What about you?

I am lucky. I spend my days at work with a group of ladies that like to make things. The job isn't creative, but in our little circle more than half of us are "crafters". We sew. We knit. We crochet, embroider and quilt. We can each do all of these things and enjoy them; however, we differ in what we create, why we create, and how much we create. One of us is a very prolific quilter. We are all jealous of her energy. She quilts to unwind and untangle herself from a very stressful job. One of us creates to fill a need. If someone is having a baby she turns out little hats and booties faster than anyone I have ever seen. She likes giving things that are a piece of herself to others but she rarely keeps anything for herself. Another of us creates things because she likes them. She makes beautiful things, bags, quilts, shawls, according to her taste and need.

This got me thinking about why I like to make things. Being creative usually does relieve stress for me, but I also enjoy it when it creates stress. I love to give handmade gifts, but I usually try to find a person for the project I want to do not a project to fit the person. I have absolutely zero ability to decorate my home or myself for that matter. (Jeans go with any kind of top.... right?) There are things I like, of course, but nothing that really goes together. My home and wardrobe are a hodgepodge of random things that caught my fancy. (Frogs are a common theme around my home but range significantly from silly to elegant as well.)

I think one of the reasons I like to create is I want to see if I can. I love the feeling of "Hey look at that! I did that!" I don't have any particular loyalty to any one type of craft. I do tend to lean towards textile crafts of some sort but have also done some paper crafts and some photography and someday hope to learn everything from basket weaving to blacksmithing. (I blame Ivy for that one.) I love to use my hands and fingers to touch. It is so much more satisfying for me to go to the fabric store or yarn store and run my fingers over the merchandise than it is to go find the perfect shoes. I love color and how they all blend together. I love how many different shades there are of the same color. And I love the mental game of planning a project, particularly a quilt. (How many variations of an ABC quilt can one person do? or use? Super heros? Food? Book Covers? Authors? Pirates? Wild West?) Sorry, got distracted..... There are hundreds of imaginary projects in my head that are worth planning that will never be reality.

What about you? Why do you want to create?