what to do when you’re creatively stuck

I hear from a lot of people who are excited about designing quilt patterns.

They normally fall into one of two categories:

you might have a lot of ideas for quilt patterns and don’t know which to choose, so… you’re stuck.

OR

you might struggle to come up with new ideas for quilt patterns, or have zero ideas, so… you’re stuck

(do you recognise yourself as one of these?)

for me, what lies behind both of these scenarios comes down to one thing:

confidence.

Or lack thereof.

If you’re brimming over with ideas, that indecision about which one to follow, to flesh out, to pursue, stems a lot of the time from a lack of confidence:

Is my idea any good?
Who am I to be doing this?
No one will like my idea
People will laugh at me. 
My idea has already been done before.
…

If you struggle coming up with ideas, you might just be frozen in fear about starting.

Overthinking, wondering what you should do
where you should get ideas
if they will be the right ideas
what if they are the wrong ones, 
won’t I waste time?
isn’t it better to wait?

…and this all boils down to lacking confidence. So…

how do you go from fear to confidence when we are talking about design and design ideas?

(warning: Unsexy Idea Alert):

Building your confidence as a designer comes down to having a system in place.

Yes, I know we all think that design ideas should spontaneously fly from the sky like lightning bolts, 

But the truth is…

Good design ideas come from developing ok design ideas. 

From going beyond that first initial spark. 

From putting in the (- gulp!) work it takes to make an OK design idea an AWESOME design idea.

developing a regular design practice (a system) is the key. 

This is a system where you can source unique inspiration, come up with unique design ideas, review your work, choose the best ideas, and move forward with confidence.

And this is a HUGE part of what I teach, in my free guide, in my workshops, in my programs:

HOW to consistently come up with unique design ideas for quilt patterns so you can confidently share your creativity with the world.

Now, I know, I know this sounds like… work… But it doesn’t have to. 

And it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you downloaded my guide ‘7 steps to grow a quilt pattern design business’, so you’ll know that the first steps of the guide deal with coming up with unique design ideas.

Through iteration, through developing a sketching practice that can take as little as 5mins.

(see, no work here…)

it’s this simple, 5min practice that you can follow that can really boost your confidence

The confidence that you (yes, YOU) can come up with unique design ideas for quilt patterns, AND confidently choose one to move forward with.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Frances came along to one of my workshops feeling a bit lacking in confidence. She felt like her carpal tunnel was holding her back, like she was past it.

She really was in a slump creatively.

Starting with a very simple design prompt Francis felt her creativity returning.

She followed that thread a little further.

Here you can see her sketch, just a sketch, with some notes for her idea (shared with Frances’ permission of course)

She revisited it a few times and made some adjustments, but that spark had been lit. That creative urge had come back.

Sketching something simple, getting her design out onto paper, being in a group of like-minded creatives was the catalyst that took Frances from no design ideas, no confidence to a design idea, then to a developed design then to a finished quilt and… CONFIDENCE!

THIS is how you get your confidence, THIS is how you beat that fear.

Small steps, one at a time.