Valori Wells

Wish Patterns...

Happy Saturday....

We have a huge lacrosse tournament in town this weekend and my oldest has two games today. It is amazing to me that she is 7 and we are already this busy with sports....can't imagine what is going to happen when all three are in sports. Before I head out I thought I would share some Wish projects...

When I have  new collection of fabric released I always make patterns - sewing cards or clothing - to give you ideas on ways to use the fabric. One of the most important things is that what I create can also be translated into other fabrics.... making the pattern useful for shops and customers alike for a longer period of time than just the life of the fabric. It is sad that a fabrics lifespan on average is 6 to 9 months. There are times that if it is really popular it will last a year.

Several years ago when I introduced my Wrenly collection I made a twin size quilt out of the voile called Betsy. It uses big pieces of fabrics that in turn make a quick quilt to piece. I thought it was a perfect "off to college quilt" and out of voile it is so soft and cuddly. I re-created Betsy out of Wish voile...

The original...

Wish version....

One of the other patterns that I recreated was the Lanie Dress....LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress. Originally I made it out of Novella rayon...which flows beautifuly.

For Wish I made it out of the Knit...talk about comfortable...

The knit is so amazing to work with I had to take the two Girlfriend patterns that I had done out of Karavan knit and make them out of Wish....

The Original Sondy...

The New Sondy...

The Original Isabelle....

The new Isabelle...

Since Wish is such a special collection to me and it connects me to my favorite people I had to make Wish Birds for my booth and for my friends....

I do love re-creating patterns but I also have lots of ideas for new patterns....

I did four new patterns for this season. First is the Jillie wrap skirt...

This skirt is so quick and easy to make and is very flattering. I LOVE maxi skirts and dresses so this skirt is long. I have made it out of knit, voile and rayon. They all have different qualities of drape and coziness.

The next is the Amelia Shawl...

This awesome shawl is a big rectangle that has buttons along both edges to create sleeves....I love to knit so I included a knit version in the pattern. When the Amelia Shawl is made out of the voile it is the perfect summer cover up.

Pockets of Wishes is a small wall hanging created with pockets for "wishes" or dreams, kids drawings, etc.

All of the pieces are top stitched onto a background rather than pieced.

The last pattern is my favorite by far....Trinity spent a lot if time in my head before I was able to create what I saw. I just love how the variety of creams and whites in the background create a great texture as well as the different substrates that I used; linen, cotton and embossed fabrics.

This card is not a beginner sewing card it is more of an intermediate technique card. I show you how to make the strips and cut them into triangles free form so your quit will be your own not exactly like mine.  I enjoyed it so much I am going to be doing more of these technique cards to go with the beginner cards.

I am being called to head to the lacrosse game.... Have a great day! More Wish projects and inspiration to come....

XO

Valori

Simply Made Summer....the end of July!

Good Morning.....we are getting ready to head out for a little family vacation but I had to share a fun pattern for the perfect picnic.

Skye....I made this quilt out of voile, cotton and then I made it into a picnic blanket.

I love it out of the voile...it is so soft yet cool.....perfect for a summer evening.

Here is the pattern for you to download and share.....

Download Skye_web

Hope you have a great weekend!!!!

We are hitting the road!

XO

Valori

Simply Made Summer.......

Happy June!!! It is a beautiful day here in Sisters, the sun is out it is going to be 80 today....can't wait to get into the garden.

This is the first day of Simply Made Summer a series of postings full of projects, recipes and ideas for a great summer!

My new skirt pattern Fina is a perfect summer skirt.....I made it out of the Cocoon Linen and I am in the process of making one out of the Cocoon Voile. I think it will be so soft and yummy as it gets into the heart of summer. For the Fina photo shoot I made skirts for all of the girls and we went out to the meadow. It was a cold spring day but they were awesome.

We had fun....

And the final cover photos is.....

Now once you have a beautiful skirt your going to need to reward yourself with something yummy.... how about some Sangria!!!!  Download SummerRedSangria

Enjoy!!!! Have a great Day!!!

XO

Valori

New sewing patterns.....

My sweet baby girl Vivi has been home sick for three days.....poor thing has a nasty cold. So, not much work for me this week. Luckily my husband is so awesome and helped me a lot. We have an great balance with work and family when someone is sick or gone. I never thought I would have such a wonderful family and life. Sounds strange to say that because I didn't ever think I should have a bad one just didn't know it could be like this. That I would be this happy. I am thankful!

Ok.....I am done being sappy. Photos of new patterns...YEAH!

