 7, 2005, in Fargo, North Dakota. Every piece in the shop is an original, designed and hand-crafted by Susanne.

She’s been an artist ever since she could hold a crayon! In addition to textiles, her favorite mediums are acrylic, watercolor, and ink. She is also a self-taught calligrapher and letterpress printer.

Her work has been published or exhibited in a variety of places over the years. As a wee undergrad at the University of Nebraska, she was a cartoonist/illustrator for the Daily Nebraskan newspaper and an intern for the Bob Kerry for US Senate Campaign Lincoln Headquarters where she designed campaign event literature and invitations. She’s designed for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry and Department of Communication at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Nebraska, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota. When she isn’t working in her home studio or Willi Nilli, she can be found at Minnesota State University Moorhead, where she was tenured and promoted to associate professor of mass communication in August 2002, and has served as the assistant to the president for university communication December 1999-June 2008. Susanne and her husband Tim have one son, Oliver, their pride and joy.

Education:

BA in Speech Communication, 1991, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

MA in Communication, 1993, Wayne State University, Detroit.

PhD in Communication, 1996, Wayne State University, Detroit.