Cyra ~ Some fiberart fun

I was at my usual weekly quilt group meeting, but I was stuck, and could not continue stitching on my quilt. So, I found some spare pieces of fabric, dropped the feed-dogs on the sewing machine, and started free-motion stitching a continuous line drawing straight onto the fabric.

Two panels later, I have 'me & him' caricatures, which I then framed with fabric to make two quilt blocks. 

Cyra ~ Scrumbling & Craft room tour

A belated Happy St. Paddy's Day to all who celebrate.

This is my own design for a shamrock, which I attached to a hair slide and wore in my hair for the weekend. 

I've been scrumbling again.

I've had a big sort out in my craft studio to make room for a dedicated 'art-space' as well now.

Loving the natural light that I get from the window.

My drawing board table can be tilted to any angle and also can be adjusted height ways too. Love it.

The black shelves hold the paints, acrylic, guache and water-colours.

The tan shelves hold my oil paints on the bottom shelf, all my containers of soft-pastels are on the 2nd shelf up, my journals and sketch pads next shelf up. All sorts of marker pens and inks on the next shelf, and then on the very top are things like masking fluid, rubbers, glue, and my larger art paper pads.

Under the table are two of my easels (the larger easels are stored in the garage.

The table holds my most frequently used supplies, i.e. china mixing trays, water container, brushes, pencils, and art crayons.

The armchair is where I do crochet and embroidery (or just chill out with a book).

Opposite the armchair is the sewing table which double up as a weaving table too.

Behind where I'm standing and to my left is the miniatures work station and my book shelves, plus another ranch slider (windows & door) the same as that one by the art table.

(I've not tidied that area so no photos, lol).

Hope you enjoyed that little tour of my art space.

I'm off to do some drawing now, catch you next next time.

Happy Crafting

Cyra

Cyra ~ Three different projects

Little bits are progressing on a few different projects.

Back into drawing again. A quick hand sketch for practice.

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The Pilli Pala Dolls House

All the kitchen walls are up now, and the entrance hall next to the kitchen is almost done.

The checkered floor is a paper sheet that came with the house. Not sure that I like this look,  so I shall probably create some other flooring (and a better quality) than this. 

I think a wood floor would look better - watch this space, lol.

Auditioning some wood strips for flooring. I will remove the bent pieces from this pile first though.

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That is a spiral scrumble to be added to a few other scrumbles (ok, LOTS of other scrumbles) to create something -- I don't know what it will be until I have few more of them made, then it will tell me what it wants to be -- a bag, a hat, a garment, a wall hanging, whatever.

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That's my lot for now.

Happy Crafting

Cyra

Cyra ~ 2018 Goals

I'm here at last, and here are my goals for 2018 and a bit of a catch-up on my last couple of months projects.

2018 Goals - my year of 4’s

• Spend more time with hubby and put the ‘4-second’ rule into action - Did you know that it only takes 4 seconds to look at a person when they talk to you for them to appreciate and recognize that you are taking notice of them and that they are important to you at that moment.
• Make 4 things for each of my 4 children - I have so many things that my mum and dad made for me, that I treasure, and I want to pass that same love on to my kiddlywinks.
• Complete the crazy patchwork quilt that I started 4 years ago.
• Play some more with freeform bobbin lace and weaving.
• Knitting - I want to learn more than just the basic stitch, and stop being afraid of knitting.
• Make a start on My NZ Dolls House - aka 'Pilli Pala' - and the furnishings within.
• Work on 4 of my embroidery WIP’s. I’ll be happy if I get even one of these 4 finished.

That’s my lot….. apart from all the crochet projects that are a part of my ‘normal’ everyday life too.

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Here are some of the projects that I finished in the last couple of months of 2017 and didn't get to post on here about.

Debra the Zebra Firberart- freeform crochet, bobbin lace, & weaving.

I made my Rock Pool bigger and better, and finished it in time for the Regional Embroiderers Guild show, where it won 1st place in the 3D category.... woohoo... go me.

A decorative freeform crochet box.

I've a YouTube video of it HERE where you can see the whole thing better.

A couple of woolly hats for His'n'Hers' Christmas pressies.

The one on the left is a pony tail beanie.

And this is the beginning of a mandala blanket.

(It got too hot over here to work under a woolly blanket, so this project is on hold until we get some cooler weather).

Whatever you do in 2018 make sure you have FUN.

Happy Stitching

Cyra - An assortment of projects

Finally I managed to get a stitching update done.

3 freeform crochet scrumbles going towards making a headband.

I went to another felting workshop where I made these two gorgeous flowers 

(plus a caterpillar which wandered off before the photo shoot).

These flowers will have stamen added when I get 'a round tuit'. 

And.... just for something completely different.

A 6.5 inch long crocheted oval doily.

And the miniature 'scene' with the miniature doily on the dining table.

Perfect.

Nice cuppa tea anyone?

Happy Stitching

Cyra

Cyra ~ Freeform Weaving

I've been on a weaving spree this week again.

