Bridge Domains for Innovation

British curator and media researcher Ele Carpenter was so inspired by the striking similarities between embroidery and software programming, she decided to create Open Source Embroidery, an artistic and social-networking experience bringing a large and diverse group of people together.

Katie Haegele’s article in the Philadelphia Inquirer ,“New Media: Computer Programming Meets Embroidery” points out how members of Open Source Embroidery are more concerned with the process of creating and the collaborative efforts of the project than the final product. It is an element Carpenter views as inherent in both needlework and programming.

Skilled and amateur needleworkers and programmers have come together to participate in creating a six-sided quilt with 216 “hexadecimal” colors. The project comes at the right time; the old-fashioned hobbies of needlework are now becoming popular and more socially acceptable to a younger generation.

By looking at the opportunities that exist at the intersection of atypical fields, you build a stronger business.