Jean Wells is a professional quiltmaker, author, teacher, lecturer, and shop owner. When she opened her quilt shop in 1974, it was one of the first in America. She is the founder of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in 2010. Being a teacher at heart, she has taught and lectured quilting nationally and internationally for more than three decades and has taught business classes to fellow business owners. She has received numerous awards: The Michael Kile Award for Lifetime Achievement, Business and Citizen of the Year award in Sisters, and the Imagination Award for the 2000 Millennium Quilt Contest. This award-winning quilter has exhibited in many solo shows as well as in group shows. She is now the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) co-representative for Oregon. She and her husband, John, live in Sisters, Oregon; they have two children and five grandchildren. Jean enjoys gardening, hiking, making art quilts, and her view of the mountains.
Valori Wells and her mother Jean Wells are a well-known duo involved in quiltmaking, fabric design, and operating The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. When Valori was in college, she and Jean began collaborating on quilting books with a garden flair. Valori's talents as a photographer captured nature at its best, and her inspirational images soon became the focus of her own distinctive quilting style. Her career came into full blossom when she began designing fabrics for the quilting industry. Valori returned to sisters to join her mother in managing the store. Currently she is a designer for Free Spirit Textiles. Valori has also been spreading her wings in the direction of soft furnishings and has teamed with Jean to create books on home furnishings.
