What do you think about clouds? Recently I have been fascinated with them. Of course the only camera I seem to have when I see something amazing is my phone. The images that I have right now are from my phone but beautiful all the same..... What do you think?????
XOXO
Valori
The first photo is from Cleveland near our hotel the other one is from our flight to Cleveland.
Mom and I are heading to Cleveland to tape two programs each for Quilting Arts TV. Should be fun.... I will share more of what we are doing when I can. I shot these photos as we flew into Portland at 6 a.m.
Now off to the Chicago flight!
Have a great day!
Valori
I had to bring you a smile with this photo....Teague has discovered how to zerbert!!
Although it would be better to think that he was offering me a big SMOOCH but no just a big zerbert!
Love babies!!!
XO
Valori
Ok, so I just heard the other day that it is proper etiquette to respond to every comment on my blog. I so didn't know that....now I wonder what other things I don't know about blogging and now twitter....is there some sort of book to tell you?!?! Anyway, if I have offended anyone PLEASE accept my apologies....
Now, I have been meaning to fill you all in on the article in American Patchwork and Quilting... I am sure a lot of you already have seen the magazine with our studios in it...my studio, mom's our friend Tonye Belinda Phillips and Betsy Rickles.....well I just got the link to their web site with more photos....
So, cool to see more of the photos. Teague was only a month or so old when they came and photographed the studio. I have been dying to show you some photos that we got while they were here. You know when the professionals come with their lights and all I took advantage of everything being set up and shot some with my camera....
I have a couple of fabric scrap drawers for the kids to play in....well, they REALLY got into it.....looks like fun huh???
Here are a couple from APQ site....
It is crazy to see how little Teague is and how young the girls look...wow does time fly!!!
I just loved getting to share my studio...I only wish it was always that clean. I need a cleaning fairy....one that would come in at night and clean....or I just need to get over myself and get better organized. There are so many projects in the works right now...I had to pin up pieces of paper with each project in a different color on my design wall so that I can see everything I have to do rather than just think about it.
Well, as my anxiety level builds just talking about it I must get to work...
Have an awesome day!!!
XO
Valori
It is amazing tonight... Cool breeze with air smelling like thunder storms in Central Oregon. The light is soft, grey but full of life. Looking at the canyon from the deck, Grey Butte in the distance... It is so peaceful, with the sound of the wind as it blows in waves.
I haven't enjoyed an evening like this in a long time. I think that a few more nights on the deck would be better for me than working....
We are getting ready to head out for vacation at a friends cabin in Northern California. It will be out 6th year at this cabin, the first week in August. We don't know the cabin in any other way. I wonder sometimes what it would be like in the winter with all the snow....how beautiful and full of life it is in the spring as all the vegetation comes into bloom, and the fall extravaganza of color as the leaves change. It is a very spiritual place that I connect to in a way that I have never experienced before.
For Ross and I it was the place we went to on our first trip when, freshly dating, where we spent the first few days of married life, where we took our oldest child on her first road trip, and our second, and now our third baby! Makes me smile to have those memories!
Well, feeling all sentimental.... Have a great night!!
XOXOXOXOXO
Valori
Today is my 37th birthday & my brothers 41st birthday! It was a good day I finally got my Violette tattoo! Love it! It was done by my friend Ashley Reed at Outlaw Tattoo! She is amazing!
XOXO
Valori
We are gearing up for Quilt Show next week. This Saturday starts with the Fiber Arts Stroll, then Monday is the first day of classes. Seems like it has come up so fast!
Ross was out of town all last week for a class and I had the kids. We really had a great week. Teague started crawling... My life has changed forever!! Good thing he is still slow. The girls were so helpful and good for me we went and saw Toy Story 3 last night. Girls night out! We had fun!!
Well off to the day!!! Lots to do before the crazy fun week!
XO
Valori
As promised some new projects that are in the works for the 35th Anniversary of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and the Stitchin' Post......
This week I finished up the photos and we went to print on a calendar for the shop...here are a couple of shots.....
It has been fun but a lot of work, quickly.....sometimes we have so many ideas and way too much to do that projects get put on the back burner until it is time to turn it in. AHA such is life!
On Tuesday July 7 we are having a Birthday Gala for the Quilt Show......there will be an art auction - among other things - this is the painting I did for the auction...
There is the unveiling of the DVD.....
Oh, this is going to be so cool! Can't wait to see all the footage put together.....Kara Jensen is the videographer....I think that is the proper term....anyway, she is awesome and I am totally excited to have the opportunity to work with her.
The last fun project.......BEER!!! (ok, fun to me and fun that I got to design the label)
Three Creeks Brewing is our own local brewing company and they were totally up for the idea of making a special summer brew for our show!!! Just have to get the quilters to drink more beer and less wine....At least I know we will have some in our fridge!
