My life in fabric with Valori Wells: 14 modern projects: get creative with fabric--silk screen, block print, paint, embroider

131 Pages·2014·118.053 MB·English

by  Wells, Valori

My Life
in Fabric
Get Creative with Fabric
Silk Screen, Block Print,
Paint, Embroider
with Valori Wells
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My Life
in Fabric
with Valori Wells
Get Creative with Fabric—Silk Screen, Block Print, Paint, Embroider
14 Modern
Projects
Text and Photography copyright © 2014 by Valori Wells
Photography and Artwork copyright © 2014 by C&T Publishing, Inc.
Acknowledgments
Publisher: Amy Marson Production Editor: Joanna Burgarino
Creative Director: Gailen Runge Illustrator: Zinnia Heinzmann
It truly takes a village to create a book. I am
Art Director / Book Designer: Photo Assistant: Mary Peyton Peppo blessed to have a wonderful group of people in
Kristy Zacharias my village that helped make this book come to life.
Inspirational photos by Valori Wells;
Editor: Lynn Koolish Styled and instructional photos by Ross, Olivia, Violette and Teague, my biggest fans
Valori Wells and Ethan Erickson; Styling
Technical Editors: Debbie Rodgers and beloved family, thank you for your undying sup-
by Jillian Zepeda; Instructional photos
and Gailen Runge port while I worked on this book. You inspire me.
by Diane Pedersen; Photo direction by
Production Coordinator: Rue Flaherty Nissa Brehmer Jillian Zepeda, my best friend and creative
comrade, thank you for bringing all of your talent,
Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456,
positive energy, and enthusiasm to everything you
Lafayette, CA 94549
do. You are an amazing woman.
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be used
in any form or reproduced by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including Ethan Erickson, my photographer, you took on this
photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without challenge with an open mind and a willingness to
written permission from the publisher. The copyrights on individual artworks are try something new. You are truly one of the best
retained by the artists as noted in My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells. These designs may photographers I know and I am so lucky to have
be used to make items only for personal use. Donations to nonprofit groups, items for your work in my book.
sale, or items for display only at events require the following credit on a conspicuous
label: Designs copyright © 2014 by Valori Wells from the book My Life in Fabric with Mom and John, your support has been endless for
Valori Wells from C&T Publishing, Inc. Permission for all other purposes must be all my creative endeavors. I wouldn’t be the artist I
requested in writing from C&T Publishing, Inc. am today without you.
Attention Copy Shops: Please note the following exception—publisher and author give The beautiful set shots were taken throughout
permission to photocopy pattern pullout pages P1–P2 for personal use only.
my village.
Attention Teachers: C&T Publishing, Inc., encourages you to use this book as a text
Thank you to the following:
for teaching. Contact us at 800-284-1114 or www.ctpub.com for lesson plans and
information about the C&T Creative Troupe. Kathy and Frank Degendorfer
We take great care to ensure that the information included in our products is accurate Greg Willitts
and presented in good faith, but no warranty is provided nor are results guaranteed.
Having no control over the choices of materials or procedures used, neither the author Ginn and Denny Staines
nor C&T Publishing, Inc., shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect
to any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information contained Jean and John Keenan
in this book. For your convenience, we post an up-to-date listing of corrections
Sondy and Bill Rexford
on our website (www.ctpub.com). If a correction is not already noted, please
contact our customer service department at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 1456, Treasure and Winter Lewis
Lafayette, CA 94549.
Veronda and Chet McConville
Trademark (™) and registered trademark (®) names are used throughout this book.
Rather than use the symbols with every occurrence of a trademark or registered Finally, none of this dream would have come true
trademark name, we are using the names only in the editorial fashion and to the without the incredible staff at C&T Publishing:
benefit of the owner, with no intention of infringement.
Todd Hensley and Amy Marson—Thank you for
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
believing in me for all these years!
Wells, Valori.
Nissa Brehmer—Loved having you here for the
My life in fabric with Valori Wells : 14 modern projects : get creative with fabric; silk photoshoot; you brought so much creativity and
screen, block print, paint, embroider / Valori Wells. knowledge to the photos.
pages cm Kristy Zacharias—Thank you for taking all my
ideas for the design and making it look better
ISBN 978-1-60705-905-9 (soft cover)
than I ever imagined.
1. Textile crafts. 2. Sewing. I. Title.
Lynn Koolish – As always, I truly love working
TT699.W44 2014 with you.
746--dc23
Debbie Rodgers and Gailen Runge—Thank you
2014004208 for all the technical help.
