THOUGHTS ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS

I've written here before about creativity.  I believe that it's important to understand how that part of you works in order to get the maximum benefit of it.

There are a lot of people, even serious quilters, who don't think they're very creative.  For most people creativity is something "artists" and "inventors" do.  I suppose that's understandable because those people make something "new" when they use their creativity, their results are more visible and easily identified as acts of creation.

However, everytime you take a new route to avoid traffic, or put together a meal with whatever's in the freezer, you're being creative!  We create constantly, everything from putting on makeup in the morning to figuring out the cheapest way to feed your family off a fast food menu.  Humans by nature are creative or we wouldn't have moved from caves to huts, or from huts to castles.  It's our nature to build, and then tear down and rebuild because we're constantly innovating.

Years ago I had the opportunity to do something I hadn't done in a while, work on putting together a project with one of my clients.  This particular client is also a friend I used to work with, and that I know very well.  We were putting together a presentation box for her to give to her customers as a holiday gift.

You'd think that making a box look good would be easy, heck we wrap packages all of the time!  However, when you're designing a box to hold an assortment of food including brownies, cookies, and assorted nuts, it's a little more challenging.  Fortunately, my client, who also worked in design, had picked out the boxes she wanted to use.  She Fedexed me one that I used as a starting point for my design process.

I was able to get the interior packaging design done easily, created a motif she loved for the front, and then could not come up with any idea I liked for the interior lid.  I'm sure you feel this way sometimes too.  I came  up with design after design, and every time there was something just not right about it.  Too much of one color, too much background, the motifs weren't the right color, I didn't like the size of the logo.  It went on and on and on.

My friend was happy with one of the first designs I did but I knew it wasn't right.  It's one of those things I just can't explain, it looks OK, but it isn't perfect, and that drives me crazy.  I know in my heart that the right design is out there, I just need to find it.

When assembly day came my friend knew I hadn't solved the interior card problem but she had more confidence in me than I did and was sure I'd figure it out.  When she arrived we immediately started "playing" with it.  Discussing what we liked and what we didn't like.  Before she arrived I had been playing with some lengths of ribbon and it occured to me that we didn't have to wrap the box in ribbon, (that's too predictable), but there's no reason we can't wrap the interior box with ribbon.

This turned out to be the turning point.  My friend loved the idea but we kept hitting snags about making the card work with the ribbon across it, and also with making the card coordinate better with the outside motif.  So, after multiple design changes, (thank God for Photoshop Elements!), we finally ended up with the ribbon wrapped the other way, and a design we both liked.  It took several hours but it was loads of fun and it made me realize how much I enjoy the whole process.

Since I retired my skill set of thinking outside the box all of the time has become rusty.  The experience today opened that door again, I guess the old girl's still got it!

It also made me more aware of something I keep telling the young people I know, that art doesn't come easy, and that creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum.  You have to have some give and take, even if it's just yelling at yourself.  You need to question and experiment, and not toss an idea away because you think someone might think it's stupid.  If there's one time you can give a stupid idea a chance it's when you're in the midst of the creative process.

It's easy to give up when things aren't going your way, but that's exactly the time when you shouldn't.  Those niggling doubts are a sign that you might need to take a shift in your thinking, and those shifts often lead to major discoveries.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I made a shift in direction that took my work to a whole other level.  My favorite example is the quilt that  made it into Quilting Arts' 2003 Calendar,  I'd started off with one idea that wasn't working and I was just about to give up when an odd thought hit me, and before I knew it I was off and running.  The same thing happened with the Mojo Doll that just won first place from Quilter's Home.  It was not my first doll.  The first one was a disaster, but I persevered and worked my way through it.

Creativity is all about perseverence.  Remember, never retreat, and never surrender.  You never know where that may lead you.

Happy Stitching!

Susan

GETTING OLDER . . . AND WISER?

I just love "Maxine."  She says the things I'm thinking, but probably wouldn't say....well, maybe sometimes I would.  A lot depends on who I'm saying it too!

