getting back to creative
In my effort to move away from the online world and back into my own, one of the areas I’m focusing on is creativity. While I’ve always wanted to be a creative person I’ve never felt like I embodied that descriptive. I’ve been thinking about the why’s of this for a few weeks now and a lot stems from early messaging - to be creative I had to be good at the thing I was doing (drawing, singing, writing, etc). It was more about the quality of the end product than the act of learning, exploring, and simply creating. For most of my adult life, I’ve wanted to try new things but have feared not being good at it. This was unintentionally reinforced by the creatives I followed on social media, they made their art form look easy, and what I naturally failed to see was the years they spent learning and practicing.
This year I am working to let go of that prior mindset and I am embracing learning and trying new things. I’m leaning into my creative side and allowing myself to explore what it means for me to live a creative life. I’m working hard to unravel the idea of perfectionism in creative practice and am allowing myself to draw and doodle, write and ramble, and mostly, make mistakes.
One of the creative practices I have been wanting to learn for years now is sewing. I have always been wildly intimidated by the act of cutting fabric, of using a sewing machine, and of putting colors and fabrics together in complementary ways.
….What if I cut the fabric wrong, after all I’m no good at math. What if I sew something crookedly, after all straight edges are the goal. What if the colors I pick don’t go together, after all I don’t want people to think it’s ugly.
All of these thoughts had stopped me from actually trying so in Fall I finally decided to take a Learn to Sew class which quickly led to me purchasing a sewing machine. This in turn led to me to sign up for a Learn to Quilt class and I’m now halfway through learning how to assemble and sew three different styles of quilt squares. It has been such an amazing experience, letting go of the fear of failure and just embracing a learner’s mindset. And while it’s challenging I am enjoying all that I am learning and love creating things by hand.
Learning all about selvedge, width of fabric, and correct measurements
Getting more comfortable with this Bernina I found on Facebook Marketplace. It had been sitting unused in someone’s attic for years, its’ previous owner and avid quilter.
The first four completed squares. These Nine Piece squares will join Churn Dash and Flying Geese pieces we are still working on in class.
Besides exploring my creative side, I’ve been trying to get outside and enjoy the warmer days we’ve been having. Here are some things I have been noticing recently.
I followed these turkey tracks down to the waterfall. It was neat to see where they were stopping and nibbling on exposed seed heads.
The waterfall is one of my favorite locations on the farm. This year my goal is to take a photo of it every month so I can see how it changes throughout the seasons.
Some beautiful mosses and lichens on a tree near the falls.
I love the look of these empty milkweed seed pods. We saw so few Monarch butterflies here last year, I’m hoping their numbers recover a bit this year.
Is there anything you are hoping to learn more about this year? Perhaps a practice, skill, sport, or creative endeavor you’ve always wanted to try? I’d love to hear about it!