Thank you!
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
4 FOREWORD BY JEAN WELLS KEENAN
In the Spirit of Creativity 5
6 GROWING UP CREATIVE
9 L IVING AND WORKING WITH FABRIC CRAFTS
Creating a workspace • Tools and materials • iPhone photography apps
A Modern Approach to Design and Construction: The Projects 13
15 W ATERSIDE QUILT 45 STUDIO BIRDS 75 S UMMER SUNDRESS
Silk Screening • Free-Form  Block Printing • Portrait  AND TOP
Cutting and Piecing •  Presentation Elastic in the Bobbin to
Facing Finishing Create Gathering • 
51 PLUME
Make It Personal with
22 WATERSIDE PILLOW Silk Screening • Embroidery •  Silk Screening and
Silk Screening • Free-Form  Painting on Fabric • Facing  Embroidery • How to 
Cutting and Piecing Finish • Portrait Presentation Measure Your Child
27 WAVE QUILT 57 COLOR JOURNAL 81 THE OWLS
Block Printing Hand Piecing • Painting  Repurposing Old
and Stamping • Big-Stitch  Sweaters • Child’s 
35 TRANQUILITY QUILT Embroidery • Photography Stuffed Toy
Free-Form Cutting and Piecing
63 BAKER’S TWINE QUILT 87 KARAVAN
41 A PARCEL OF PRINTED Unique Strip Piecing and Log Mixing Techniques: Silk 
PILLOWS Cabin Approach • Machine  Screening, Embroidery,
Block-Printing Exploration Quilting on a Longarm and Painting
70 TWINE RUNNER 93 TOOL AND PENCIL ROLLS
Special Techniques 96 Finishing 107
96 SCREEN PRINTING 107 FACING FINISH 110 RESOURCES AND SUPPLIES
100 BLOCK PRINTING 108 PORTRAIT FINISH 112 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
106 PAINTING 109 HANGING SLEEVE
Foreword
Watching an artist grow and mature in their studio. Her family is a big part of this process,
work is a real treat, and when it is your own as you see the children’s artwork and projects
daughter, it is even more exciting! Ever since as well. Her six- and eight-year-old daughters
she was a little girl playing in a dirt pile with have their own little sewing machines. As I was
her brother, creating roads, streams, and working with the one of them the other day,
villages, she has been a creative soul. Growing she was already planning on selling her work
up, she would hang out in my ˝sewing room,˝ at the store. Even Valori’s four-year-old son
obviously taking it all in. In junior high she gets into the act, playing with solid-color fabric
took a black-and-white photography class, and swatches from a charm pack, showing Mom his
she was never without her camera after that. compositions. You will see some of his work in
I think that by using the camera and looking the journal in this book.
at imagery, whether it was a vista or the detail
Valori’s sense of color and pattern is intuitive
on a leaf, she intuitively learned to see good
to the core and is totally amazing! She is
composition. It has served her well in her
not afraid to push colors to new, exciting
career as a textile designer, author, pattern
combinations. She works and works on
designer, and business owner.
sketches until the designs are perfect. Her
After art school training and a stay on the East sketchbooks are fresh and full of possibilities
Coast, she joined the Stitchin’ Post staff. She as well as being works of art. With the modern
was a breath of fresh air—sharing her creative quilt movement on the rise, I think of her as
spirit with all of us. I think that her art school one of the designers that sets possibilities in
background, her experience in textile design, motion by example with her fabric and pattern
and her work with quilters and knitters have designs. She never was traditional. What I am
made her the designer she is today. drawn to in My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells
is her inventiveness when it comes to mixing
What a treat it is to visit her in her studio,
together techniques such as printing, piecing,
where she pursues her own interests of
embroidery, repurposing of materials, and
painting, print making, and sewing. Several
quilting. There is something for everyone in
new projects are always floating around, and
this book as well as an invitation to begin
you can see where one idea develops into
your own journey into this wonderful world
another. I don’t think there is ever a chance
of creativity and self-expression.
of ideas and inspiration disappearing in that
—Jean Wells Keenan
4 My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells
In the Spirit
of Creativity
In the Spirit of Creativity 5
Growing Up Creative
Growing up in a quilt shop since I was a year photography in college, I realized that my
and a half old definitely contributes to My Life images could translate to fabric, and this led
in Fabric. Being surrounded by textiles and the to my career as a fabric designer. My first
love that I felt from my mother as I would play collection of fabric was released in 1998, and
in her sewing room subtly led me to my career it was based on my nature photography. Since
as a textile designer. this first collection I have made a conscious
effort to push myself to be a better designer—
My life is fabric.
learning as much as I can about fabric design
I design it—I love the movement, the colors, and myself to create beautiful fabrics that
and textures. come from my heart.