It's been a while since I gave up pretending I was getting old. There are a few perks. I can't complain about the senior discounts, or about being able to retire. I also love that my "give a damn" has disappeared . . . well, it's become more selective.  A lot of stuff that I used to care about I just don't care about anymore.  Fashion trends? Nope. Being up with the latest celebrity gossip? Nope. Caring that my shoes don't match? Nope, not unless it makes me walk funny.  But then when I get out of my chair I mosey around like John Wayne, so I might not even notice.

The downside is that I've become more familiar with my doctor than ever before.  I'm in pretty good health "for my age" and recently had a great checkup.  However, I sprained my wrist 3 months ago and it still hasn't healed, and I wake up stiff and sore all over.  And, I'm only 61!  It doesn't help that my older friends tell me there's more "joy" to come. The golden years? Yeah, really.

Now, I'm still considered a youngster by a lot of my friends and age is relative.  I know I must be absolutely ancient to my son and his friends, but to their moms, well, not so much.  It's amazing how old 30 seems until you're twice that age and you realize how truly young 30 is!

It's not all terrible, getting older.  I like to think that with age comes wisdom, and for some people that's the case.  I think, however, that for most people it's not that we're wiser, we've just figured out which things are worth getting our knickers in a twist over, and which things aren't. 

It's liberating to reach the age when you don't care so much what other people think of you.  It's like, I am who I am, and I'm not so bad, so just deal with it!  It's also kind of nice to be able to look at all of the younger people doing the same stupid things I did and realizing that I wasn't really "stupid" I was just young.  Those were the days when I thought I knew everything.  Now I know I didn't then, I don't now, and I probably never will.....and that's OK!

It's the same with my quilting.  I've been doing this for so long that I can't remember not doing it.  I heard Alex Anderson speak once about the early days of the new quilting renaissance and I remember it well.  She lives not far from where I grew up and I used to travel to the shops she talks about and remember what a revelation it was that quilts could be considered to be more than bed coverings.  I was there for the beginning of this new quilt revolution and have been riding the wave ever since.

I guess that makes me a "Senior" in the quilting world, (although I must keep saying, I started verrrrrrry young!).  It's given me a different perspective on the art and the industry.  It's exciting to see how things have changed, how we quilters have managed to create and support a huge industry, and have brought about changes in the way long standing businesses operate. 

Because of our insatiable desire for the next best thing, fabric manufacturers are looking outside of their usual designer pool, and creating more new lines each year than ever before. Craft stores are full of new products and a whole new generation is discovering the joy of making something themselves.  Now we see different crafts intersecting in unusual ways and artists coming out of the craft world that are finally being accepted as "fine artists."   

Just look at the magazine section in your local bookstore.  The number of titles of craft related publications have soared.  I remember years ago that the only quilting magazines were "Quilter's Newsletter" and "McCall's Needlework and Craft" (which sometimes had quilts in it and sometimes not).  Now we have a huge selection from lifestyle oriented magazines to pattern magazines, not to mention the publications from England, Ireland, Japan, France, and Australia.  We are truly spoiled!

I also wonder if we aren't going to see a lot of new "Covid" quilters join us in our journey. I was amazed at the stories of shortages of sewing machines over the last year.  Initially it was for mask making, but I know several people who have started sewing all kinds of other things for their homes and themselves.  Once you get that sewing bug you know what happens, you can't stop!

Sometimes I think back to the old days when finding quilt related stuff was a real treasure hunt.  It was exciting to find something new.  Now, there's so much new stuff that it can feel overwhelming.  The last big show I was at had my head spinning for days.

It's kind of the same with quilting as it is with the rest of my life.  Getting older has made me a bit wiser; I know what's worth getting upset about and what isn't, and I know what I've got to have and what I can do without.  My only regret is that I didn't figure this out when I was younger.  Oh well!

Happy Stitching!

Susan

MIXING NEW FABRICS AND OLD

Ta Da!  I finally pieced my Tufted Tweets quilt.  If you look closely you can see it's pinned on the left.  I haven't started quilting it yet, but didn't want to wait until it was basted to show it to you. 

