Pat Kerko, Fiber Artist

I have been involved in some type of handwork most of my life. I developed a lifelong love for it, having been taught by my grandmother to sew, knit and crochet. Family and an engineering career put most of that on the back burner, having worked as an engineer in many different capacities for a company in upstate New York for 23 years.

I enjoy creating pieces of art with detailed stitching on them. All of the stitch work I do is freehand with my sewing machine. My imagination and pleasure in the designs I create are my guide. I do not mark any of my designs and I create as I go.

I have competed for many years in local, regional and national quilt competitions with both traditional and art pieces, having won several awards at the national and regional levels. Having my work juried into the Art Gallery on Pendleton Square is to me a great achievement. The caliber of the art as well as the co-op structure complements my life and my art.

I have spent a significant amount of time perfecting my skills in the venue of quilting, becoming an expert at machine quilting. Through this I have enjoyed the effects of adding texture and depth to fabric that is achieved by using various types of threads and yarns. I love to create intricate designs using these tools. My work has evolved over time as my skills have expanded. I feel that my early work allowed me to perfect my technical skills executing a craft. Through this I have competed nationally in both traditional aspects of quilting and in art quilt categories. I have also done a great deal of teaching, and write and sell my own patterns.

Over the past three to four years I have started to do more in the area of art quilting and fiber art, finding excitement in the combination of my established skills and the exploration of combining fiber, fabric and thread. I also enjoy making things that are functional such as apparel accessories, jewelry, pillows, table runners and wall hangings.