Creativity - Un-strategized

I wish I could say that everything I create and design is methodically and strategically thought out and executed lol. I sometimes wonder if I should be more strategic in the things I decide to make…this is my business after all. But, as an artist, designer and creator, I often find inspiration and ideas just hitting when they hit. I certainly can and do feed my creativity; take walks, listen to music, sketch, etc. But at the end of the day, ideas come when they come and this is part of what makes creativity exciting! I keep a notebook by my bed because, inevitably, ideas will come while I’m trying to go to sleep. 1:00am seems to be the optimal idea time of day for new ideas and brainstorming lol. Yep…new quilt pattern and fabric collection ideas will strike me in the shower, while doing dishes, while I’m watching TV, etc. Such is the case with my new “Wild Honey” quilt block patterns. Once an idea for one quilt block pattern hits, it becomes an “If You Give a Moose a Muffin” scenario. What started as an idea for the “Honeybee” block featuring a bee in the center of a flower, soon included a squeezy bottle of honey and a queen bee block!

At the end of the day, sometimes creativity can’t be formulated, pre-packaged, or bottled up. Part of the fun of quilting is seeing where an idea leads on its own whether that’s the fabric colors we’re choosing, the size of the quilts we’re making, the blocks we’re incorporating, or the patterns we’re following. The day we start to over-analyze and try to strategize every step of our project / quilting journey, is the day we forget about the wonderful adventures that our creative ideas will take us on. <3