Originally Posted by ghostrider

Everyone is creative, let's get that straight first. For some it just comes easier than it does for others. One trick is to relax and let it flow, no stress, no pressure. Find a comfortable seat, enjoy a relaxing beverage, maybe a piece of chocolate (or two), jot down all your ideas...good, bad, and otherwise...and don't rate them in any way as you write/sketch. Any one of them can trigger a new thought and send you off to a whole new idea that turns out stunningly.

There are millions of ways to put fabrics together into a quilt. Your sister suggested just one of them. That leaves you all the others to play around with until your "Aha!" moment strikes...and it will. I promise.

Originally Posted by Teeler

I feel your pain. I, too, have no ideas of my own. Friends and family SAY I'm the creative one, yet they are delusional. Like you, I love art...love looking at it, seeing the nuances of the artist's work, and trying to figure out where their mind was as they were creating it. I am frustrated that I really CAN'T come up with ideas of my own.
When I was a kid, I was coloring with my cousin (a very logical, accountant-type). I had my crayons...the whole box...I had my coloring book, and whatever was on the page was colored simply with helter-skelter colors- a bit of blue here, some red there...it made no sense to the picture that was being colored, and every color was outside the lines. My cousin felt it was necessary to tell me how it SHOULD be done...she outlined every section with her crayon, and colored inside the lines with the color that every section SHOULD be...it didn't make me feel bad about my own work, but to this day I remember the incident. I liked MY page.

...BUT...

...there is hope for us: it comes in the form of "inspiration" and not necessarily "this is what I have for a vision and now I'm going to build it." You and I can take the world around us and can be inspired by others' work...by nature...by a stiff spring breeze laden with the scent of freshly thawed earth.

I, personally, am inspired by characters such as Anne of Green Gables (Megan Follows), and how she sees the world and all that's in it. There is a line in it when she returns home, grabs a handful of flowers by the picket fence, and presses them to her caretaker's face: "Smell them, Morilla...drink them in!" This one simple line is just so incredibly inspiring to me- taking a simple handful of wild flowers, and finding happiness and the ultimate beauty in everything that makes them unique.

This is not to say that I'm full of vim & vigor- quite the contrary. Most days I feel very mediocre at best. But I aspire to be like Anne- to find inspiration in everything, regardless of whether it is a happy occasion, or one that brings feelings of despair, and to be able to take those feelings and express them with other people, or in my hobbies.

Ever notice that there are times when you are fabric shopping and certain things catch your eye...or on another day when something that was there before but you just didn't notice it, but because of the mood you're in (today), it speaks to you and you take that 'inspiration' and build on it. This is my point in all this rambling: build on it. Take your sister's suggestions as merely that...suggestion...and if you like the IDEA, run with it. Say to yourself: "Ok, that really is a good idea, but I want to make it my own, so if I were to do something like that, I'd do it THIS way."

I don't know what her idea was, but for example...if she suggested sashing, ask yourself what kind of sashing style you like best. Go to pinterest or google other sashing ideas, border ideas, outline ideas...wide lines, thin lines, or a combination of both. Take her "idea," and make it your own. Like I said, I have no fresh ideas of my own, but give me a jumping off point, and I can run with it and come up with something that says "I made this."

Just remember that more than likely, people who have "ideas of their own" usually have experienced something you may not have, seen something you may not have, or they, too, could be running with someone ELSE's idea. Everyone is unique, and sees the world differently. How YOU see the world and what makes YOU happy will ultimately reflect in your quilts. Don't be afraid to color outside the lines.

Originally Posted by Knitette

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.
Please let us know what you decide and happy quilting!