For now those are the projects that I have been intimately involved in....not that there are not other great events occurring during our week of festivities. But for me I can't seem to get my finger into everything....there would have to be 3 or 4 of me to do that. Should be a great year.....
XOXO
Valori
We are off to market.... Waiting at the airport... On the adventure is John (papa/babysitter), Sally, Lawry, mom, Teague and I. I nervous as usual and I miss having Carolyn. She is my rock... Keeps me grounded and out of my head. I can get so self conscious it is silly!!
Have a great day'
XO
Valori
The Stitchin' Post had a birthday party last night....it was our 35th. I was almost 2 when mom opened the shop. Now, I have kids running around the shop like my brother and I used to. Wow....I remember playing in the shop and running around it was just a lot smaller.
What a great evening of friends and family...
Our aspen trees are finally showing signs of spring....the weather is getting warmer and I am just dying to get the garden planted. Living in Central Oregon it is best not to plant your garden until the end of May. We may get to the 70's in the day but it can still freeze at night. The weeds are doing great and they seem to be frost resistant.....I have to get out there and take care of them before I can plant. This weekend should be nice weather and we are going to take on the weeds....
Have a great weekend!
XOXO
Valori
11:04....what a great show...had to get the girls and the nephews masks from the amazing Cirqie... Honestly if you have nor seen a performance you must go.... All I can say is wow!!! And I have been to at least 6 shows....anyway hard to write and have Ross drive .... Car sick!
XOX
Valori
Woohoo.... Date night with Ross and to top it off we are going to Cirque du Soleil. The troop comes to Portland everyother year... It is our special date... Will tell you more later!
XO
Valori
Yesterday was COLD, COLD, COLD and snowing a perfect day to be inside. Ross watched football and I made Christmas gifts. I have a stack of fleece blankets for the family. So, easy to do just rollover the edge and top stitch. Then I made these owls........
I have a couple of old sweaters that I love.....not really going to wear again just love......I thought at some point I would make a bag out of them or something. I have been totally inspired by all of the cute, funky stuffies out there. Months ago I started making an owl out of fabric but never finished it. I the simplified pattern for the sweater owls. This family of eight was made from one sweater. I am giving them to my girlfriends for Christmas. Along with these rocks....
There is a Northwest magazine called Sunset and in this month's issue is a little photo of a rock that had been drawn on. I was totally inspired.....I have all of these rocks that I have collected from the beach so I thought why not try it out. It definitely works better on the lighter rocks. It was totally fun.....I thought they would be cool to just sit about......on your desk or bookshelf, something like that. I made little drawstring bags for the rocks and am going to wrap the owls in pieces of fabric that I silk screened and tie them in yarn. The ultimate homemade gift.....I do hope they like it.
I have spent most of my day today at home with Liv - she woke up this morning with Pink Eye....poor thing. Ross took her to the doctor while I did a silk screening demo for mom's quilting group. Now she is on antibiotics and getting better.
Then we just found out that our radiant floor is not working - no wonder it has been so FREAKING cold in our house. It is supposed to be -3 tonight. Hopefully Ross has reset it and got it going again. The heating people said they can't be here until tomorrow afternoon. So, I made the call to Camp Keenan, aka mom's house, to see if we could stay the night. What a pain!!
I am supposed to meet the girls for wine and knitting tonight......Ross has the kids. We will see what happens......Life is always an adventure in this house!!! I will post some photos of the wrapped gifts and I will have the girls pick my drawing winners tomorrow morning......
XOXO
Valori
It has been a crazy few weeks......my mom and step dad moved into a new home. Ross and I were the helpers in moving and unpacking. It was bittersweet for me. The house that they moved out of I grew up in since I was six, Ross and I got married there. A lot of memories!!! Strange not to drive down that road to go to the house and just be in that space. I know it is good to move on and for them it is great. They have downsized, and moved into town. Their new house is amazing - all "green" and very them. I am happy for them. Makes me want to live in town sometimes rather than 10 minutes away. Like right now when I need to go to the grocery store and am blogging instead of driving into town. But we have a great place and I really do get a lot of ideas when I drive........during the move and getting them settled in (we had our employee dinner at mom's new house one week after we moved her) I got the stomach flu and a cold. OH MY.........being sick while you are pregnant is the worst and it seems to last FOREVER. I am still fighting snot!!!! I hope to be done by next week as it is the beginning of Quilter's Affair classes and then Quilt Show on the 11th. It has come up fast.....
We are finally having some nice days after the weird weather in June......these are the first Zinnia's from my garden. Now I am just waiting for some veggies!!! and sunflowers! 
While my "shopping site" is being set up for my web site I have my new shirts and cards on the Stitchin' Post site.....come check them out.
