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

Publisher: Amy Marson Creative Director: Gailen Runge Art Director / Book Designer: Kristy Zacharias Editor: Lynn Koolish Technical Editors: Debbie Rodgers and Gailen Runge Production Coordinator: Rue Flaherty Production Editor: Joanna Burgarino Illustrator: Zinnia Heinzmann Photo Assistant: Mary Peyton Peppo Inspirational photos by Valori Wells; Styled and instructional photos by Valori Wells and Ethan Erickson; Styling by Jillian Zepeda; Instructional photos by Diane Pedersen; Photo direction by Nissa Brehmer Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549 Acknowledgments It truly takes a village to create a book. I am blessed to have a wonderful group of people in my village that helped make this book come to life. Ross, Olivia, Violette and Teague, my biggest fans and beloved family, thank you for your undying support while I worked on this book. You inspire me. Jillian Zepeda, my best friend and creative comrade, thank you for bringing all of your talent, positive energy, and enthusiasm to everything you do.

You are an amazing woman. Ethan Erickson, my photographer, you took on this challenge with an open mind and a willingness to try something new. You are truly one of the best photographers I know and I am so lucky to have your work in my book. Mom and John, your support has been endless for all my creative endeavors. I wouldnt be the artist I am today without you. The beautiful set shots were taken throughout my village.

Thank you to the following: Kathy and Frank Degendorfer Greg Willitts Ginn and Denny Staines Jean and John Keenan Sondy and Bill Rexford Treasure and Winter Lewis Veronda and Chet McConville Finally, none of this dream would have come true without the incredible staff at C&T Publishing: Todd Hensley and Amy MarsonThank you for believing in me for all these years! Nissa BrehmerLoved having you here for the photoshoot; you brought so much creativity and knowledge to the photos. Kristy ZachariasThank you for taking all my ideas for the design and making it look better than I ever imagined. Lynn Koolish As always, I truly love working with you. Debbie Rodgers and Gailen RungeThank you for all the technical help. Thank you! Foreword Watching an artist grow and mature in their work is a real treat, and when it is your own daughter, it is even more exciting! Ever since she was a little girl playing in a dirt pile with her brother, creating roads, streams, and villages, she has been a creative soul. Growing up, she would hang out in my sewing room, obviously taking it all in.

In junior high she took a black-and-white photography class, and she was never without her camera after that. I think that by using the camera and looking at imagery, whether it was a vista or the detail on a leaf, she intuitively learned to see good composition. It has served her well in her career as a textile designer, author, pattern designer, and business owner. After art school training and a stay on the East Coast, she joined the Stitchin Post staff. She was a breath of fresh airsharing her creative spirit with all of us. I think that her art school background, her experience in textile design, and her work with quilters and knitters have made her the designer she is today.

What a treat it is to visit her in her studio, where she pursues her own interests of painting, print making, and sewing. Several new projects are always floating around, and you can see where one idea develops into another. I dont think there is ever a chance of ideas and inspiration disappearing in that studio. Her family is a big part of this process, as you see the childrens artwork and projects as well. Her six- and eight-year-old daughters have their own little sewing machines. As I was working with the one of them the other day, she was already planning on selling her work at the store.

Even Valoris four-year-old son gets into the act, playing with solid-color fabric swatches from a charm pack, showing Mom his compositions. You will see some of his work in the journal in this book. Valoris sense of color and pattern is intuitive to the core and is totally amazing! She is not afraid to push colors to new, exciting combinations. She works and works on sketches until the designs are perfect. Her sketchbooks are fresh and full of possibilities as well as being works of art. With the modern quilt movement on the rise, I think of her as one of the designers that sets possibilities in motion by example with her fabric and pattern designs.

She never was traditional. What I am drawn to in My Life in Fabric with Valori Wells is her inventiveness when it comes to mixing together techniques such as printing, piecing, embroidery, repurposing of materials, and quilting. There is something for everyone in this book as well as an invitation to begin your own journey into this wonderful world of creativity and self-expression. Jean Wells Keenan Growing Up Creative Growing up in a quilt shop since I was a year and a half old definitely contributes to My Life in Fabric. Being surrounded by textiles and the love that I felt from my mother as I would play in her sewing room subtly led me to my career as a textile designer. My life is fabric.

I design itI love the movement, the colors, and textures. I surround my family, my friends, and my life in fabric. I dont 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 photography in college, I realized that my images could translate to fabric, and this led to my career as a fabric designer. My first collection of fabric was released in 1998, and it was based on my nature photography. I am a very visual person and find that not only do I learn better with pictures, but I explain myself better with picturesthis is why this book is filled with images. I am a very visual person and find that not only do I learn better with pictures, but I explain myself better with picturesthis 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 perspectiveit gives the designs more life.