Week 1 of the 5 x 7 Artist Challenge

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For my first week of the 5 x 7 Artist Challenge, I completed a little freehand machine-embroidered piece that I’ve been thinking about for some time.

Freehand machine embroidered and quilted by
Christina Fairley Erickson

This zebra was adapted from a photo, drawn onto the fabric with pencil, then stitched on top.  It’s difficult to see in this photo (see enlargement below), but his mane has white stitching between the black parts, although I didn’t stitch the white over the rest of him.

My choice of fabric is all cotton, with an interesting weave (again tough to see in the photo)- nubby- sort of like raw silk.  This proved to be a factor in choosing the background quilting, as when I made some practice samples using different freemotion quilting designs, it seemed to look best with a more geometric style, rather than one that has lots of swirls or undulating pattern.  I think the grid works well to not compete with the main focus of the zebra.

Close-up of stitching.

I think the piece works for me… it was good practice both with the machine embroidery and the small-scale quilting.  The zebra is a natural extension of my equine quilts and passion.

Tomorrow I’ll finish up my story of the quilt show theme: “Fiber Artists Look at Innovation and Civic Action.”

Hopefully we’ll have a few other photos to post on our 5 x 7 Artist Challenge as well.  Remember, you can join at any time.  Post your photos to: http://www.flickr.com/groups/5x7_artist_challenge/

You might also be interested in:
2013 Open 5 x 7″ Challenge
Getting Started May be the Hardest Part
52 Week 5″ x 7″ Challenge to Readers

Other Blogs You might want to check out:
Freemotion by the River – Lovely Traditional Quilts and Projects
QuiltStory – Quilts and Patterns
From My Front Porch to Yours – Beautiful Home Decor Projects

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Defining Myself

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While I currently define myself as a “fiber and mixed media artist”, I struggle with the definition. I started early on as a seamstress,then as a costume designer. I moved to being a quilter for a short while, then specialized in art quilts. I’ve played around with many styles, but basically feel my niche is in representational art.

When I started falling in love with making my own fabric, I became a surface designer.  But, I was still pretty wrapped up in using my fabrics in my quilts.  Now, I’m moving even more to embroidery.  Whether it’s dense machine embroidery, thread painting, intricate machine quilting, or hand work, stitch seems to give me a tactile grounding that no other medium has for me.  But how do I define myself?  Where does this work fit in?

I know that most shows that are quilt-centered are very strict about their definition of a quilt… 3 layers connected with stitch, often needing to be professionally bound in some way.  If I decide to create a stitched piece and stretch it over a frame or canvas, then it won’t qualify.  So the question is, how important is it to me to fit into the categories that show producers have come up with?  Or even, how important is it to me to continue to exhibit?  Is it more important to create and then find the right niche for my creations, rather than creating to fit particular guidelines?

While I don’t feel like I have a strong enough discernible style or large enough body of work to go into solo shows, I do enjoy having my work out in front of the public.  The question is, will work that is not formally a “quilt” get accepted into shows?  Do I feel I need to break out of confines of being defined as a quilter?

I don’t know that I have the answer for that yet.  Maybe as I work out my goals for the upcoming year, it will become more clear to me.  How do you define yourself?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Quick tip for productivity:  I recently found the iPhone app “Evernote“.  This is a way to organize all your notes, including Word docs, Adobe Acrobat PDFs, and simple text inputs.  You can also use it online or download a version to your computer, as well.  They all sync together. You can organize notes into notebooks (so I have one notebook for my studio, one for family, one for my blog, etc.) and put as many items within each notebook as you want.  It’s a great tool!

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La Conner Art Walk, Dec 2012

Piece I purchased by artist Gwen Lowery

Last Friday, a new favorite of mine, fiber artist Gwen Lowery, had a special showing of her work at Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts in La Conner, WA.  I became aware of Gwen’s work lately, when I purchased a piece she had made from an auction to support the new gallery being built at Gail’s center.  To find out more about this auction see my post “52 Weeks of Art- a Personal Challenge.”

Gwen’s work is incredible dense machine stitching. She was in one of the first diploma classes given by Gail here in the United States, and holds a City & Guilds Diploma in Design and Embroidery from the Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts.  Her pieces she has been working on currently are quite large.  One of the pieces she shared with us was approximately 12 x 15 feet ( 4 x 5 meters).  Gwen’s work is being shown internationally.  Unfortunately, since the pieces she shared with us are committed to shows, so I can’t share photos of them.  However, you can see some of her work on Gwen’s website and also on a page as an award winner from the Artist Trust Edge program for 2011.  Gwen was also a guest writer on Gail Harker’s blog with her post “Going Big“.  I look forward to keeping an eye on her progress as an artist and as an inspiration to my work, personally!

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The Fiber Funster’s 10 x 16 Group Challenge

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Last night I worked on finishing up the machine embroidered piece I started for my small art-quilt group, the Fiber Funsters.  This is the first piece in a series of challenges our group is doing, based on the book Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge.  Each of us in the group will have a turn choosing a word to base the challenge on.  Then, the group members will make a small art quilt, sized 10″ x 16″, which somehow reflects that word, which we then present to the group in 2 months.  Why did we pick 10 x 16, rather than following the example of the 12 x 12 group?  We wanted to base our compositions on the Golden Mean or Golden Ratio.  This is where you use the ratio of 1 : 1.618 for your composition, making it more appealing to the eye.  If you’re interested in finding out more about about the Golden Ration, check out this YouTube video.

We were first challenged with “Opening”.   Any time I’m designing for a theme, I start with my sketchbook and brainstorm ideas for the concept or topic.  Opening invoked the following ideas for me:

  • Doors
  • Imagination
  • Portals
  • Beginnings
  • Writer’s Block
  • Purse/Luggage/Briefcase
  • Court (opening arguments)
  • Flower
  • Presents
  • Hands
  • Mail
  • Body language (open arms vs open legs)
  • Containers (boxes, food storage, etc.)
  • Windows

Since I love plants and flowers, I decided to go with an opening Stargazer Lily, my favorite flower, and fairly accessible to get at the grocery floral department. After taking photos and thinking through what sort of composition I wanted, I made some sketches. Since I have done a lot of machine stitch, I thought it would be fun to make this completely through thread painting. I broke out all the colors Of pinks that I had for the flower, and chose some spring greens as a complement to the pinks. The background I decided on is blue, to complement the dark rust/orange of the flower’s stamens. Here is a close-up of my stitch work:
Although the threadwork is time-intensive, I do love the result.  I will be practicing this more with my personal 5 x 7 challenge this year!

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