Jackie MacDonald is all about making home a pleasant place to be. 

Her love of interior design was cemented while working as a merchandiser and buyer for catalog companies that featured cozy home décor and children’s toys. But her interest in sprucing up homes started years before, when she’d decorate shoebox houses for her mom and her grandmother.

“My grandmother worked in domestics in a store called Nichols in Winchester, Virgina, and her job included working behind the fabric counter,” says Jackie, who fondly remembers the book of cloth swatches her grandmother brought home from work. “I would ‘take orders.’ I loved the touch and feel of textiles and I loved color, too, and also played with paint chips.”

That interest in color and fabric comes to fruition in Break of Day, her first line of fabrics for Moda. Its poultry and floral imagery is a nod to her great-grandparents’ farm, which Jackie loved to visit. “There was something about being there and being surrounded by trusty, well-worn things that resonated with me,” she says. “I’m very sentimental and when I’m designing I start with a feeling I want to evoke. I try to sit with an emotion or memory—it might be a scent or flora or fauna—and share that.”

She’s also inspired by the self-sufficiency of farm families, who grew their own food, built sheds and barns, and sewed clothing, curtains, and quilts. In college, Jackie majored in Family and Consumer Sciences (also known as home economics), which enhanced her self-reliance. “Home economics has been key throughout my whole life and career,” she says. “I think it’s magic to have the knowledge to create your own and to be independent.”

Jackie, who spent much of her life in Virginia, now lives in Maine with her husband and 7-year-old son Sammy.

It was in Maine that she changed the direction of her life, leaving sourcing and product development work to pursue her own ambitions. An immersion course with Bonnie Christine helped her marry the skills she’d learned managing artists and artwork with her aspiration to create products that make people feel warm and welcome at home.

The result is her design business, which she named Sweetfire Road. “Sweet is for being kind always; Fire is about passion, determination, and resilience; and Road is about the road that leads us home, and the deep, happy sigh I experience when I’m home again,” she says.

That home features a well-worn color palette and an appreciation for memories. “If it’s old and tells a story, I’m going to love it,” says Jackie. “Shades of green, blue, red and cream? I’m going to buy as much as I can. Ours is a story-telling house where I have old things and sturdy things all mixed together. We’re currently looking for a farmhouse but it’s challenging; Maine has the oldest housing market in the U.S. We’ve seen many places that were built in the 1800s and even a couple from the 1700s!”

No matter where they wind up, you can be sure that Jackie’s home will reflect an aesthetic that mingles nostalgia with a sense of wonder.

Here Chick, Chick is Jackie's first quilt pattern.  It uses a Charm Pack and yardage, and it finishes at 24" x 36".  (It is SFR 0001.)

O Beautiful Day is a Moda Web Pattern that will be available when the collection ships.  It finishes at 64" x 76.

Chicken Scratch is Jelly Roll and AB bundle Friendly.  It finishes at 64" x 76" and it is a Moda Web Pattern.

To see more of the collection - Break of Day.

“My husband teases that I have two sides: Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks. One side loves sentimental, country farm house simplicity and the other side appreciates magic and stories,” she says with a laugh. “In my work those two sides combine and I hope it brings something fresh and comfortable.”

We're excited to welcome Jackie to the Moda family.