A Monarch's Life Handmade Custom Quilt
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The Monarch Butterfly’s life cycle from cocoon to butterfly. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
A Monarch’s Life Handmade Custom Quilt
As we start to hear that Monarchs are migrated back north from their wintering grounds in Mexico, I remembered this lovely custom handmade quilt featured at the 2019 Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild in Rolla, Missouri.
The custom handmade quilt by Lillian Collins features a Monarch Butterfly’s life cycle from cocoon to eclosing as a butterfly. If you look at the photo of the Monarch butterflies in a circle, it’s easy to miss that the green spots in the center are cocoons.
In a wider view of the custom handmade quilt, Monarch caterpillars are around the outside border, enjoying one of the Monarch butterfly’s food source.
The Monarch’s Life Cycle in this lovely custom handmade quilt. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Monarch butterflies depend on the various native milkweed varieties to guide them south in the fall. As one species dies off, Monarch butterflies move south to the next food patch, staying only as long as there is food.
One of the more common Monarch butterfly food sources is called “butterfly weed.” The very orange flowers are part of the milkweed family, the main source of Monarch butterfly food.
Butterfly weed, a member of the milkweed family, is featured in quilt corners. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
The loss of habitat for butterflies like Monarchs, and other insects, is now part of nationwide effort to plant more plants for pollinators.
Missouri’s Missourians for Monarchs includes more than 43 major federal and state organizations focused on planting 385,000 acres of new pollinator foraging areas. Although Monarch butterflies are mentioned in the partnership’s name, other butterflies, and bees, will benefit from the additional food sources.
The love of Monarch butterflies was also the inspiration for Lillian Collins custom handmade quilt.
Here’s how this custom butterfly quilt was designed and inspired. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
The custom handmade Monarch Butterfly quilt is a lovely work of art as well as tribute to these amazing butterfly pollinators.
Charlotte
