Bamboo
I truly have come to LOVE this color... Yellow has come a long way from "sunshine" and "lemon"....a nice bold gold with a hint of green...the new yellow!
I am off to Morocco today for an Artist Retreat. My stomach is filled with butterflies of excitment and nerves.... it will be a trip of a life time for me.
Have a great week!!!
XO
Valori
I am so excited to introduce my new book to you....
My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells
My life has always been in fabric. The Stitchin' Post opened in May of 1975 by my mom, Jean Wells. I was a year and a half. I don't remember anything else. Although I strayed from fabric as I studied photography and printmaking in college. Coming home and being in the shop or mom's studio kept textiles in the forefront of my life. After college and photographing two quilting books for my mom I found myself embracing fabric in a new way.... I wanted to design it. To create beautiful fabrics. My first collection of fabric was released in 1998 - Shades of Serenity a collection based on my black and white photographs. Fast forward.... 2014..... My life in Fabric is a collection of projects and techniques based on my love of fabric and how I like to create from Silk screening to block printing... painting and embroidery and recycled sweater owls....
I hope you enjoy a peak at my book....it is full of my love of fabric as much as my life...
Trinity....
This was my favorite photoshoot on the edge of the creek.....Just how I imagine a romatic picnic with someone you love.
Baker's Twine....
Screen printing and embroidery...
Block printing....
Studio Birds
Waterside
The Wave....
Painting on fabric...
Karavan
The Owls...
Sundresses.....
I have to end with these two.... my beautiful girls. My family - including my village - have been so amazing during the process of creating this book. It is a long journey and I couldn't of done it without them.
XOXO
Valori
This blue has a slight green tint too it when you look next to a true blue. I love that feel. It is refreshing and calming...
At market this week... lots of fun and inspiration to be shared after the trip. Have a great day!!
XO
Valori
Amber makes me think of two things...
beer and sap.
Beer, not because I drink it (makes me feel bloated) but because my husband brews it. And we live in Central Oregon...so many breweries in our area.
Sap that has been hardened over the years to create amber...Love the variety of color that comes from amber.
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
Ashton Road was released the end of July....for my collections to release complete I like to do a "look book" for the salesmen and women to show to shop owners when they show the fabric for the first time. The look book is full of inspirational photographs and projects. Some of the projects are free pattern downloads and others are recreated Sewing Cards. I try to come up with a theme for the photo-shoot that reflects what the fabric means to me. To get the look book to Robert Kaufman in time I receive sample yardage about 4 to 6 weeks before my deadline. That being said I try to be really prepared for the projects that need to be made and the photo-shoot. I received Ashton Road in the beginning of June. In the images below you will see all the work that goes into getting ready for a release. I have some of the most wonderful staff at the Stitchin' Post and friends that help me with all the sewing and pattern writing as well as the photo-shoots. I could not do it without them!
For Ashton Road the photos-hoot had to be with the kids....it had to be outside on a summer day. The colors in the fabric remind me of candy so we created a "candy picnic" for the kiddos. Two of my good friends helped me with the shoot. We each had cameras - perfect for three kids! It was the best day and one of the funnest photo-shoots I have ever done. The images are priceless and really express the happiness and love that created Ashton Road.
The Round-table...
My Tent...
Playtime Treehouse Quilt (free download).... made out of the flannel.
Vivi loves her Cruzin' Everyday Skirt....(new sewing card)
The Everyday Skirt pattern will be released at Fall Quilt Market.
Playtime Bikes.... out of the cotton sheeting. (free pattern download)
Urban Baby Quilt... (free pattern download) Flannel...
Three Times Around... (free pattern download) Cotton Sheeting...
This quilt is adapted from one of my patterns - The Zoey Throw.
That was our day.... lots of laughing... lots of sugar and LOTS of great photos!!!
This is my other new pattern coming out at Quilt Market, Diamond Lane.
I am doing the final touches for Quilt Market next weekend....My booth will be featuring Ashton Road... Photos to come....
Hope you have a great day!!!
Enjoy those little things in your life.... like laughing kids with lolipops!!!
XOXO
Valori
PS We are working on getting all of the Ashton Road free patterns up for download by the end of Ocotber.
Happy Monday!!!
With International Quilt Market just around the corner I thought I would share my newest collection of fabric with Robert Kaufman, Ashton Road.
This collection was inspired by these three lovlies.....
We love drawing together... even Teague with his 5 year old attention span. I wanted to do a kids collection that also had prints that didn't scream juvenile..... Out of their love and creativity came this colleciton Ashton Road....(Ashton is Teague's middle name)
The Neighborhood is repeated the length of the fabric and there are 4 panels of Treehouses in the width of the fabric.
There you go.... Ashton Road the Collection.... these beauties come in cotton sheeting and cotton flannel!
Tomorrow I will share the fun photo shoot and projects that I did to support Ashton Road.
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
Honeysuckle...
pink...on the orange side but not quite salmon pink....
rich in color.
Have a Beautiful Day!!!
XOXO
Valori
PS... I will be emailing winners of Summer Blueprint Basics Friday!
Some days it is hard for me to come up with just the right words to describe a color... or words at all. It is one of those days, I'm a little burnt out and on overload....
so I found this great poem....
