Yikes!!! Have you ever felt this way?  I sure have!  It’s not because other people have told me that. . . it’s because I’ve told myself that!  “I’m a quilter and I follow patterns.  I don’t write patterns because I have no good ideas.  I have no original ideas.”  And you know what?  I didn’t!  I didn’t believe that I was creative or talented enough to design a decent quilt on my own, so I didn’t try.  

The quilting community is full of so much incredible creativity and talent that it can be intimidating.  I see quilts all the time that make me think “I could never do that”, but the truth is that I just can’t do it yet.  That technique or level of intricacy might be out of my current skillset, but that doesn’t mean I am incapable of it!  The same goes for this daunting process of pattern design and pattern writing.  I really can’t do it quite yet, but I am darn sure going to try!

A couple of months ago I decided to direct a frequent and persistent SHUT UP to that annoying inner voice telling me that I wasn’t going to come up with anything worthwhile.  I started doodling in my iphone notes. I grabbed a pad of graph paper and started sketching.  I saw shapes and patterns in the world around me through quilty vision.  I learned a computer program (<—- talk about intimidating) to make digital mockups.  Most important of all- I am now kind to myself and my beginner status! I have a lot of bad ideas, y’all, BUT GUESS WHAT.  I have some good ones too.

More on that ^ pretty later  🙂

-Robin