This is one of the new Sewing Cards....$3.00 retail and you can make a skirt for anyone. If you can cut rectangles and sew them together you can make this skirt....So fun! My girls like Twirly skirts but me personally don't look that good in twirly skirts so I made one with less fabric but uses the same pattern. They were made in the Karavan Jersey Knit but I think corduroy, voile and cotton would make great skirts too.

The Josie bag.....a small version of a messenger bag with a long strap to throw over your head while your riding your bike to work. I don't personally ride the 6 hilly miles to the Stitchin' Post but my friends who live in town or close to town do. This bag was made before I got the Karavan fabric, I silk screened the Elephant on some of my Jenaveve Linen and then embroidered the fabric. I just love it....this will be MY bag!!

I have been working with a friend Nick Coman - he is a clothing designer - on a collection of clothing patterns....we should have the first two patterns out by the end of the year. The Girlfriend Series...

This is an awesome skirt made with six panels.....for my personal use I made the skirt pattern longer to make out of this sweater knit fabric I have. I think it will be fun for winter.....

The Sondy is a very versatile top that can be made into a tunic, t-shirt or dress and the back is a cowl neck, so cute.

Well, those are the new patterns....I have some free quilt patterns but I have to finish photographing them and I will post....luckily I'm saved by the fact that the fabric isn't in shops yet. The Karavan Jersey Knit wont be available until the end of the year but the flannel and cotton should be coming soon!

Have a great day!!

XO

Valori

Karavan Photo Shot

We had a photo shot this morning with some of the "Girlfriend" series of patterns made out of Karavan jersey knit. It was Too fun to shot with my girlfriends!!! Sondy and Trea are sisters and great friends and I'm honored to call them my friends. They have all been so awesome helping me get ready for market.
Have a great evening!
XO
Valori

Oh La La!!! Knits....

A freshly washed pile of Karavan Jersey Knits!!! LA LA LA!!!! Just got my hands on the knits and I'm dying to make some yummy clothes! Since Quilt Market is two and a half weeks away I had to make a call into my girls for some help. Thursday night we are going to have wine and cheese and sewing, I love it!!

I'm off to plan what to make, get myself organized...
XO
Valori

PS I had to include a picture of Miss Liv on her Hello Kitty machine, sewing away!

Simply Made.....

Hello my friends.....it is the next instalment of Simply Made.

I love to make receiving blankets for babies out of flannel but in the summer you need something cooler. Cotton Voile...the perfect solution to a cozy and cool receiving blanket for the summer.

Summer Baby Blanket

Materials:

1 1/3 yard flannel

1 1/3 yard cotton voile

matching thread

* Wash fabrics in a mild detergent on cold, tumble dry low before sewing - I wash the flannel with the voile.

Cutting:

Fold the flannel from corner to corner to make a large triangle, cut off each edge to make a nice clean square.

Lay voile face up on a flat surface and tape edges.

Lay flannel square face down on voile and pin around edges.

Trim off excess voile.

Sewing:

Use a larger stitch on your machine, ie 3 or 3.5 rather than a 2.5. This will keep the two fabrics from pulling and puckering.

*I made a blanket with the voile on top and one with the flannel on top. Either way it is slippery so take your time and gently pull the fabrics from the back side of the machine as you are sewing.

Using a 1/2" seam allowance, stitch around entire blanket leaving an opening on one side that is 4" - 6" wide, for turning.

Clip corners and turn right side out, press.

Whip stitch the opening closed.

Top stitch around entire blanket at about 1/2" to 5/8" in from edge.

Wrap up and give to a new baby...

 

The cute elephant is Elsa one of my sewing cards...she is so easy to make and a great addition to the hand made gift for a baby.

Enjoy....

Valori

 
I hope to write again before Quilter's Affair and Quilt Show hit....next week. I want to share the amazing photos that I took while I was in L.A.

 

The new sewing patterns....

Hello my friends.....first and foremost THANK YOU to all of our service men and women! We are lucky to have you.....

Now, as the end of May arrives and the weather is only 62...I mean really, our spring has been SO cold and icky!! Good thing I have so much to do and I can't really be outside anyway.....

Taking a quick break from drawing to show you the new sewing cards....

This is Betsy...named after the old Cadillac in the photograph. We have this wonderful Wine Bar in Sisters (Cork Cellars - if you ever make it to town) and Betsy is the owners car...Carolyn and I were able to take it out and shot some photos with the ol' girl.....too fun! The quilt is made out of the Wrenly Cotton Voile but the simple design could be used for a variety of fabrics. It is a twin size...I thought it would be a fantastic dorm quilt, easy yet looks so cool!!