The pregnancy is going well, minus the sickness......I am almost six months. Which seems crazy - it went fast but at the same time it seems to be forever. I was thinking today how I am really looking forward to meeting the little guy. Seeing what his personality is going to be like and how it will change the family. Oh, it will be interesting.......I still have moments of thinking, wow we are having three kids, just seems unreal. Does that ever go away?
Ok, I really have to get to the grocery store.....
Have a great day!!!
XO
Valori
I am at work taking a quick break from our HUGE move in Twigs and yarn......thought I would pass on the good news........
BOY!!!!! OH, BOY!!! I think Ross almost fell out of his chair......it will be a good mix to the Kennedy household. The girls were very excited....Livvy said to me, "it has to be a brother because I already have a sister." Anyway, he is right on track with all of his growth and measurements...always a relief when they tell you everything looks perfect!
Ross and I went out after the ultrasound and bought him an outfit! Too cute - from Zutano, Ittsy Bitsy collection.
Back to work.....
Have a great day!
XO
Valori
With all of the hub-bub of market I didn't get a chance to post before I left.....more than anything I wanted to say........ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! To all of those mamma's out there I hope you had a great day!!!! We sure did....I had Mom and John over for breakfast for sourdough crepes. OH, they were so good! One of those cravings that just had to be full filled. I hadn't made them in ages - I don't know why so easy and so yummy!! 
The girls on Mother's Day! I realize when I look at these images how much we all look alike.
Now onto market....it was a busy week! I think I am still recovering took and hour nap this afternoon.....it was not as busy as last spring but still the booth was busy. Amy and I were across from each other - we have too much fun having booths that close. We are going to request being close every spring....nothing but trouble and the busiest row around.....
Miss Carolyn and I in the booth on Sunday. There wasn't time to take photos on the other days... Sunday is one of those mellow days that we can take photos, chat with people and goof off.
My booth.....we try to keep it simple when we have to travel so far. We used canvas curtains, the back wall was painted and swatches of the entire collection were stitched onto the canvas. I would of loved to have wood walls but that is a whole other task......
I have to say I am a little disappointed in my Leica point and shot camera, the photos weren't nearly as good as I would of liked. I think I am just spoiled by my Cannon....ok, random, back to market.
My friend Amy......it is hard that we only get to see each other a couple times a year......someday that will change!
Diane and Mallory - two of Amy's wonderful girls that work in the studio.....
Since Sunday was so mellow we went to the roof of the convention center....beautiful....
Brandon Mabley - an extremely talented fabric designer and knitter....
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, architecture mixing the modern and historic, the lines were amazing.
It was so nice to have Carolyn there....we have fun together and get along so well I couldn't ask for a better friend, rooommate and co-worker.....Love her!
Since the plane landed on Monday it has been catch up at the shop I am really looking forward to this weekend and a few days with the family. Ross and I are laying sod in our newly expanded back yard. We are so excited to get the yard going........ the vegetable garden, new grass, flowers, a sand box and best of all a fence to keep the deer out. I think we will live back there this summer. It is great to have some warm weather to get out and prepare the soil......although there will be no veggies in the ground until the snow is off Black Butte. Ross finished the sand box tonight and the girls are so excited to play in it......perfect while we lay the sod. He has been on a mission the last few weeks......putting up the fence, staining the deck, building the sand box.....I have an amazing husband. I haven't been so excited to work in the yard in years......Have a great weekend and where ever you are I hope that you are surrounded by sunshine and family.......
XOXOX
Valori
I sent off the booth today - YEAH! Except the quilts, we will pack them in our suitcases. It has been a long week getting everything together and making sure we don't forget anything. The "list" comes in handy during times like these. I am hoping to get everything else together and ready to go by Saturday so that on Mother's Day we can have a fun family day. I can't wait to just hang with the family for a day without any thoughts of work. Sounds like heaven.....
One of the projects that I have been working on for a few months now is a series of graphic t-shirts and cards. Let me show you some photos......first there are three shirt designs......
My AWESOME girlfriends are my beautiful models.......
The shirts are made in Canada and printed right here in Bend, Oregon. The company that I am working with in Bend has connected me to the Canadian company that can make custom shirts. This first series is a pretty simple shirt; white, form fitting, 100% cotton and yummy soft. 
Tapestry
Red Bird
Leaves
The designs are inspired by my paintings and some of my fabric designs. They do seem to go hand and hand.......I am working on long sleeve designs for the late summer - early fall! 
This is the first series of "Artful Cards" - images of some of my favorite paintings printed on recycled paper, blank inside. I do love sending cards, writing letters.....it is a lost art at times with the convince of email. It is so easy to fall into the email communication - I am guilty of that - but there is something about sitting down and writing a letter to someone you love.
After market I am going to be adding a shopping cart to my website - long awaited! And start sending out information of the shirts to boutiques around the country. I am excited - and totally scared - for this new adventure.....I figure this is normal emotions....More to come as I get this ball rolling.....
