Jackie Paton

"I can't remember a time when fiber was not an important part of my life. I loved school but loved knitting, embroidery and sewing more. My Mom had a knitting group that met every other week at our house while I was at school. On those days I would become mysteriously ill, but was still sent off to school proclaiming I would surely die. Once I gave an Academy Award performance and was allowed to stay home. It was a good day.

I completed college earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, but with moving to our first house, creativity once again took center stage. Our 1840 New England farmhouse had 46 windows which needed curtains. I was in heaven. Braiding rugs was the next task. Furniture for our home was purchased at antique auctions. At one auction, I had the highest bid and took home a spinning wheel. It was another good day. A great day was when three little lambs came to stay. Not the most cost effective way to knit socks, hats, and mittens for everyone.

When my daughter was born it was obvious to me that a quilt had to be made. Off to the bookstore where at that time there was only one book on the subject of quiltmaking. There weren't any rotary cutters, rulers, or even quilt shops so I taught myself. The quilt was finished in time for Killeen's debut. It was the best day.

Three years after her birth the first quilt shop in our area opened and my quilt teaching career began. Five years later I opened my own shop. Over the years I've enjoyed making competition quilts. Competing led to the development of my "stencilscapes" technique. Painting has been the best teacher of color. It's been the foundation which opened the door for me to create two thread collections which are sold internationally. The marketing of these thread collections took me to Quilt Market in Houston, where Anna Fishkin with Red Rooster Fabrics noticed my work. Now my first fabric line, "Happily Ever After," has been completed. It was a very good day.

And so that brings us to the story of "Happily Ever After." It was painted as Killeen's and my son-in-law Patrick's wedding quilt. There is meaning to every detail in the design. The house is that 46 window house mentioned earlier. The chickens are there for her Dad's childhood farm. The sheep flock contains the three lambs, Wooley, Winkle, and Weaver, whose wool was more expensive than cashmere. The path to the house is symbolic of the newlywed's hike of the Appalachian Trail. The green meadows represent Ireland where they met. The art of Vincent van Gogh was the theme of their wedding. His painting, "Starry Starry Night", inspired the swirl of stars around the moon. Sunflowers were their wedding flowers; Ever After is a favorite movie. The tree is a giant Sycamore in my yard. Ironically, just this fall, it was a state champion big tree - the second largest of its species in New Hampshire. The bittersweet vine that's winding its way around the tree has a story longer than its vine, so we'll skip that. The cat in the tree is their cat Neptune. The hearts are there to be initialed and inscribed with their wedding date. The hearts are connected by a ribbon shaped like the St. Louis Arch. St Louis is Patrick's hometown. The wedding was a wonderful starry, starry night. It was the best of the best days so far."

About Jackie's stencilscape classes and teaching schedule…
"The technique of "stencilscape" quilt painting is my brainchild. The process uses freezer paper and Paintstiks®, which are oil paints in stick form, to create a landscape from a master stencil.

Students work from a selected design. The design is traced onto freezer paper, numbered, cut apart with an X-ACTO knife, and reformed by ironing it in place on fabric. Pieces are then peeled and painted in the numbered order. The painting is completed in class. A pattern for pieced and appliquéd borders is provided.

I've taught from Maine to Houston in shops and for quilt guilds. Students now number nearly 6000. The Happily Ever After panel was painted using this technique. I am now booking workshops for 2008 and 2009."