I posted about tracking down these fabric in January of 2011, (which just goes to show it's worth digging into your stash!).  I had looked everywhere for it and finally found a bundle of fat quarters online. I actually still had this GIF of it in my files.

I bought the chair and couch fabrics years ago but couldn't figure out what to do with them. Finally, I decided I wanted the individual chairs and sofas to be set apart from each other and framing them in coordinating fabrics was the best way to integrate the different colors.  In the case of the Tufted Tweets line there are only two patterns other than the sofas and chairs, so I needed to turn to my stash.

I love to collect different colorways of the same patterns.  My favorites are allover patterns like the orange pink and white pattern around the red background chair, and the green and yellow combo around the purple couch, (you can see the red and orange colorway on the bottom left of the photo).  Since I had several of these colorway combos I used them to add some unity to the fabric selection, while still adding color.  Dots are always a great choice because they go with anything, so there are a few in the quilt as well.

I've been working a lot on stash busting recently and this project was a great one for digging through my stash and using fabrics from last year and beyond.   The purple fabric around the red couch at the top of the quilt is at least 8 years old, and the border is fabric from 1999.

Speaking of which, the border gave me fits!  I thought of using one of the fabrics in the quilt but everyone I tried just made the quilt look boring, (which considering the colors was hard to do!).  So, I decided to pick up the black of the chair and sofa legs and do a black border.  Black and white didn't give enough contrast so I decided to use the "sweet peas" fabric I've had forever.  I bought this when my son was a baby and had planned to make him an outfit with it, but by the time I got around to it, he was too big of a pea and I didn't have enough fabric.  So, it got put back into my stash.  I've always loved the sweet little peas and the mix of greens on the black background.  It reads "dots" but has enough interest not to be too polka dotty. 

So, I decided to put a three inch border in the black fabric all around the quilt.  I'll do the quilting and embellishment in the center first, and then decide how I'll finish the border  I have no idea what I'm going to do, but by the time I get there I'll figure it out.  I love the suspense!

Hope you enjoy my "take on tweet."  I 'm so glad I finally have it pieced.  It's sitting by my chair with my kit of threads and embellishments.  It'll be great to have some sewing to work on for a change. I'm still struggling with a sore wrist but I think I can get some sewing done.  Besides, I've been doing too much writing and not enough sewing for a while now.

Wish me luck!

Happy Stitching!

Susan

SOMETIMES I'M A JERK

OK, I admit it.  Sometimes I'm a jerk.

I'm willing to fess up because it's one of the things I don't like about myself and would like to change.  Now, don't get me wrong,  I'm not some mean spirited nasty human being.  Frankly, I think I'm just like almost everybody else, except that I'm getting tired of feeling bad about behaving like a jerk.

What exactly is a jerk?

Meaning: A dull stupid fatuous person

Which means someone lacking in liveliness or animation, not very bright, and devoid of intelligence.

Hmm, how honest do I want to be?  I suppose that I do lack in liveliness and animation.  Most of the time I'm either writing or sewing, not particularly active pursuits, and physical exercise is not my thing, (hence, my thighs).

As for not being very bright, that applies as well.  For some reason since I went through menopause, my response time is down.  I can hear you, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying.   Could be I'm so ancient that I'm expecting you to use terms like "thee" and "thou."  Oh, and if you use terms like "hecka" I have no idea what you're talking about.  Lately I've noticed  I'm not so quick on the uptake, and those clever quips don't formulate themselves as well as before. I used to be a 100 watt bulb but now I'm barely hanging onto 60. Dim?  I'd say so!

Devoid of intelligence, now that's a tough one.  I do have a lot of knowledge, most of it useless.  I can recognize many famous artists' work at a glance, figure out a fabric repeat, and even make dinner without using a recipe.  However, remembering where I put my keys and/or glasses is beyond me and I even had to look up the meaning of "jerk."  I'm not sure if I'm "devoid" but there's definitely a "void" and it's growing!

