This quilt was inspired by a couple of events with wasps this summer.  I remembered how Sherlock Holmes’s young neighbor discovered that wasps had attacked Holmes’s hives and thought, why not alchemize the wasp events into an homage to the honeybee.  You know, those lovely honeybees that pollinate our gardens into liquid gold.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, —
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.

Excerpt from Part Two: Nature, by Emily Dickinson¹

The local quilt shop imported a cheery line of batiks.  I couldn’t resist the hexagon design or the pink fabric with spattered squares seeming to glimmer over the fabric.  While many of the shop’s clientele are focused on more traditional patterns and fabrics, I decided to make a modern honeycomb quilt² with the new batiks.

I completed the piecing and sewing the rows a few weeks ago.  The last step is the shop owner quilting a meandering flower and honeybee pattern, then I’ll be binding the edges of the quilt.  I’ll post the fully completed quilt over the next couple of weeks.

 

#quilt, #honeybee, #honeycomb, #hexagon, #batiks, #emilydickinson, #sciencefair, #julieherman, #jaybirdquilts, #ohiostarquilts

__________________

¹ 97. “To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems. Retrieved from https://www.bartleby.com/113/2097.html

² Herman, J. (2012). Science Fair, [Quilt pattern]. Jaybird Quilts.

 

Bonus du jour: Monarchs on my tall, blue salvia.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

Excerpt from Auguries of Innocence, by William Blake¹

Last Fall, I planted salvia along one side of my deck. The plants were small last year, but this summer, they grew to nearly 6′ tall. They’re abuzz with honey and bumble bees, hummingbird moths, yellow swallowtail butterflies, and Monarchs.

Watching my dogs enraptured with chasing a ball, tending to a bone, deliriously happy stretching out in the grass with the warm sunshine on their faces, I was reminded that we too can fully engage in present joyful moments amidst daily strife.

I hadn’t seen Monarch butterflies since I lived in southern Colorado when they’d stop for a cool drink from a thin meltwater waterfall and rest under the shade of a leafy tree on the dry side of the mountains.

What was your bonus du jour?

#monarchs, #butterflies, #garden, #salvia, #photography, #williamblake, #joy

__________

¹ Blake, W. (1917). Auguries of Innocence by William Blake. Nicholson & Lee, eds. 1917. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. Retrieved from https://www.bartleby.com/236/60.html

² OConnor, E. K. (2018). Monarch in the Garden [Photograph].

This blog was created as a way to share moments of creativity and joy with each other. Despite how difficult our days might be, we can find a way to extract a little nectar from them – or create some where none was to be found.

I’ve long referred to the day’s joyful moments as bonuses du jour.  This blog is a refuge, sanctuary, and respite from the hardness of the world.  This blog is a collection of bonuses du jour.

During an unconscionably painful time, I moved to Southern Colorado.  I set up a folding table and chair against a window that looked out to the high plains and mountain foothills.  Western bluebirds, falcons, and antelope were frequent visitors to the plains beyond my window.  I remember watching, fascinated, as antelope frolicked and leapt on the high plains – dancing antelope are forever imprinted on my mind.

The antelope weren’t worrying about hunters and mountain lions.  In the late afternoon’s golden sunshine melting through the tall grasses, the antelope danced.  Could we be as present and joyful in precious moments?  I say, yes.

I hope that you’ll enjoy this blog and share your own bonuses du jour.