We’ve all heard the phrase, “sewing is my therapy” or “quilting is my therapy.” While sewing and quilting are not replacements for therapy, they can both be incredibly healing and support your mental health. Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness month? The purpose of the month is to raise awareness and educate ourselves about mental illnesses. The past two years have been challenging for many of us and it’s more important now than ever to reduce the stigma around mental health struggles.
Sharing is Therapeutic
Mental health struggles are never easy to share. If you follow us on Instagram you may remember that a couple of weeks ago, we asked you to share a story about how sewing helped you heal or how quilting contributes to your mental health and you responded! By sharing, you’re helping others see they’re not alone! Here are some of the responses that were shared with us.
Give Yourself a BREAK!
It’s no secret that sewing and quilting allow us to unwind from our somewhat hectic and busy daily lives. We challenge you to give yourself a 15-minute break and sew something. Start a new project or work on one of your WIP’s. (Hey, it’s okay if you have several, we do too!). We like to call these 15-minute breaks: self-care sewing!
Need some inspiration for your self-care sewing? We have some great free patterns and tutorials for you on our YouTube Channel and Website!
In addition to self-care sewing, find other things that make you happy, like gardening or baking. Another way to give yourself a break is to make small goals. Changes don’t happen overnight, so make small, attainable goals. And finally, remember you’re not alone. Not everyone has a picture-perfect Instagram worthy life. Ask your friends and family for help and check out mental health awareness resources available online.
If you’re interested, we encourage you to join us for a 30 day challenge to improve your mental health. Check out the challenge HERE or the link below.
Build the Community, They Will Come
Sewing and quilting brings us together more than anything else (at least we think so!). While we’ve embraced connecting digitally, there’s nothing like gathering in person. Our quilt guild meetings and shows give us a greater sense of community. We create lifelong friendships and share our love and appreciation for sewing and quilting. If you agree (and we hope you do!), we would like to personally invite you to join us for our biggest event of the year – Garden of Quilts.
The event kicks off September 14th and continues through September 17th at the beautiful Ashton Gardens in Lehi, Utah. Bring a friend or three to this annual event that features classes, lectures, and a garden full of beautiful quilts from sewists like you! Registration is open now! Looking for more details about this event?
Thank you for joining us here on the blog and for being part of this incredible community. We hope that you are able to find some peace, support, and purpose from the lovely things you create with needle and thread.