Synonyms: dork; jerk

Dork?  Yeah, I guess I could be considered a dork.  I know I dress like one, and the fact that I don't particularly care that I do probably doesn't help matters.

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...): misfit (someone unable to adapt to their circumstances)

Misfit?  Whoa, that's me in a nutshell!  I've never felt like I fit in anywhere and for years it was a problem.  Now I've reached the point where I don't care if I do or not, but I'm not sure if that's entirely a good thing.  Tends to make you a little anti-social, which doesn't help the jerk thing....

OK, so it looks like I'm a jerk and I'm not happy about it.  Of course I can blame a lot of it on getting older, (which is handy for that), but there's also always been a tendency in me to not suffer fools quietly.  For years I was too shy to speak up, but now I'm not, which isn't necessarily a good thing.  A big mouth on a cranky old woman is a scary thing and really should be outlawed.  We should at least have to wear some kind of sign or give some warning, this look might do:

I can't really point to a recent incident of "jerkiness" but I suspect I may be giving out an overall vibe.  I find myself getting snappy, and have lost what little patience I had before my son was born.  If anyone messes with me I have no problem telling them off and I've learned to avoid situations where I feel I might not be able to control myself.  I remember when my son's basketball games were minefields, especially since the coach's wife was videotaping the game and she sat nearby.  If the refs were terrible or someone fouled my son in an awful way, who knew what I would say or do....and it would have been on film!  Yikes!

Being a quilter doesn't really help matters.  I keep hearing my fabric "collection" calling my name. It's very persistent and is starting to get downright angry.  I'd better attend to it soon or it's going to get ugly around here. 

What else is new?

Happy Stitching!

Susan

FICTION FRIDAY ON QUILTLIT

 Click on the image above to read the latest 
installment of "A Piece of Work" on Quiltlit.

TAKING THE RIGHT ROAD

My mother has a favorite saying, "Old Age isn't for Sissies."  Boy is that the truth!  I think that I can take it up a notch and state as fact that "Life isn't for Sissies."

These days times are tough for many people.  I've been around long enough to remember similar times so I know that "this too, shall pass."  However it doesn't make the going through it any easier.

I had to run a few errands this morning and as I was waiting patiently to make a left turn it occurred to me that most of the time people follow the rules well and when they do things go so much more smoothly.  If everyone just went their own way there'd be total chaos, which isn't good for anybody.

But what do you do in uncharted territory?  If the road isn't marked and there aren't any clear cut rules for how things should be done, what do you do?

I've been thinking about this a lot over the last few years while I try to find my place in this world.  In my personal life as wife, mother, daughter, and friend, I get it.  I know what I need to do and what I should do and how I should handle myself.  But in my artistic and business ventures it's very different.  In some ways, I've been here before.  I've worked enough in different types of positions that I know how to do all of the technical stuff.   That's a good thing, to have an engine that can function well.  I also have talents and abilities I can throw in the trunk or the backseat.  I'm not a bad driver.  I have a general sense of direction and have read all the guide books and the maps.

What I'm missing are three important things, and they're the most difficult.  I need a road, I need to know where I'm going.  I also need lots of energy, excitement, and stamina for fuel. But, what I need most is the "balls" to attempt the journey, to go past the barriers set up by myself and others, to boldly go where I've never gone before!

There's an urgency as we get older.  When we're young we keep thinking that there's plenty of time to realize our goals. But, as the years go by the time frame keeps shrinking and shrinking and shrinking and before we know it 5 years flies by then 10 then 15 then 20.  And suddenly you find yourself in middle age with less time before you then behind. 

