I'm often asked how to get started in art quilting. There are many resources out there now for art quilting, not just books, but blogs (like this one!), workshops, retreats, online classes and more. To me, the most important thing in an art quilt is that the finished piece is your own original design. No patterns or kits, just your personal vision. Too many people let themselves get intimidated by being original and creative. Creating artwork in any media is no different than learning a language, playing a musical instrument, or any other skill. Way back in our youth, we started to learn to read and write by first learning letters and their sounds. The letters were put together in words, then sentences. We learned grammar and punctuation, building to paragraphs. Best-selling novels are not written by kindergartners! Did you learn to sew in one hour?
Two early projects that I made from The Art Quilt Workbook
Image and designs copyright RPS
Art has its own elements that need to be mastered a little at a time: color, design and composition. Creativity can be learned or more appropriately, re-learned. Too often , creativity is discouraged as we proceed in our education. Yes, rules should be followed, but we also need to recognized when the rules must stick , and when we can stray from them. 
One of the exercises that I made from The Fiber Artist's Guide to Color and Design
Image and design copyright RPS
Next time, a bit about getting ideas.
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