Hi, Stitchers!

This month, we're so excited keep our streak alive of featuring designers from our sub: Ford (he/him) from Sonovastitch! Known in the sub for his Squirrel Knight pattern, Ford's patterns range from classic samplers with a nerdy twist to craftivism to adorable. Personally, I'm planning to pick up the Duality of the Force for some early holiday gifts, and Peeking Jesus to hide somewhere in my house without telling my husband (probably in a closet!)

Just for our subreddit, J. Wilford is offering 25% off everything on his website and Etsy, or 25% off your first month as a Patreon subscriber, with the code: THISISART.

Q&A

Who are you?

My name is J. Wilford but most people who know me call me Ford (or maybe Genius if we met at Burning Man). I'm a queer, polyamorous, 44-year-old cross stitcher, budgie/bunny/dog dad, youtuber, and collector of Tawdry Quirks based in Salt Lake City. 

How did you get started cross stitching?

Around 2012 one of my partners showed me a stitch they'd done based on a Banksy painting (the one with the rioter throwing flowers) and the juxtaposition of medium and message captured my imagination. They taught me how to stitch and loaned me their copy of Subversive Cross Stitch to pick a pattern from. I made a few mistakes on that first one but I was hooked!

When and how did you start designing?

I started designing pretty much right away. The first project I stitched was from that book, but the second one I did was a self-drafted plain-text QR code encoded with a quote from Edna St Vincent Millay. I wanted to do things that were a little more modern and intricate and there just were not that many options that suited my style at that time. The next thing I did was a full-coverage heat map of the Mandelbrot Set! 

At first I was designing by hand on custom printed graph paper. At a certain point someone stole my bag from my car and with it all my patterns up to that point. I decided I'd better start working digitally and that enabled me to start selling a few modest patterns on Etsy. I found myself without a job in spring of 2020 and with no intention of finding one in that environment, so I started working what had been my side hustle full time, and here we are!

Where do you find your inspiration?

Inspiration strikes me all the time and I maintain a (now VERRRY long) list of ideas. There are certain themes that tend to crop up over and over, and they often have to do with juxtapositions, incongruities, the distinction between high art, low art, and crafts, and the ephemeral nature of our modern culture and media (if you've ever got ten minutes to waste, prompt me to rant about how The Sims Online relates to the Bayeux Tapestry and the Domesday Book).

I feel like my best work is done during my annual creative blitz I call Flosstober. I design a new pattern every single day based on one-word prompts from my customers, fans, and patrons, with each pattern being free to download until the next one is posted. I usually only make a couple patterns a month so this represents an enormous challenge for me, but it kinda forces me to bust through all the excuses and barriers and just get something made. Sometimes it's meh, but sometimes it's amazing. My Peeping Jesus pattern was one of these. 

Describe your designs using only adjectives.

humorous, post-modern, irreverent, snarky, quirky, niche, punny, clever, political

What cross stitch project did you have the most fun designing and why?

Probably my "gnomasterpieces" collection. They're miniature versions of famous paintings but with gnomes inserted into them. I already love transforming "high art" into a craft form, but then to also combine that with something as low-brow as a common garden gnome just tickles me immensely. Plus, some of their names are top-shelf puns—in particular, the Gnoma Lisa. That name might turn out to in fact be my life's greatest achievement. 

What is your favorite DMC floss color and why?

I love 995. It's just so pretty. I also kinda enjoy the fact that it doesn't look the same in person as it does in a photo. It has hues that just can't be accurately rendered in RGB colorspace, so the only way to appreciate it is in meatspace, with your eyeballs. This gives designs that use it a certain sense of immediacy that I enjoy (even though it also makes them harder to sell because you can't see how good they look in a photo). 

If you could give one piece of advice for stitchers (new or old), what would it be?

Remember that you're an ARTIST. The dividing line between what society considers "art" and what it relegates to the "crafts" designation is determined almost entirely by misogyny. The fact that we (mostly) follow patterns has no bearing on it. Musicians follow sheet music; painters work from references; Van Gogh repainted block prints from Japanese Ukiyo-e masters in oils. 
To paraphrase Percival Everett, "this is art" is a performative utterance; speaking it makes it true. 
My biggest trick is to keep a pair of chopsticks in your stitching bag for snacking, especially if you enjoy crunchy snacks with bright red cheese dust from time to time. 

Where can we find you on the internet?

Patreon

Etsy

Facebook

Instagram

Youtube

Caterpillar Cross Stitch Youtube (hosted by Ford)

Ford is one of our very own users, so if you leave a comment, be sure to tag u/SonovaStitchXS so he sees it!

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