Bird's Eye View is a great quilt that utilizes a large print and solids. I used the Wren Gypsy fabric and picked solids to accent the colors in the fabric and used a white so that the background would flow. It looks complicated but the solids and background fabric are put together with a simple formula which takes away all the little piecing of the squares.

This quilt was very popular at market....I was plesently surprised.

Most of you have heard about my Little Wallet pattern....well, this is the big sister, Little Cell Phone Wallet.  The design is longer and has a pocket on the back with a snap to put your cell phone in. I also added the option of a strap...which is nice for when you just want to go out with a few things and not your whole purse.

AAHHHH, the sweet Wish Bird....she is a gem. Easy construction with a pocket on the top that you can place a wish. The bird is a great way to start embroidery and play with beads, these accent the bird and make her a one of a kind gift. A more adult stuffed animal for all of us who still love stuffies and want to having something special in our home.

Mina Bag....this is your new favorite bag! SO, easy to construct and the perfect size. I really played with sizing, just big enough for all your stuff but not so big you feel like you are packing a diaper bag. The handles are the perfect length to have the bag on your shoulder but still get your hand in to find you cell phone or keys. I made the one on the cover with home decorator fabric from Wrenly and the accent fabric is my cotton linen, Jenaveve.

There you go....the new sewing cards. I really feel strong about these patterns, they are great projects yet not overly priced....ranging from $4 - $6 retail, can't beat that.

I will show you the new clothing patterns in the works soon......

Have a great day...back to drawing.

XXOO

Valori

PS Wrenly should be up on our site for Pre-Sales soon! I will let you know....

Jenaveve photo shot day 1...

I'm sitting in Salt Lake City airport waiting to go home from market and I thought I would share our photo shot we did last week with Jenaveve. As you might remember I received the fabric on Monday.

The lovely, colorful box from Korea....it is so fun to open up the sample yardage boxes and see your hard work come to life in fabric.

Tuesday morning.....

Three Creeks lake the location for Jenaveve photo shot. It is so beautiful at the lake that day. Knowing that we only had a couple of days before the weather turned.....No one was at the lake and the water was perfectly still, clear, and cold.

Mom, Carolyn and I started scouting out the beach area for photo opportunities....

Mom decided since she had her camera that she would take "behind the scenes" photos....kinda fun, huh?

We laid out all 15 pieces of lovely cotton linen....oh so soft and yummy! I envisioned (with some help of Carolyn's brilliant mind) a clothes line of the fabric blowing in the wind.....now to find the trees to tie the rope onto.

It took some time to get all of the fabric on the rope....I didn't realize how heavy the fabric would be it really weighted down the line. But we did conquer it!

This was the final outcome...there were tons of photos taken but this is my favorite. As we were scouting out the area we noticed so many great possibilities for photos with the fabric.....the colors of the area were perfectly neutral. Does that make sense?

 

I love using my LenseBaby....it creates the soft affect on the edges. You can move and tilt the lense to pick your sweet spot. Too much fun!

The greens.....

Teal and grey.....

This print is the Tribal Floral...I just love it. I'm thinking that some pillows need to happen or maybe a chair...just have to find a chair to cover. Not like we have a lot of room for another chair....maybe something small. Anyway, I digress...

The reds......isn't it just perfect with the red of the stump?

There are a lot of rock "studies" going on up at the lake....I love taking photos of what others have left.

Around 2 p.m. we decided that to sew up as much of the projects on the list as we could knowing that Wednesday was going to be beautiful. Carolyn and I heading to my studio to make a skirt, quilt, bag and some pillows. Mom would come by later and pick up some of what we couldn't get done.....it was going to be fast and furious.

Carolyn and I had so much fun sewing and getting time to just be together. We hadn't spent time like this in ages....did I mention that we recently adopted two kittens and a puppy. Yep, chaos in the Kennedy house. But fun all the same....Carolyn had a heck of a time getting the skirt cut out with Lilly attacking the tissue.....

The final result for the postcard for Market ended like this.....

The back had swatches of all the designs and then we stapled a swatch of the fabric to the card. I thought that it would be good to have the fabric on the card. We are such a tactile group of people once you feel the fabric you will want it!

Tomorrow I will share the photos we shot with all of the projects...yep we even got them all done! Giving ourselves a big pat on the back......

Now I must catch a plane home. I can't wait to see the family!! YEAH!
XOXO

Valori

 

Jenaveve....

Just a little tease of my new fabric...Jenaveve. It is cotton linen blend and oh so lovely! We just did an amazing photo shot yesterday at Three Creeks Lake. There will be more photos to come soon!
XO
Valori