Artist, Quilt Judge, and Teacher
Kathie Kerler is a quilter who embroiders and an embroiderer who quilts.
As someone who began her fiber art practice with hand embroidery and a particular love of crewel work, she gravitated to appliqué, both hand and machine, as her primary construction technique. While she creates abstract quilts and still ventures into traditional work, her niche is representational art quilts. But rather than being realistic, they have a cartoon-like quality.
As a graduate of the rigorous three and a half year program in design and embroidery at the City and Guilds Institute of London, she completed both traditional and experimental work. One of the primary takeaways she gained was the importance of sampling—sampling both materials and techniques to determine what best suits the design and project. Materials might include textile paint or watercolor pencils for surface design and techniques could be couched, hand-twisted cords or machine zigzag appliqué.
She has been judging quilts and wearables nationally since 2002 and certified through the National Association of Certified Judges (NACQJ). Kathie is one of their Qualified Instructors and a passionate teacher of their Two-Day Judging Seminar. She also frequently presents to guilds on this topic. Her goal is to explain how the evaluation process is meant to encourage and educate, rather than be something to fear.
For seven years, Kathie was a contributing editor to American Quilter magazine, writing over 100 articles on processes, patterns, and interviews, which contributes to her deep quilting knowledge.
Kathie is a native of Portland, Oregon. But for several years she lived in Montréal and Paris, where she studied at ´Ecole Lesage, furthering her embroidery skills. As a member of 20 Perspectives, an international textile art group composed of quilters from ten countries and four continents, she exhibits work internationally.
Among recent honors:
- 2023--Pacific International Quilt Festival--1st place, Innovative
- 2023--Bobbie Piling Award for Innovative design and execution--1st place, Embroiderers Guild of America
- 2022—Road to California, Ontario, CA—2nd place, Landscape
- 2022--International Quilt & Fiber Fest, La Conner, WA--Award of Excellence--Best Original Design
- 2019—International Quilt & Fiber Fest, La Conner, WA—1st Place, Needlework
- 2019—International Quilt & Fiber Fest, La Conner, WA—Award of Excellence, Needlework (Hand-embroidered Whitework Cloth)
- 2019—International Quilt & Fiber Fest, La Conner, WA—2nd place, Pictorial
- 2019—Northwest Quilting Expo, Portland, OR—3rd place, Large Appliqué
- 2018—American Quilter’s Society wall calendar cover quilt
- 2017—Northwest Quilting Expo, Portland, OR—2nd place, Landscape
- 2017—AQS Quilt WEEK, Paducah, KY—1st place, Small Wall
- 2017—AQS Quilt WEEK, Lancaster, PA—3rd place, Wall
- 2016—International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX—Honorable Mention, Landscape
- 2016—The Oregon Garden, Salem, OR—Featured quilter
- 2011—Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden CO—Solo Exhibition
Member of:
20Perspectives
SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates)
E-mail: kathie@kathiekerler.com
