happy mistakes with anna maria

courthouse steps block for gypsy wife with inner and outer pieces of amh fabric

inspiring thoughts on spontaneity from an instagram post by anna maria (horner) perry: 

 I am thinking today about the ability to be spontaneous. I think what I feared most in writing and designing a patchwork book is that having the task of 16 projects laid out ahead of me would ruin any chance to be spontaneous. I find this youthful, often reckless, creative pursuit so imperative when I am designing. I also find that one can really only be spontaneous if you allow yourself to be continually curious. Trying out things I might be certain won’t work aesthetically but seeing something that does work in the process is part of my curiosity practice. In the book I talk a lot about structure, planning and execution. And in sharing these hallmarks of my work with you, most opportunities to be spontaneous in the projects came in fabric choices and colors. Then there are simple mistakes, that if given a moment might not be mistakes. This one project, the Spontaneity Quilt (as it happens), has the smallest delightful feature that snuck up on me when I was laying out the blocks on the design wall. The lower center Grandmother’s Fan was inadvertently turned the wrong way when I had planned to make all of them scallop around the center. But I liked it. But my plan! Never-minding the plan I gave that fan a stem and some leaves to support its insistence on being a flower. Here’s to embracing the blips. 

12 south quilt back with a large piece of a loulouthi print by amh

anna maria horner, now anna maria perry, has been a favorite fabric designer of mine for years. her bold, colorful prints are irresistible. everything is color-saturated and luscious. statement fabrics are her specialty, although she also excels at colorful, dazzling blenders and supporting prints, too.

her thoughts on spontaneity and embracing mistakes as part of the creative process sat well with me today. i love the way she is not afraid but rather curious to try ideas that might not be aesthetically pleasing. sometimes these ideas don't work out, but sometimes we're really surprised by a winning combination we never imagined would be so good. that's an exhilarating feeling!

"spinning elizabeths" fabric pull, mostly amh

as jolene has said and normalized for me, i don't have to love everything i make in the end. but engaging in the creative process with an open mind and spontaneous attitude is a real thrill. you'll never know unless you try. i make my girls try on clothing they think they don'  like all the time for this reason - try it and see. only then will you know if you truly like it or not. give yourself a chance to be pleasantly surprised.

still not sure what i think of this one, but i'm excited to finish it

then there's the mistakes that turn out to not be mistakes. i love these so much. i do something not-according-to-plan and end up with a better outcome than i was aiming for. i say "yes!" to embracing the blips! 

i'm trying to think of when i've done that and can't come up with an obvious example. i think this might be because once embraced, i forget they weren't part of the plan and just accept that's they way they were meant to be and are. lovely.

so, i second anna maria:

• be continually curious
• mistakes given a moment might not be mistakes
• nevermind the plan
• embrace the blips