Jean Wells Keenan

Jean Wells is an art quilter, author/educator/designer, retired proprietress of The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, Oregon, and founder of the annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show which is in its' 45nd year. Jean has written more than 30 books about quilting.

As co-owner of The Stitchin’ Post, which she opened in 1975, Jean has received the Business of the Year and Citizen of the Year award in Sisters, and was the first independent retailer to be inducted into Primedia’s Independent Retailer Hall of Fame. In 2010 she was inducted into the Quilter's Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana. She also received the Michael Kile Award of Achievement honoring commitment to creativity and excellence in the quilting industry. The Stitchin’ Post was one of the first stores to be included in the American Patchwork and Quilting top ten quilt shop issue and was again featured in 2010 as an Encore. In 2020 she was awarded the Ben Westlund Memorial Award by the Deschutes Cultural Coalition of the Oregon Cultural Trust. (The honor is awarded to those who have served tirelessly throughout the years to forward arts and culture in Central Oregon.)

In addition to operating a successful business Jean also has participated in gallery shows with her textile art, designed fabric, appeared on televised quilting shows, taught business and quilting workshops throughout the United States and abroad, and appeared as an artist on OPB's Oregon Art Beat. She won the Imagination Award in the 2000 Millennium Quilt Contest, 2nd place in the contemporary category at the Portland Expo Show, 2nd place in the Small Abstract category at the 2010 and 2016 International Quilt Festival Show, and Best Use of Color at the 2010 Pacific International Quilt Show. In 2020 her “Colors of Provence” quilt was acquired by the Paducah Quilt Museum and she was chosen as “The Legend” for The Quilt Show, an online production.

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