Photo by Laura Adams
A Swedish exile having spent the previous 18 years in London and Sheffield, 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.
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, often using her trademark curves together with solid fabrics, while remaining faithful to her Scandi’ roots. This was recognised in Summer ’15 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, ’51 and ’71.
In 2017 Jenny Haynes was asked to contribute to a publication by Thames & Hudson for the V&A. Two of Jenny’s quilts are featured in Patchwork & Quilting: A Maker’s Guide, ‘Designed by teachers and practitioners at the leading edge of today’s craft revival, the projects are both functional and fashionable’.
Jenny has had her quilts and patterns published in numerous magazines and 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 workshops for Guilds and textile venues in the UK and abroad.