I was struck the other day by this bit from Mr X’s recent TEDx talk:
I’m not bothered what technology you use to become an artist; it is the self-expression that is the critical point here.
Machine quilting might not seem like the most likely medium for expressive stitching … but in the hands of artist Karlee Porter, it’s lively and beautiful. Porter combines her love of well-crafted graffiti art with a lifetime of personal and professional quilting experience to create her own unique, colorful quilting style.
Porter first learned the ins and outs of the craft growing up with a mother and grandmother who quilted, and got to know the high-tech side of things working for a quilting machine manufacturing company. Her work encompasses both freemotion machine quilting and computerized quilting designs.
Vibrant color combined with beautifully mixed textures make Karlee’s work unmistakable. She even sells computerized quilting design files so that longarm quilting machines can stitch her unique styles, too.
Want to learn how it’s done? Her new book Graffiti Quilting: A Simple Guide to Complex Designs shares designs and techniques to help you create your own surprising, dynamic quilts.
See more of Karlee Porter’s stunning work at www.karleeporter.com!
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Gear Threads is brought to you from the offbeat gals at Urban Threads. Created by illustrator Niamh O’Connor, Urban Threads is revolutionizing machine embroidery one edgy, elegant, innovative, and/or offbeat design at a time. Discover the future of digital stitchery at www.urbanthreads.com.