Around The World Blog Hop

I was 'tagged' by Sue, of Magpies Nest, for this blog hop that has participants from around the world. You can pop over to Sue's blog to see how she responded to the blog-hop questions.

There are four questions that are suggested for each participant to answer on their blog, and the idea is that we share with the world about our creative thoughts and processes. It is a good way to get to know more about the people who's blogs we follow.

So here, especially for my followers, is my question and answer blog.

Q.1. What am I working on? 

Well, for me, that question is like asking how long a piece of string is. I always have so many things that I work on at the same time. Mostly because I like to work in different media at different times of the day.

Mornings are my preferred writing time. I am currently authoring a novel, and a book of poetry on a particular theme, and I am editing another fiberart gallery book for the International Free Form Fiberarts Guild of which I have been a member for about 5 or 6 years.

My afternoons are usually spent stitching, either hand sewing or crocheting.
At the moment I am working on this free form crochet neck adornment.

And this is my current sewing project....an English paper pieced quilt WIP.

Q.2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

This is quite a difficult question to answer because I'm a free-former. And that means that all free-formers work without patterns or charts etc. and will never produce the same item/garment as anyone else.

I suppose the only way my work differs from other free-formers is my personal choice of colour, style, and imagination - as in this cozy free-form crochet wrap......

....and this mixed media piece, hand-stitched, beaded and crocheted, Rock Pool (detail)

Q.3. Why do I write/create what I do? 

Writing is a form of escape, but I'm still not sure exactly what I am escaping from...if anything. 

Writing puts me in a 'calm' zone. I have an active imagination which is ideally 'kept in check' by sitting in a quiet place and 'playing' with words.

This is MY quiet place for writing.

And here are a couple of my favourite places to sit and stitch.

And with such beautiful places to stitch and think, and stitch and dream... 

why would I do anything else?

Q.4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I usually start a new stitching project with a picture in my head of what the finished 'thing' will look like. I then take one small area of it and recreate it in whatever way is necessary to achieve the look I want. This is when the project starts to develop on its own merits.

With the beginnings of the project in my hand, I can see what will (or won't) work with it. Projects are often abandoned at this early stage, and I often digress from the original 'plan' or idea, and let the project tell me what it needs to progress to the next stage. 

Very rarely do I have a project designed and completed in one go, unless it is a present I am stitching especially for a particular person, then the design is usually planned out in full first.

The designing stage is my favourite part. 

I hardly ever follow a pattern or chart, preferring to design everything myself from scratch.

If you would like to participate in this blog-hop and have viewers pop over to your blog post, you can leave a comment down below here with a link to your blog. 

I would love to see your answers to these questions too.

 Cyra