Quilting has always been laden with metaphors.  When you think about it the fabric is what we're born with, how we choose to cut the pieces sets a pattern, the pieces themselves are all the little things about us; our memories, our hopes, our joys, our fears, all laid out for everyone to see.  Then there's the piecing, the amount of care we take, (or don't take), in the construction.  Even the most skilled quilter has points just slightly off and a stray thread here and there.  As we work we press, and block, and measure again, refining aspects of our lives.  It's easier when we start but we start to get tired as we go.  Weariness sets in as row after row are set in place.  There are times when we have to tear out some stitches and make substitutions, or when we have to abandon one design for another.  Once the top is done, we add the batting and backing.  We begin to stitch our days into every piece, the good ones and the bad ones, the joys and the sorrows, all together in one place.  And, if we're lucky we live long enough to put on the binding, and let our family and friends help us put the last stitches in place.

Life is a beautiful quilt, if we choose to make it that way.  Sometimes, in order to make that happen we have to challenge ourselves and put ourselves out there more than we're comfortable.  Oh, but the joy of being seen and being recognized as the unique human beings we are!  It has to be worth it.

Happy Stitching!

Susan

NOT FEELING IT

The first part of this post was originally published on April 19, 2010.

OK, I know it's a cardinal sin but I really don't like my local quilt shop.

When I first moved to my new home I thought it would be wonderful to have a quilt shop less than 5 minutes away.  How handy it would be when I needed inspiration or had a little money burning a hole in my pocket.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was the first time I went in.  It's not that the place is particularly terrible, it's just that it isn't the kind of quilt shop I'd hoped to find.  The selection of fabrics is the main reason.  I rarely ever find anything there that I want to buy.  I don't know if it's that the store buyer and I have totally different tastes, or if my tastes are out of the mainstream of this area.  It's probably a little of both.

I suspect that a lot of it has to do with me being out-of-sync with the other quilters in my area.  I'm probably a bit of a quilter "freak" wherever I go, (here she goes again, complaining about not fitting in....), so it could be mostly my problem.  However, it doesn't take away my disappointment that I can't enjoy my LQS.  It's a real bummer.

At least my experiences there have only been disappointing in a fabric selection kind of way.  I've had some experiences in other stores that have made me swear off of them forever.  There was one store over in the East Bay that's very popular.  When it opened years ago I had a nasty experience with one of the owners.  I was waiting patiently in line to have my fabric cut and he ignored me completely, taking several customers ahead of me who it turns out were his "regulars."  They had long drawn-out discussions about all kinds of subjects while I was waiting, and when he took another customer instead of me for the third time I piped up that "I was next."  He looked right at me and said that I was mistaken, that this woman,(who had entered the store after I started waiting in line),was before me.  Well, that was the final straw.  I told him that I had never been treated so rudely in my life and left the store vowing to never return.  Which I didn't do for several years, not until I heard that he had sold the business to someone else.  What a difference!  The new owners are friendly and helpful to everyone.

I've had experiences while traveling where I've been ignored in favor of "regulars."  That seems to be the most common complaint I've heard from other quilters.  It's like the store is more social club than retail enterprise.  Some times when I hear quilt shop owners complain about the chains and the online stores taking away business I want to ask them how they treat ALL of their customers.  Do their clerks chatter on with regulars and family members while other customers are waiting?  Are they welcoming and helpful?  Do they treat their jobs seriously, not just as a way to make a little extra cash or get an employee discount? 

There are many well run quilting shops here in Northern California, shops where I can walk in every few months and be treated like they really want me there.  The good shops keep going because of their customer service and the other services they offer.  Fabric is cheaper online and at the big chains.  Shops have to work at making going to the quilt shop more about the experience, and that means making sure their customers are having a pleasant one.

This phenomenon isn't just a female/quilt store thing.  My husband is a fly fisherman and many fly shops have the same mentality.  They have their regulars and ignore new customers.  He's put down many an item and walked out for lack of service.

Update

First of all, the local quilt shop I wrote about back in 2010 closed a few years later.  I went in a few times after my post because I didn't want to drive 20 miles to pick up some thread. The service was just the same, terrible! Once I waited and waited while the owner ate her lunch. I let her know I was there and she ignored me.  Really? It wasn't surprising when it closed. It also didn't help that a Hobby Lobby opened nearby. 

