Hi, there! Check this out! All of the rain we’ve been having has been great for our little garden. We are starting to see tiny buds of veg peeking out from under the leaves, and it is making us (me) very happy! I assembled our raised bed garden from
a kit that I purchased online, and it’s the perfect size for my little guys to tend.
As I assembled the garden bed, I started thinking about what it is that makes us want to both quilt and garden (for a little #growandsew inspiration, check out
Jeni Baker’s community patch,
Golden Willow’s lovely garden and of course the
stunning garden of SouleMama)? I can come up with lots of reasons, but I’m not sure which one fits me. Is it the need to be
doing? Both quilting and gardening are ways of being productive at home, inside and out. Is it the desire to
make things from scratch? Making a quilt from scraps and seeing a seedling grow into tomorrow’s dinner is fulfilling. Knowing where it came from. It’s important. Is it
a connection to a simpler time and how people lived before us? When asked, I usually explain to people that making quilts is a form of practical art to me, not necessarily about doing something that’s tied to tradition and the past. But maybe I’m kidding myself? Maybe it’s a little bit of
all of the above.
How about you? Do you find yourself drawn to gardening in the summer? What’s your theory on why we quilt and garden alike? I’m not sure about where you live, but I am the
only one of my friends that sews. A few have gardens. Most think I’m kind of a nerd for sitting at home making quilts! They’re both impressed and bewildered. Do you find you get that reaction, too?
I don’t garden. I actually have zero interest in it. (Why? Two words: bugs and dirt.) The garden we do have is tended by my husband. But I see gardening as a way to nurture something, not unlike parenting a kiddo or two. For me, sewing and quilting is much different. There are many ways that I’m creative in a day — when it comes to parenting, preparing meals, organizing my house, problem solving. Sewing and quilting *are* creative pursuits; more important, they’re *creating*. I’m bringing something into being. I can honestly say I wouldn’t feel like a whole person if I didn’t have an outlet like that!