To Sew is to Pray

To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and show. Only a woman's eye can tell. Other time, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only woman can hear the prayer.
Four Souls, Louise Erdrich, page 176