After that I did most of my fabric shopping online unless I happened to be near one of my less local favorites.  When I moved up to Oregon four years ago I was excited to discover that there were two quilt stores in my new town, and one not too far away.  It took me a while to get the time to check them out.  One was rather small, but they had a nice selection of things I liked, and the clerks were super friendly, Win! The other store was larger and fancier, also with a nice selection.  However, it had the same kind of aura around it as the one in my old town.  There was a large group of ladies in the workroom, where a lot of the best fabrics were displayed. They were decidedly unfriendly.  Frankly, I got the very strong impression that my shopping was disrupting their gossiping.  I didn't stay long.

During this time I was in the process of building and setting up my studio so I wasn't doing any sewing and didn't need to buy any fabric, (I also was a little freaked out by the 45 boxes of fabric and supplies I'd brought up from California...Yikes!). Not too long after we moved into our new house, my mother came to visit and I took her to our quaint downtown to do some shopping. We went into the not so friendly quilt store because my mother wanted me to restore one of her mother's quilt tops and get it quilted. 

It was a "Round the World" quilt with teeny tiny one inch squares, some hand and some machine stitched 1/8 " seams.  Now, my grandmother was a wonderful seamstress, she was actually trained as a tailor and for years worked in fabric and drapery departments of major department stores.  She was not a quilting novice. The quilt was made with scrap fabrics, many of them from her children's clothes. It was in amazing condition considering it's age, but needed to have all of the threads clipped and quite a few squares replaced where they had frayed. It was my intention to repair the quilt and have it machine quilted in a loop design that was big enough to hold the fragile squares in place so they wouldn't shift or get damaged further.  I also knew that the quilt would not be used on a daily basis, but that the repairs and quilting were to preserve it for the next generation to enjoy.

My mother and I had picked out a solid fabric for the background and we were discussing the costs and time frames to get the quilt finished when the owner of the store came over and started giving us her unsolicited advice.  Now, I'm pretty patient, but she really stepped in it with me when she flat out told me that I didn't know what I was doing.

She insisted I quilt it by hand.  Now, normally that's what I do.  However, in this case it was going to take me forever to finish restoring it, (by hand), and I did not want to take even more time hand quilting it when I felt it would be better served to be more densely quilted by machine.  I also knew my grandmother.  She would have been the first one to buy a long arm, as she had multiple hobbies she enjoyed and wouldn't have wanted to spend too much time hand sewing. She was a very practical woman.

Anyway, the owner became quite angry with me when I told her that I was not going to hand quilt it. She accused me of not caring enough about my grandmother's work, and said that I obviously didn't know what I was doing.  Now, by this time I had told my mother to sit down on the other side of the room.  She's a typical Mama Bear and was turning red with rage.  I then proceeded to tell this woman that I had been quilting for 46 years and had won multiple national and international awards and that I knew what I was doing, and how dare she tell me what to do.  I told her that I had never been spoken to in that manner by anyone, and I certainly wasn't going to stay and take any more of her abuse.  My mother had already paid for the backing fabric so we took it and left the store.  I have not been back there since.

From then on whenever I would meet other quilters I would tell them about my experience.  Every single one of them had had a similar experience with her interfering and being very rude. One knew someone who worked there who said she'd run off more customers by being nasty, and they couldn't understand why she just couldn't shut up.  Later on I mentioned the experience to an elderly friend of mine and she told me that the woman was known in town as a world class bitch and had always been one. She was notorious!

The saddest thing is that her store survived the Covid lockdowns, while the other shop with the nice clerks closed permanently. I miss them!

We had moved to a small rural community a couple of years before and they have a small quilt shop not too far from my house.  Their hours are not regular, (which is a pain), but they have a great selection and are super friendly.  I took my grandmother's quilt in to them, and they gave me a better price to machine quilt it, and thought that would be the right thing to do.  Now, I just have to finish restoring it!

When I originally published the first part of this post in 2010 I got a ton of comments and similar stories from readers. Feel free to share yours!

Happy Stitching!

Susan