About Jenny
Jenny is a modern quilt designer and teacher known for her colourful, curvy machine pieced patterns.
Jenny Haynes (née Nilsson) studied Pattern Cutting and Tailoring in her native Stockholm. Soon after, she followed her passion for fabrics and moved to London to study Fashion and Textiles at the London College of Fashion. She went on to develop her own label ‘Papper, Sax, Sten’ (that’s ‘Paper, Scissors, Stone’ in case you’re wondering!), creating award-winning designs that reflect her many different influences. She is based out of Sheffield, now.
Her bespoke quilts and furnishings are recognised for their clean and simple, mid-century modern design. Jenny mixes rich colours with pastels and is not scared of a colour clash. She often uses her trademark curves together with solid fabrics, while remaining faithful to her Scandi’ roots.
Jenny’s work was recognised in Summer 2015 when Jenny was invited by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, along with 18 other Swedish designers, to be a part of Heal’s Swedish Summer Exhibition. Heal’s have a long history of promoting Swedish design with exhibitions in 1923, 1951 and 1971.
Her quilts and patterns appear regularly in books and magazines, including Thames & Hudson for the V&A and in Patchwork & Quilting: A Maker’s Guide, ‘Designed by teachers and practitioners at the leading edge of today’s craft revival.
Two of her quilts won awards at QuiltCon 2019 in Nashville. QuiltCon is arranged by the Modern Quilt Guild and is the biggest exhibition of modern quilts in the World.
When Jenny isn’t designing her curvy and quirky quilt patterns, she teaches at the V&A as well as giving talks and running workshops for Guilds and textile venues in the UK and abroad. She also offers live online workshops.
You can watch Jenny demonstrate how to sew no pin curves in this episode of The Makers Studio series.
Signature Technique
Colourful curvy quilt patterns
Top Tips
- Use a shorter stitch length (1.8) for stitching curves to give your block extra strength and to avoid splitting in the seam.
- When colours clash a bit it gives your quilt spark.
- When sewing curves, always start with the smallest curve then work your way up.
- Your finger is the pin when sewing no pin curves.
- Always finish all of your piecing before pressing your block. It’s easy to stretch your block out of shape if you press before you are done.
- Press your seams open for a flat, block print like finish.
- Use a tailor’s block to help you seams stay flat.
- Precise and variable quilting designs help to enhance the organic shapes in your quilt.
Videos
Patterns
Posts
Dresden Plate cushion
have completed my first Dresden Plate block and made it into a cushion. Using the Creative Grids ruler, which I found to be excellent, and a Moda charm pack "Indigo Crossing". I machine pieced then hand appliqued. I was pleased with the result, as I had always thought this block to be very difficult. The cushion is a gift for my friend who has a seaside cottage at Polzeath in Cornwall, where, I am hoping, it will fit in very nicely.
Your site is such an inspiration, I always check for tips and inspiration before I start a new project.
Best wishes
Roberta
What to watch here July 2013
We are starting the month off with our visit to the Textiles in Focus exhibition that was held in Cottenham village back in February (dates for 2014 are 21/22/23 February) where we met up with Camilla from Outward Images; Sharon Osborne and the Art Van Go stand and Jamie Malden from Colouricious; plus a lovely demonstration from the organiser Pauline Verrinder who shows us how to make 3D items such as seed heads with old scrim.
Hampden Park Alzheimer Quilts
Message from Ann Hill: Hampden park in Glasgow was covered with 5012 quilts to raise awareness of Alzheimer's. Thank you to everyone who helped make my crazy dream come true. Photos at Alzheimer Scotland and if you want to see what the pictch looked like click here