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
What to watch in March 2013
This will be a busy month as there are 5 Friday’s so lots to see and be inspired by: Inspiration from the Embroiderer's Guild We start the month off with enjoying a quilt made by members of the Embroiderer’s Guild entitled ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ with Jo Bostock Workshops to Enjoy and a workshop with another Jo - Jo Gourlay – sharing with us how to create a delightful cushion for the house and/or garden using recycled fabrics and being inspired by the fabric itself. This is a great project for the younger sewers to try as well as it uses fused applique and some simple embroidery stitches.
What do you do when the Rugby is on?
Having taught all day on Saturday up at Bee Crafty I was desperate to get to my own sewing machine and the Rugby 6-Nations is a perfect opportunity in my house for me not to be missed! I took a few moments in the afternoon to make these two quilt tops for the Alzheimers' Charity fundraiser - check out our blog about it ; Hampden Park and you can download the patterns FOR FREE.
Oscar Night for the Royal School of Needlework
Royal School of Needlework hand embroiders the 2013 Red Carpet Green
Dress worn at last night’s Oscar ceremony by British actress Naomie Harris A team of 22 embroiderers at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) have added a unique sustainable twist to this year’s Red Carpet Green Dress
worn by Skyfall’s Naomie Harris. Using a selection of vintage gold threads,
beads and sequins, the world’s experts in hand embroidery have helped to
create a stunning and sustainable red carpet dress.