Green Blog

17 June 2011

Why quilting is good for you

I am a self-confessed craft addict. For a time I kept a sewing machine under my desk at work, so I could grab a little extra time for craft projects during my lunch break. I sew, I knit, I quilt, I embroider, I upholster chairs, I even make blinds and curtains occasionally.

So I was delighted to read this week that a new health study shows that quilting is 'uniquely' good for you.

Quilting was found to enhance wellbeing and provide cognitive, creative and emotional benefits. The use of bright colours in quilting is 'uplifting', as an activity it's stress busting and the spatial, geometric element provides mathematical challenge.

It's also an ideal green hobby as it gives an opportunity to reuse pre-loved fabrics and give them a new identity.

The report considers how exploring creativity in our daily lives may well be fundamental for wellbeing. Hobbies play a huge part in this.

As the team from the University of Glasgow concludes, all hobbies 'whether it is growing vegetables, knitting a jumper or discovering a new scientific formula creativity may be fundamental for wellbeing... more consideration needs to be given to all hobbies, from reading to train spotting, and their potential for enhancing wellbeing'.

So don't delay; why not have a rummage around at home for any interesting fabrics to which you could give a new lease of life? Or track down your local haberdashery, and get started on that quilt.

Venetia Harwood-Smart, Direct Marketing Team