When I think about making a quilt, I'm like you, I don't want it to be a copy of someone else's. But I look at the colors brought together, the placement of the color, How one color looks next to the other, How the color makes me feel when I look at it. So I'll usually go with maybe the color scheme, or pull colors that I see from it. Then I'll decide what picture I want to create. When I'm going to make a quilt for a friend or family member, I think about what the person likes, Ex' I'm going to make a appliqued Black Eyed Susan quilt for a friend of mine, Her favorite flower is the Black Eyed Susan, And it's going to be for her bed, so it's got to go with the colors of her bedroom, Which are red,blue,yellow, The only black will be the prominent cone of the Black Eyed Susan, But I'll want to add some pizazz to this quilt, so I will add various beads to my appliques, I started using some beads and various other trinkets to my quilts about a year ago, I have since discovered that other people doing this as well. I did'nt copy this from anyone else it was an idea of my own, Don't get me wrong I have copied ideas before, but not this one. I want to create MY OWN, I hope that dosen't sound pious, I find that way I'm really giving of myself. I think fear keeps people from stepping out of the box. Dose this help any. Believe me I have a head full of ideas..........