I surround my family, my friends, and my
life in fabric.
I don’t know how else to be but creative; this
has always been who I am. Creativity feeds
my soul. I am fortunate to have been nurtured
in the creative spirit, which has given me the
confidence to pursue a career as an artist. As
a college student, I was exposed to a variety
of printmaking techniques; I found a love of
working with ink and paper in that world of
printmaking. It was years later, after I became
a fabric designer, that I even thought of
bringing the two worlds together.
My love of photography is the root of all my
creative endeavors. My family has learned
that I will always have a camera or my iPhone
ready to capture something that inspires me
or to save a moment in time. As I studied
6 My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells
I am a very visual person and find
that not only do I learn better with
pictures, but I explain myself better
with pictures—this is why this book is
filled with images.
We all need to push our creativity. Failures
and mishaps can lead to a better conclusion,
a better quilt, and better fabric designs. I
had several possible failures when working
on projects in this book, but I took them as
learning opportunities and I am a better artist
because of them. I have always had a thing
for big designs, and I have to control myself
when I create to meet not just my needs as
a designer but also to meet the needs of the
people who will purchase my fabric. At the
same time, it is important to design from a
personal perspective—it gives the designs
more life. I believe this to be true in all my
creative endeavors, and it has taken me years
to see the beauty in that.
Growing Up Creative 7
Creating from the heart will give you the most satisfaction.
On the journey of creativity you will find the need to capture
ideas. Not all ideas for these projects came at once—some of
them developed over time, with many ideas mingling into the
final piece. This is how I create fabric designs,
quilts, and crafts. To capture your ideas, carry
a camera, a sketchbook, and an open mind to
all that surrounds you.
Sketchbooks can be a collection box of ideas
and words, from a simple design on a coffee
table to a magazine photo that you just love.
Rip, tear, glue, print, draw, sketch, write. This
is your sketchbook. Have no fear. Just capture
what you see and feel.
In this spirit of creativity, you will see not only
inspirational photographs but also how the
ideas have been developed into a wide variety
of techniques and projects for you to explore.
I am a very visual person and find that not only
do I learn better with pictures, but I explain
myself better with pictures—this is why this
book is filled with images.
My mom is always giving me inspirational
cards, and one of them I keep pinned onto
my studio wall. It says, “Take a moment, make
a wish, and fly.” I think about this every time
I get ready to start a new project, try a new
technique, and take a step out of my comfort
zone. My hope is to inspire you to make a wish
and fly—to create from your heart.
8 My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells
L iving and Working
with Fabric Crafts
Creating a Workspace
cotton/linen blend, and rayon. Each fabric
(Small or Large) has a different texture and can add interest
to a design. The end use of the project will
Depending on your living situation, you may determine which fabric to use.
have a desktop, kitchen table, or an entire
My exploration into mixed media has given
room, but make sure you have a dedicated
me the opportunity to work with silk screening,
space for your creative endeavors.
block printing, embroidery, and decorative
It should have a sense of you—who you are, painting. I will introduce you to these
what you love, where your dreams are. techniques in the projects. If you choose to
explore them in more detail, many good
It is a place to contemplate, to discover and
books and resources are available for these
push your creativity. With all of the great
techniques (see Resources and Supplies).
storage options these days, you can even
create a space that is transportable if need iPhone Photography Apps
be. Have fun making a space just for you.
Your space may end up being in an old I love to take spontaneous photos with my
funky suitcase, but it is all yours. iPhone. You can do so much editing with
different apps. The following are just a few
Tools and Materials
of my favorite photography and editing apps.
There are so many out there that I am barely
This book contains techniques that are inter-
touching the surface, but these will get you
changeable. For example, a silk-screen design
started. I seem to find new apps daily. These
for a project can be translated into a design
also are iPad-friendly apps. They aren’t free
for block printing or it can be embroidered
but don’t cost very much and are well worth it.
or painted instead. The possibilities are
numerous, so don’t be afraid to mix it up. tip
Photo apps can be addicting, and
Fabric is the foundation of all the projects.
you can waste hours playing around
I like to use a variety of types of fabric,
with them. Use them with caution!
such as cotton, cotton voile, cotton sateen,
Living and Working with Fabric Crafts 9