(Photo courtesy of The Stitchin’ Post)
Jean Wells, the founder and owner of Sisters’ Stitchin’ Post, has loved to sew ever since she was a little girl. So much so that she went to OSU to become a home economics teacher, giving her the experience and skills needed to open her business in 1975.
“I opened The Stitchin’ Post in what is now the bar in the Sisters Saloon restaurant,” said Jean. “My intent was to have a space where I could teach sewing and quilting and sell supplies to my students. I had been a home economics teacher in Beaverton for eight years after getting out of college. Being involved with education and seeing people learn is still a joy to me today.”
Jean says the mission of her store has always been about education and inspiration. She spent her time connecting with the community and sharing the skills that she loves so much. Early on, Jean got connected with a young woman named Cathi Howell who had opened up a consignment boutique. She had the idea of hosting a summer festival and asked Jean about hanging quilts in the common area of her store.
“I had only made two quilts at the time, and they were smaller quilts for my children, so I borrowed the ten family quilts that my mother kept in her cedar chest… Both of my grandmothers and great-grandmothers were makers of quilts,” said Jean. “On the day of the show, several ladies who lived in Sisters and Black Butte Ranch came to our show. Several suggested that we should hang quilts out the next year too, and we have been doing it now for 50 years.”
Jean continued, saying, “The show grew from there as quilters in the community gathered to take classes in the stores, and one of the women, Elizabeth Duncan, thought we should have a quilt guild, so she organized the East of the Cascades Quilters. The guild is still here in Sisters with about 60 members. A few years later, as the show grew and became a lot more work, it became a nonprofit run by Dawn Boyd, our executive director.”
This year at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, there will be a little over 1,000 quilts on display. “Being the 50th anniversary this year, we wanted to focus on the history of the show,” said Jean, “and feature the quilters’ work in Central Oregon. I will have a display of five decades of quilts that I have created, including a series of sampler quilts from the 28 I made when teaching the class over the years. The original ten quilts from the first show will be displayed at the quilt show office in the log building on Hood Ave.”
Fifty years later, education is still the main goal of the store, which is now run by Jean’s daughter, Valori Wells. They still find ways to bring in nationally renowned teachers and put on educational workshops in the spring and fall.
“Valori has built off of an education program that I started in 1978 with one instructor to the present-day Quilter’s Affair (QA), which takes place the five days before the show and is held in the Sisters High School,” said Jean. “This year there are 36 instructors that come from as far away as Australia. Student groups who do fundraising help us out with logistics, and a local deli provides lunches for the quilters.”
Over the years, Jean and her team have learned quite a few lessons in running the Stitchin’ Post — a big one being that while tough times don’t last, tough people do. Opening up in a town of 500 people, Jean took a big risk with her business that has paid off. Through COVID, wildfires, recessions and more, the Stitchin’ Post has remained a staple of the Sisters and Central Oregon art scene.
While business practices change to meet growing needs and new trends over the years, Jean says that the biggest thing that has remained the same is the true personal connection that she has built with her customers.
In terms of what lies ahead for her and the store, Jean said there are plans for continued exploration of new ideas and developing more social media, building off of her daughter Val’s successful social media push during COVID. Aside from that, they hope to keep tradition alive and keep on celebrating the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show for years to come.