Who is Paula Doyle?
Despite being born in Massachussetts, I spent my childhood in Brazil, the daughter of Methodist Missionary teachers. My mother taught me how to use a sewing machine at the age of nine, and I made my first patchwork cushion at the age of ten under instruction from my maternal grandmother.
After a career in banking and corporate training I moved to London in 1987 when I married my husband Mark. Our son Jonathan was born in 1990 during a long overseas job posting to the U.S. and Canada for Mark, which is when quilting became my passion. I learned how to quilt by making a sampler quilt in a class at La Maison de Calico, a quilt shop in Pointe Claire, Quebec. Over the next few years I took lots more classes, moved to Connecticut, and eventually started to teach patchwork and quilting classes at the local YWCA, the local quilt guild, and even to a group of nuns in a Monestery. On our return to England in 1995 I opened Green Mountain Quilts, a shop dedicated to the art and craft of quiltmaking, where I continued to teach quilting and patchwork classes. After 13 years in business I closed the shop in 2008 to concentrate on designing quilt patterns, making quilts, and teaching and talking about quiltmaking.
I now work from my garden studio at home on the banks of the beautiful river Thames in Surrey, England I love traditional patterns as well as modern quilts, and I love using new tools and materials to make the job simpler and more enjoyable.
My first book MINI MOSAIC QUILTS (C & T Publishing) was published in 2012, and outlines a new and exciting technique for making small scale blocks, quilts, and quilted projects. My second book is called EASY STACK QUILTS (C&T Publishing 2018), and is all about using large scale printed fabrics to create unique and easy to make kaleidoscopic quilt blocks and quilts."
In 2013 I was approached to design and create a quilt project to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta at nearby Runnymede, where the terms of the Magna Carta were set forth and agreed between King John and his Barons in 1215. This resulted in the formation of the Magna Carta Quilt Association, which produced a series of 8 quilts for the anniversary festivities. The Magna Carta Quilts have since been on display in Houston and Chicago as well as other venues around the UK.
