by Helen Konrad

Created on: June 20, 2007   Last Updated: April 20, 2011

The Actualized Quilter.

I recently signed up for an online course in self expression through quilting. I did not find it very stimulating. I did not find that it took me to new places. I noticed it took others to new places. Why?

I signed up for the course thinking I could be taught to be more creative. I realize now that one cannot teach someone to be more creative, but simply to teach them how to use their own creativity. Seeing as how the lessons were unfulfilling in finding a new depth of my creativity I am left to wonder; have I already become a fully-actualized quilter?

Let's put the metaphor on Maslow's hierarchy of Needs. Physiologically, one has the basics of using a rotary cutter, using a sewing machine, and several embellishment techniques. In the level of Safety, one has the safety of using a pre-printed pattern or quilt kit. In Love/Belonging, one is part of a group; a quilting class where together you are learning something new, but you are all learning the same thing; enter wedding ring quilt. In Esteem, we believe in ourselves a bit more. Here, one might find the quilter using thimbleberry fabrics, but not using a thimbleberry pattern. The final level, Self-Actualization, carries terms of; morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving, lack of prejudice, and accepting facts.

My quilting is on the self-actualized level. There is an accomplishment to be admired here; however, there is also a plateau that can arise. Boredom. This is the last level. A sense of, "Now what?" How doe the actualized quilter continue to discover? Enter creative process.

Robert Fritz' Process for Creation; conception, vision, current reality, take action, adjust learn evaluate adjust, build momentum, completion, and living with your creation. To quote Paul Plesk, "Directed creativity simply means that we make purposeful mental movements to avoid the pitfalls associated with our cognitive mechanisms at each step of this process of searching for novel and useful ideas."

And this is the journey of the actualized quilter; discovering those cognitive mechanisms through the medium of textiles.

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