I feel for you! To me, I think you need to build confidence in your own abilities. I know you've been quilting a while, but we're our own worst critics and we're often all guilty of being too hard on ourselves. As far as I can see - you've got two options. One is to use the suggestion your sister made, make the quilt, enjoy it and learn from it for next time. Option two is to put it one one side for a few weeks and look it it again with fresh eyes.
I recently went to a lecture by Kaffe Fassett as I'm a huge fan of his work from my knitting heyday and he has an exhibition here at the moment. I went to a private showing too and was lucky enough to speak to him. Although I didn't go to his workshop, my understanding from a lady who did go, was that really, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Your fabrics must have 'spoken' to you when you bought them and again when you cut them and somehow, you lost that confidence when your sister made a suggestion. If you genuinely feel you like her idea, then go with it - who's to say you might not have thought of it yourself at some point? Personally, I think you should go with your heart. Perhaps try and get a couple of Kaffe Fassett books out of the library to inspire you?
I'm a newish quilter myself, still finding my way and also doubted my creativity for ages. I should mention that I used paint my own ceramics fired in my own kiln years ago and without bragging, produced some nice pieces. I gave it up when it became a job, with people placing orders for my stuff. I simply couldn't harness that creative streak in quilting! However, having made a couple of appliqué quilts of my own design I feel much more confident. I recently bought 5 metres of plain tomato red fabric as I'm going to made a red quilt. Something along the lines of my avatar, but my own design. At the moment it's sitting in a bag waiting for inspiration to strike, but I'm not worried about it - still mulling ideas and thoughts and probably won't start it until after Christmas.
Please let us know what you decide and happy quilting!
