Thoughts on creativity and skills

What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me — is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

~ Ira Glass

I ran across this quote and it really got me to thinking about my early days of quilting.  I can remember having so many ideas and wanting to create so many awesome quilts only to realize I didn't yet have the skills to make them.

People often see one of my quilts and ask me "how long did it take you to make that?"  Lately, my answer is 25 years!  Yes, that's right, 25 years because that's how long I've been at this quilting thing.  It's taken me that many years to acquire the skills to be able to make the quilts I'm making now.

 My First Quilt

In the beginning my quilts were pretty crappy in comparison to the quilts I'm making now.  But you know what?  They were the best I could do at that point in time.  I kept taking classes, making quilts and going to guild meetings.  I kept learning and growing my skills.

One of my more recent quilts

You know what else?  I love each and every one of my quilts too.  They are a reflection of me.  The me then and the me I've become as a quilter today.

A work in progress on my design wall.

So my advice to you is don't give up.  If you get to a point in a project where you are totally frustrated, just bag it up and save it for later.  Whenever later might be.  It could be later this year or it could be years from now.

My point is the skills will come.  Like fine wine, they just need to ripen a bit.  You just have to be patient and persevere!

The Inspired Stitcher