Creativity starts with playing like a kid

 Happy Canada Day!! 

I had the perfect shirt for today, but I've searched everywhere, and I can't find it!! It was orange (in support of our Indigenous peoples and it had CANADA on the front of it with a maple leaf. Now, what the heck could I have done with that shirt? Sigh................

I've had a project on my to-do list (NOT The Task Master who is wicked!) for a while. I need it to be done TODAY, as well as another project. Well, today is the day, and I'm making great progress on both. They will be finished soon, and I'll share them with you tomorrow. 

Now here's the thing - why do I always wait until the absolute last minute to finish things? Because I'm CREATIVE, that's why!! 

I read more of John Cleese's book on creativity, and I had to laugh when I read this part. 

The book's premise is that creative people KNOW how to play, and they defer decision-making for as long as possible. 

Here's a quote from the book:  (the "they" he refers to are creative types)

"It simply means they are able to tolerate that vague sense of discomfort that we all feel when some important decision is left open because they know that an answer will eventually present itself." 

WOW  -- that speaks volumes about me. 

So it appears that creative people get the deadline in their internal clock. Yep - I do that all the time. And why do we defer the decision-making? We may get new information about the project, or we may get new ideas!  

Oh boy - that is so true. One of the projects that I need to finish had a niggling little problem. This morning when I looked at it - the answer came to me. That's so amazing!!!! And that happens ALL THE TIME!

It turns out that leaving those options open causes some people to become very anxious. On the other hand, creative people can better tolerate that worry about the unresolved issue. 

WOW -- that's HUGE. The other thing is that we need to play LIKE CHILDREN to maintain creativity. Well, perhaps NOT the children of today, but the children of the past. No agenda, no parents hovering - just play. Make mistakes, have fun, try new things. Oh yes --- I'm a super creative person, according to this!

That makes me very happy to see it laid out like that. I will endeavor to be better at meeting deadlines - well, I guess it's OK as long as I meet the deadline, and I'm pretty good with that. But don't expect me to get something done early. It's just not going to happen. 

So if you give me an assignment and need it by a certain date - you can put a false deadline in to meet your comfort level, and I get to have my creative time!

It's July 1, which is not only our country's birthday, but it's the start of a new virtual challenge. It's the second year for The Big Canada Run. A group of four (myself, Helen Anne, Nancy, and Shelly) will walk 10,000 KM over the next 12 months. That's a group goal - not as individuals. Hey - we're good, but we're not that good!!! 

We are in Victoria this morning, and I see there are already about 20 people who have logged miles. Good grief - did they get up in the night to run or walk? They are NOT the creative type, that's for sure. They are driven by getting there first! I have no desire to get there first. Slow and steady is my game. My mileage will get logged automatically overnight as it does for my other walks. 

The other new thing is that the old way of getting an e-mail about a new blog post has changed. Yep - yesterday was the last day, so I waited, and I shouldn't have done that. I think the new company will help people migrate over, but you need to put your e-mail in this new box on the screen. Sorry for that delay. 

A NEW way to get my posts via e-mail

There are all kinds of quilt books on the market, but everyone seems to prefer flashy ones. The ones by well-known people. But what about the workhorse books? The one with the real meat in them? That's how I learned a lot about quilting. There were no YouTube videos. I swear - these older books are the best. Sit down with them because thought went into them, and there's a ton of information in each. Not someone on YouTube making a video because they can! Yes -- I have a thing with YouTube. I love it and think it's great, but ANYONE can make a video, and their information isn't always right! 

Here's a couple of books on Rotary Cutting that I rediscovered when I went through my books looking for the border book. 

I think I might peruse these again - just because. I might learn a new tip or two. 

Basic quilt-making book

Yep-- one book on rotary cutting is not enough - I have two. 

Great book on rotary cutting

There were few specialty rulers when I started to quilt. I remember one of the first projects I started required a diamond ruler. I searched the country and our neighbor to the south to find the ruler, which I eventually did. But guess what? This book gives you directions to cut ALMOST any shape with a regular ruler. Now that's a GOOD book and saves a LOT of money. 

Instructions for cutting a Trapezoid

I was busy on the long arm and got a customer quilt done. It wasn't as large as the one the day before, but I had to load wide Minky, so that takes a wee bit of time to get it on without stretching it. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I was excited about the theme of the quilt. A jungle print, and I had the PERFECT pattern for that. Big fern leaves!!!!

Fern leaf pantograph

I have a couple of quilts to trim today. And I have to make the backing for the next quilt, so my goal is to get the quilt loaded. It's complicated, and that's all I'll say about it. The customer and I had discussed it, so it's not anything I didn't know about. 

So I whipped the Long Time Gone quilt off the design wall to put my rows for the All in a Row quilt on the board. 

My All in a Row quilt so far

Oh my -- those rows are so cute!!!! I've only got one main row - the owls in my quilt so far. I love the tulips and the butterflies, but they are NOT going in my quilt, so I only made one block of each for the class. 

This is quilt one

OH -- there are five rows done, and I think I have nine in total. I realized that the class is next weekend, not this coming weekend, and I'd better get myself organized on the homework. I am a bit behind on that quilt. 

So far, The Task Master for next week has ONE task on it, but there are still 13 or so on the list to be completed by Sunday. Can I get it all done and start fresh for next week? Only time will tell. But that list does make me very focused. I NEED to continue using it all the time. 

I'm sure you all have bobbins with bits of thread on them. I use these all the time. This morning I needed a bobbin with green thread. I checked my bobbin rings, and VOILA - there was the perfect bobbin waiting for me. 

Bobbin rings

On that note, it's time to get the day started!!! Lots of super exciting stuff going on - well, I'm lying. It's just regular mundane stuff, but it's all how you look at it! Each new project or finishing up the old ones can be very entertaining, and if you let them talk to you - you'll learn something from each! Oh yes - my projects usually tell me exactly how they want to be finished. It just depends on whether you listen to them or not. Remember - that's how children play. They have imaginary friends who tell them things, and so do I!!! 

I'll be working on some more backgrounds later this week, so don't think I've forgotten or abandoned that idea. I know that some of you have made some. Just be patient. I'm away next week, so there won't be time to play with them, but once I'm back, we'll be playing!! 

Tomorrow, I'll share some of the stuff you can use to play with those pieces. Just think of anything in your house - buttons, beads, trims, paper, metal objects or other found objects, fabric, thread, basically anything that you can attach to a piece of fabric. If you've made a colored background, you might want to use items of the same color or go wild. It's totally your choice!!!  Oh - we are going to have fun!!! I can feel my friends chattering up a storm right now!! They are calling, "play with me NOW!"

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!