I’ve been working intensely in the studio this last week, and I’ve come out of my current project with this reminder for all of us:
Mistakes are not mistakes. They are opportunities for creativity!
Hopefully in the first few quilt classes you ever took, your teacher mentioned this very important aspect of quilting. When you are confronted with a problem, don’t stop. Start brainstorming about how to solve the problem. It is not ‘cheating’ as the quilt police may have led you to believe. How many times have we covered a ‘mistake’ with a new design element? Then get comfortable with saying “Yeah, I meant to do that!” instead of “Oh I had to cover up a mistake.”
Some of my most creative breakthroughs have come in response to a “mistake”. But in order to make a mistake you have to let yourself go and become a Maker, not just a copier of others’ projects. This is part of how we move from being a beginner to an intermediate quilter. Then we start making courageous leaps, trying lots of new things without knowing if they will work, and after we jump and make mistakes and create solutions several times, then we are on our way to becoming an advanced or expert quilter or even an artist or designer.
One of the first ways you can challenge yourself is to convert a small quilt pattern to a large quilt design. Change the borders! Try something totally crazy and wonderful! You just might surprise yourself. And trust me, you’ll be so proud when you come out on the other end of the learning experience. Make it your own and then OWN IT. You can do it!
Some people say the only way to grow and learn in life is to make mistakes. I don’t totally agree with that either. As we learn to trust our creative instincts, we learn to see problems before they happen, and we start to come up with solutions before we go off a cliff. It is kind of like parenting, right?
If you are planning to attend the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK this August, please note that I am giving my power point lecture “International Quilt Trends” on Friday at 10 am. You will need to register in advance – search for Code 512 (or my name) on the class listing page.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful 4th of July,
Luana