This is the start of a peacock inspired freeform weaving.

I have, actually, got more progress on this piece, but have not taken a current photo of it.

Not a lot of anything else done, apart from more crocheting of my coral reef project, but again, I'm not taking photos of that until it is significantly bigger..... and I have also done some more work on my hexie quilt, which is coming along nicely now (I didn't think you'd be interested to see loads of black hexies tacked together, hence no updated photos, lol). Still got a whole heap more yet to make, so I'll be busy for many months/years on it yet. This is the ¾" hexies quilt.

Happy Stitching

Cyra

Cyra ~ Fiberart Book Presentation

The International Freeform Fiberart Guild has one of my fiberarts published in the 2017 book.

The theme this year was Pattern In Nature, and my piece is all about the pattern of life of a Leaf 

The Life Cycle of a Leaf

This is the book cover for 2017, and clicking on it will take you the book sale where you can also see all the other fiberarts too.

There is also an online gallery HERE if you prefer to view the fiberart on their website with larger pics.

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I went to a wet-felting workshop last weekend, and here are the two flowers I made there.

The orange one is huge, and for The Great Opunake Yarn Bomb project later this year.

The black/purple flower is waiting for beads to be added and for another project.

Well, I think that's it for this week.

Be sure to check out the fiberart online show because you will not be disappointed with the eye-candy there. Some wonderfully talented people all over the world.

Cyra ~ A bit of This & a bit of That

'A Bit Of This and A Bit Of That' is a very good title for this weeks work.

Here we have a bit of freeform crochet that started off as one scrumble, and quickly progressed into three more scrumbles trying to match the first. They are not exact replicas (because this IS freeform crochet after all, i.e. no pattern), but it's near enough for me and this project.

And then I got to stitch some hexies together, which turned out just fine, with 

6 of these:

and 6 of those:

Things will start to get more intense for me on the hexies soon as the numbers for each 'round' increase and it will look like I'm 'stuck' in one place as I work on, and build up the required numbers of a particular colourway.

Going out today. It's Ameri-car-na day here and the town will be crowded as the American cars are a big pull for fans to head our way. Photos next week of the days activities.

Happy Stitching

Cyra ~ A productive week

Lots of projects got to spend some quality time with me during the week.

The 'Long on Colour' freeform challenge made an appearance. I think this is going to be a cowl.

Earthy and autumnal colours with a pop of black and white. 

And we had such a lovely day yesterday that I was stitching in the back garden in the shade with my kitty companion.

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My BAMCAL 2017 Blues Blanket has two more 12" blocks made.

Block Four is Kaleidoscope Blossom Square by Chris Simon

Block Five is Marigold Mandala Square by Dorianna Rivelli with slight adjustments in the outer rounds as, once again, I 'do-my-own-thing'.

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The Summer Brights Blanket has four more 6" blocks.

This is Window Box Granny by Lisa Mauser

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The ¾" Hexagon Quilt

The darker blue has been added to the rosettes, and lots of yellows prepared ready for attaching.

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Weaving Project- My Garden, panel 2.

This panel starts with a band of regular weaving at the bottom which is the same yarn as Panel 1, and then gradually incorporates freeform weaving as it progresses. 

Multiple weaving styles and texture will be added to this.

So that was my week. Very productive, and I even got to empty and clean out the fish pond (as the two last fish in there disappeared last weekend, probably to a kingfisher or new stray cat that I've seen hanging around).

Cyra ~ BAMCAL FO AYIS MYIS

Oh boy....... I've done it again..... started lots of projects.

And just in case the title of this blog is reading like a foreign language to you, let me translate it for you here.

BAMCAL = Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long

FO's = Finished Objects

AYIS - A Year In Stitch

MYIS - My Year In Stitches

2017 BAMCAL is a Ravelry group in which we are given a choice of 3 blocks each month to crochet as we wish for our chosen project. I am going to see if I find enough time to do all 3 blocks, as I would like to make at least two afghans and a tunic/poncho.

My first 12" block is finished - Floral Kaleidoscope Afghan Square by Julie King.

I am using yarn from my stash for this project.

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While I'm showing you FO's, here is a Free Form Ball that I finished for a CAL in another Ravelry group. 

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A Year In Stitches is all about making stitches every day for a year and in a random, freeform style.

I have chosen a colourful printed fabric to randomly embellish with stitches.

And here is the start - Day 1 stitches.

Just a little bit more each day.

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My Year In Stitches is a different project. It still incorporates a little bit of stitching each day, but this one is slightly more organized. It started off life as a patchwork wall hanging that I made a few years ago.... but.... I never really liked it the way it was, so I have decided to spruce it up with a whole heap of stitching to make it more appealing to me, and hopefully, I'll enjoy it enough when it's finished to actually hang it up instead of hiding it in a box.

The green stems are what I have stitched today, and there are quite a lot more of them to stitch too, so I might not share photos again until I get onto something more interesting to see.

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Happy New Year to all, and Happy Stitching