Imperiled Pollinator

The plight of the monarch butterfly became familiar to schoolchildren, gardeners, climate watchers, and nature lovers across the Americas three decades ago. The dramatic decline in monarch populations—attributed largely to climate change, habitat loss, and agricultural pesticide use—is still cause for genuine alarm and continued conservation efforts. In creating this quilt for a local monarch challenge, I took pleasure in collaging this iconic creature into a joyful landscape. And because loss of milkweed in grasslands and field margins is part of the story, I spent many happy hours embroidering clusters of tiny flowers.