“What’s odd about commencement is that so many people think of it as the end of something, the end of high school or college—but that’s not what the word means at all. It means the beginning, the start of something new.” Will Schwalbe, (from The End of Your Life Book Club: A Memoir)
So is there a commencement for quilts? We celebrate their ending, their finishing, the last stitch. But are we really celebrating the ritual of folding away of a set of squares (or in this case) poppies, and moving it out of the way? Those unique blues that I collected all one year, that particular dye lot and color which was found everywhere, and now, nowhere — so I hoard and treasure and measure the pieces of it I am using. For when it is gone, it is gone. Is this the same as the ending of a high school education? The finishing of a quilt? The end of a season?
And from the same book:
“David K. Reynolds, who had, in the early 1980s, come up with a system he called Constructive Living, a Western combination of two different kinds of Japanese psychotherapies, one based on getting people to stop using feelings as an excuse for their actions and the other based on getting people to practice gratitude. The latter therapy has its roots in a philosophy called Naikan, developed by Ishin Yoshimoto. Naikan reminds people to be grateful for everything. If you are sitting in a chair, you need to realize that someone made that chair, and someone sold it, and someone delivered it—and you are the beneficiary of all that. Just because they didn’t do it especially for you doesn’t mean you aren’t blessed to be using it and enjoying it. The idea is that if you practice the Naikan part of Constructive Living, life becomes a series of small miracles, and you may start to notice everything that goes right in a typical life and not the few things that go wrong” (ibid, 211-212).
So as my husband (chief Quilt Holder) and I took the quilt down to be photographed at what we call the Butterfly Alley, we repeated a few rituals: get the quilt-holding sticks with the clamps, determine if the light is right, find a parking place and watch people’s faces as we unfurl a hand-made quilt in an urban setting, wait for the wind to die down, and take the photos (with lots of “up on the left — the other left!”).
So maybe the commencement of a quilt is a beginning of sorts. We have our rituals for this process: labels, photos, blog post. We fold up the extra blocks and tuck them away. We clean up the cutting area, and perhaps, as Yoshimoto intimates (above) that we find stray moments of gratitude. We are grateful for our tools. We are grateful for the colorful cloth. We are grateful that we have a wonderful community of quilters, of friends, of people who understand the need for quilt stores, quilt shows, and quilts. My quilting life has been a series of small miracles, full of so many things that have gone right.
Like a quilt of poppies in a field of French blue–
Quilt Number 290 • 77″ high x 61″ wide • Started May 2024 and Finished July 2024
Setting Inspired by Anne Deister of SpringLeaf Studios
A Butterfly Alley butterfly, made from scraps of tin cans from a local restaurant.
The painting at the top of the post is Robert Vonnoh’s Coquelicots, from 1890.
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You’ve topped yourself with this post and quilt. So few words, so few colors, but they express so much.
I wish I had better words than “beautiful” and “astounding” to describe this quilt. I love the shades of red and blue, and how there are pops of color. And that backdrop is perfect.
Thank you!
gorgeous, gorgeous as always. You have definitely been on a roll! Love that luscious blue. I remember reading somewhere that a quilter slept under all her quilts, big or small. I do love sending them out into the world!
I love the back story of how you choose quit names like Coquelicot. Your block was the perfect choice for your much loved/hoarded blues. It turned out beautifully and sure got done a lot faster than my Poppy quilt. Thanks for the link too.
Thank you for the gratitude reminder – it came at exactly the right time. And, I never knew how to pronounce that French word, even though we have a bakery nearby with that name. Thank you for that too! 🤗
I learned so much from this post! Thank you.
What a lovely name for a lovely quilt! You are on a roll, indeed!
I always love your words as much as your quilts. Thank you for all your inspiration!
Gracious, you absolutely nailed this one! The colors are so perfect, thankful for all their neighbors, and the layout gives the eye all kinds of places to peruse. And your sweet, brilliant post reminds me that while I am endlessly grateful for everything in my life, I may still need to drill down further – so, thank you and Ishin Yoshimoto.
I love this philosophy of Naikan! Thank you for sharing!
That turned out so well. Seems like you just started it and here it is, all finished! That blue is such a pretty shade. It’s a shame they are not using it anymore. It would go well in your new kitchen.
The first thing I thought of re: quilt commencement was that the completion of one quilt always means immediately commencing the next quilt in line. I use “next quilt in line” instead of “a new quilt” because the next one (and the next and the next) is always already started/commenced.
Love the cornflower blue with the poppies. I saw a movie once (possibly an episode in a series? My brain is a sieve.) in which a woman was obsessed with wallpaper printed with poppies and cornflowers (“bachelor’s buttons” as my mother taught me to call them). Since then, those flowers seem to necessarily go together.
Beautiful quilt–such colors! I love that you photographed it in butterfly alley, the perfect merging of yours and his interests.