What does self-care look like for you? It could be a hot bath, a good book, a brisk walk or a quick nap.
Maybe an endorphin-pumping workout, or a calm baking session? For Meghan Buchanan of Then Came June, “self-care is prioritising the routines, rhythms and decisions that bring out the best and most honest version of yourself”. For Donna McLeod of XOXSEW, “it’s carving time and doing things for your mental, emotional and physical health”. In a fast-paced world full of clicks, alerts, deadlines and responsibilities, self-care has never been so important.
Why we quilt
Quilting makes up a huge part of The Hackney Quilter, Anna Wraith’s self-care toolkit, having been introduced to the craft while facing illness in her teens. “In a way, I [started quilting] for self-care. My mum introduced me to English Paper Piecing when I was unwell as a way to pass the time,” she muses. “I’ve always reached instinctively for hand work in times of stress, but didn’t really begin to notice how powerful it was for me until the pandemic started and I began quilting again.” As well as offering Anna the opportunity to revisit quilting, another thing that the pandemic presented to all of us was alone time – something naturally tied up in the notion of self-care. Now that we’re back to our old routines and everyday pressures, quilting provides the opportunity to seek out that alone time, as Anna continues “the act of sewing gives me time that’s just for me when I