Anyway, these are a few of my newest projects......besides the full time job of baking a baby. It is amazing that in two years you can forget what it is like to be pregnant. Not that this is much different than the other two just that I forgot some of the wonders of the pregnant body!!!! I am at that "oh so lovely" stage of not looking quite pregnant, a bit more like I have drank too much beer and am bloated! Can't wait for that to pass.....luckily I have only put it on right in the front of my belly and my boobs. Trying to keep my butt from joining in on the growth aspect of the whole thing......at least as long as I can. It will be nice when market is over and the weather around here gets a bit nicer to be outside hiking. For now it is the treadmill in the gym......oh so boring.
Rambling.......I seem to do that a lot with this pregnancy....or maybe just chatty tonight!
Have a awesome evening!!!
XOXO
Valori
OH - Totally forgot to mention that Del Hi arrived in the shop this week.....
Oh my gosh I totally forgot to mention that my taping of The Quilt Show aired last week....my brain is so full and I sure do tend to be forgetful these days......doesn't help that last week I had a bad cold. Anyway, as some of you may remember I went to La Veta, Colorado last September and taped the show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. Way fun......and after watching the show it sure did turn out good.
If you get a chance it is a great program to subscribe to. Lots of great information and they are very fun to watch.
Back to work......
Valori
Good Afternoon! I have been trying to get on here all day to get this out.....a quilting friend of mine, Pat Sloan did an interview of me this winter and it was posted today! I am so honored to be included in her blog - it turned out great. SO, if you get a chance check it out!
Last week we were socked in with an temperature inversion and freezing fog.....it was BEAUTIFUL, for a couple of days then I started to feel a little closed in! Since it was oh so pretty I shot a bunch of photos.....helped to keep my mind of all of the cold, cold, fog!
The day after I shot these mom came over and was so excited about the frost on the fence around the aspen trees I was out again.The first photos were shot in the evening 5ish and the second set in the morning. I love how different the colors were in the photos even though it didn't seem all that much darker in the evening.
Ok, last one I promise!!!
It was just too cool! Very cold though - like to the bone cold! Glad that is over......My sample yardage for Del Hi has arrived and I am starting to work on it.
The collection has been refined since I posted all of the strike-offs.....I do love this collection.
At the same time I have been trying to finish some other work. I feel so torn some days on what to work on. Sometimes it is great and I can bounce back and forth from one project to another depending on how it is going. This week I just had a hard time getting started with anything! UUGGHHH! I keep getting frustrated about what I don't get done in a day. Then, oddly enough, I remember a line in Kung Fu Panda, one of our favorite movies, I dont' have the first part of it memorized but I remember the last line - Today is a Gift that is why it is called The Present! Makes me take good check of myself.......Next time I watch the movie I am going to get the rest of the quote and pass it on! Some of the animated movies have more for the adults than the kids......
Anyway, check out Pat's blog, and website and knitting blog if you get a chance - she is a busy girl! Thanks Pat for the great interview!
Have an awesome day......it is a Present!
Valori
Home to snow from the 80's in Hawaii. I have to say I love winter as much as I loved the vacation Christmas just isn't the same without cold and snow. It was so weird seeing all of the holiday decorations in Hawaii it just seemed unreal to me. Liv and Vi were taking a bath when we got home and we overheard Liv say, "Vi, isn't it nice to be home in our bath?" Too cute! Those girls take after me - true homebodies!
We went Christmas Tree Hunting yesterday in a blizzard. The girls didn't last for too long. John pulled them in the sled and once he dumped them I think they lost all patience with the cold and wind and snow. They were good sports as Ross and I found the perfect tree. We put up the tree this morning, Liv helped put on ornaments while Vi took a nap. This is the first year she has really been into Christmas and it is fun. When Vi got up she was pointing and talking to all of the decorations. Now the house is decorated and it is snowing again outside and I am enjoying some mulled wine as I finish up the Christmas cards. I decided to make the cards this year. Ross looks at me like I am crazy - "don't you think that will take a lot of time" but I love it and it is more personal.
On another note I just got some of the Hawaii photos downloaded and thought I would share. I can't wait to get the medium format photos back. I don't think I have the time or patience to develop the film myself so I am going to send it out to Portland. Here are some digital images......
Nothing like a good sunset in Hawaii - even with the clouds.
The fam....
The second day there the surf was really high. The water was a beautiful aqua.
Nothing like a cute baby in a two piece!
I have to say we did spend a lot of time chasing the girls. Vi especially she was everywhere!
LOVE how this photo turned out. 
I have a new obsession - Plumeria.....
My girls!
The whole family on our last night. I have to say surprised that I could get every one to sit for this. Well, now I am off to make my list of gifts to make - don't have a lot of time to get things done.....but there is nothing like making things for your friends and family!
Love to All!!!!
Valori