A blue jay's feathered back holds spots of white clouds
And soft, glistening blue.
Upon its wings is painted days of sapphires
And snowy flurries, too.
I peeked out beyond the open curtain
At the big, flowering rhododendron.
There a bright, silent blue jay landed suddenly.
Amoung our pink fairy blossoms it stopped by me,
Jewelled with patches of rich blue - perhaps a gift
From the azure sky.
We might even think some of pure heaven
Is in flight when blue jays fly.
This dappled blue jay then soon quietly moved from branch to branch
In the green blooming shrubbery outside my window.
By boughs of cool leaves like sheaths
All at once it paused for a moment
And surprisingly looked up at me from below."
This is the last instalment of Blueprint Summer... Next week starts Autumn.....
Tell me your favorite summer color to be entered to win some Summer Blueprint Basics.
Have a great day!
XOXO
Valori
Sundance is one of those funky neutrals that can really make colors pop. It is a yellow, cream, & beige mixed together in different per-portions. It is kind of a dirty color, kind of tea-dyed, but sometimes you need something not quite pretty but useful.
I like how the "sundance" in this photo really makes the green in the background stand out.
You can't have Sundance without the sun dancing through the trees showing us a new side of a leaf... even though it isn't exactly the color...
Next week is the close of Summer Blueprint Basics and we are heading into Autumn...
I have some yummy Summer bundles to give away to say good-bye to summer.
Tell me your favorite color of summer to be entered to win (it doens't have to be Blueprint Basics just your favorite summertime color).
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
Enjoying some coffee right now...although my coffee has cream in it so it isn't the beautiful Kona Solid Coffee color..
Coffee is a great brown...rich, dark, and full of flavor! In a quilt, Coffee can make other colors pop if it is used as a background, or you can use bits and pieces as an accent. I think this brown is a nice alternative to black. Enjoy my "unique" images of coffee...
Splash....
Can't show photos of Coffee without a shot of espresso!!
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
I was in my mom's studio recently looking at a piece she was working on. At the bottom of her sketch was this...
Who doesn't need that advice once in awhile? I had to take a photo... Don't over think your project this week...
Sage... I live in sage brush! Even though I don't go to sage on a frequent basis, I have to admit once you start looking at the color you will find its subtle beauty. A greyish green that is soft but also carries a fresh spring green to make the perfect sage.
Our canyon...full of sage, it is beautiful how the sage changes with the seasons....I love September for back to school and the fleeting evenings of summer. You can still sit outside and enjoy without being too cold or too hot...the perfect time of year.
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
I love all versions of Aqua.... from emerald to turquoise, my favorite of all colors. I felt like I didn't have any images of this color...but ended up with some unique photos.
This is a detail of a Off The Wall Quilt by my mom - Jean Wells and fellow artist - Judy Hoiness.
In my new book - out in October, My Life in Fabric - one of the projects is a color journal. This is a detail of the AQUA page.
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
I love this color!!! Its so bold...it can make a quilt have a pop or play well with other strong colors. Sometimes I think about colors being people what would they be like... I think Fuchsia would wear her emotions like a badge of honor, with confidence and grace....(I strive to be more like Fuchsia)
I knew when I was looking for this color I would find lots and lots of flowers so my goal was to find a few images that were not just flowers....
Of course the Summer Bluepring Quilt is in the non flower bunch... mostly because the fabric on the right is Fuchsia Stacked Books!
and now for the flowers...
Have a Great Day!!!
XO
Valori
I love this Kona Solid...it is just a funky enough grey to make other colors jump out of quilts. My favorite neural is grey... all of them!
Even Duke made it to the Color of the Week....He loves rocks and was dunking his head in the river looking for his rock.
We are at Quilt Knit Stitch this week.... come by and see us if you are in Portland!!! August 14 - 16, 2014, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Portland Convention Center.
Stitchin' Post booth 2532
Have a Great Day!
XO
Valori
Its funny as I was looking for images in the Lilac color I really only found Lilac Flowers... I don't seem to photograph this color very much. Maybe that is why it is so beautiful...a light blueish purple...
I did snap a photo of Sophie cuddling next to my purple bakers twine...
Have a great Summer Day!!
XO
Valori
Refreshing...Cool...Calming...
Bubbles... Balloons... Blue Skies....and Babies...
Yep... Babies and Bubbles.... Couldn't resist!
Have a great day!!
XO
Valori
I love cinnamon in my Americano first thing in the morning....so very yummy! Besides the lovely flavor there is the smell of cinnamon and the color.....I find brown and brownish fabrics are hard to find...especially ones with a variety of shades in one print. I wanted my Cinnamon to have the depth of the spice in color...
We have been so busy around here with our Quilter's Affair Classes and the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday...lots of fun and lots of work but worth every second to get to be with all of these wonderful people - men and women, mothers and daughters...and grandmothers, best friends, old friends... it is such a special event and since I was a year and a half when all of this started I can't imagine my life without it! THANK YOU to everyone who has ever come to our classes or the show or even just put a quilt in the show you have touched my life in ways I can't describe!
XOXOXO
Valori
