Just love this take on my fairly new pattern ‘Feather Your Nest’. This was created by Margaret Munn and I saw it when she posted it in the Wool Applique group on Facebook. What a fun surprise. I so enjoy how she chose to simplify the pattern – eliminating many of the feathers as well as minimizing the use of beads, etc. And then she chose the bright yellow feather for the bird’s beak! It is well known among artists that simplicity (knowing when to quit!) is sometimes much harder to achieve than one would think. As I design my patterns I do realize that there are so many different choices that I can make in creating the design – ultimately there is no one way to present an idea. Margaret obviously had the confidence to let her own creativity ‘play’ and created this wonderful take on Feather Your Nest!

I think it is important that those of us who pursue creative activities always remember that we need to make our projects our own. I’m not talking about copyright violations, etc. but the personal choice to make a piece that is meaningful to oneself or (if a gift) to the recipient. As I have said before, as a former art teacher, nothing delighted me more than the student who would surprise me with a whole new take on an assignment, and with a bit of encouragement developed pride and confidence in recognizing their own creative soul. You do know that we all have one, don’t you????? Think you don’t? Just ask any young child to make or create something and they are unabashedly filled with an abundance of ideas!