There’s a lot going on in the news these days, but I bet many of you were shocked by the report from the Cornell Ornithology Lab that nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared from North America in the last 50 years. More than 90% of the losses (more than 2.5 billion birds) come from just 12 families including the sparrows, blackbirds, warblers, and finches. Even the beloved Red-winged Blackbird has declined by 92 million birds.
I know that our customers care, because you buy so many bird fabrics. We have responded by offering more and more bird prints…so many that we’ve had to split them into 3 categories. (Raptors, Songbirds and Tropical) There are even more birds in the Arctic and Christmas categories.
While I was in the Cotswolds last month (after the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK) I spent a couple days out in the English countryside…it was so quiet that I could hear 2 distinctly different streams on the hill beyond my room (one lower pitch, one higher pitch) and I could hear the sheep baaing throughout the night out in the meadows. What really struck me is the variety of birdsong all around me, in the hedgerows, the hillsides, the meadows and the forest. And yet…it was quieter than what I’ve remembered from previous years. There were fewer voices singing.
In my own backyard I’ve noticed fewer birds over the years. Fewer nests, fewer raptors in the skies, fewer robins and bluejays, fewer migrating birds, and no hummingbirds. We do not use toxic pesticides or herbicides around our house, or on our eQuilter property, to protect the birds, the bees, the wildlife, and the people who share these outdoor spaces.
I have friends who are avid birders, who have joined local Audubon clubs, who rush to wetlands and grasslands to catch a glimpse of a rare bird in transit. A bird is a miracle…lifted by gossamer feathers to fly over our heads, leaving us to dream of what it must be to have that kind of freedom.
The beautiful quilt above is by Roxanne Nelson, titled “Technicolor Dream Parrot”. I photographed this Batik quilt at the Quilt Canada Festival in Ottawa in June. I’ve set the quilt in a collage of bird fabrics that we have in stock now. Roxanne has really captured the dazzling plumage of this tropical bird. Trapping wild parrots for the pet trade, has diminished wild populations, with parrots being subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds.
This week I am making an extra special donation to the Cornell Ornithology Lab to support their important research on bird populations, and so as you buy from our collections of birds, we will support those who have educated us about this staggering loss.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
eQuilter Classroom:
Sept 28 – 10 am to 4 pm – Charity Sewing Day – Please RSVP
Oct 8-10 – Jacqueline de Jonge – Enchanting Stars
& Dream Flight – Registration
OPEN
April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson
June 1-5 2020 – Paula
Nadelstern
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
Oct 16-22 – Winnipeg & Churchill, Manitoba Canada
Oct 25-31 – Quilt Market & Festival – Houston
Nov 13-17 – Color Marketing Group – Tuscon AZ
Jan 24-29, 2020 – Tokyo Quilt Festival – 1 day with Lisa Walton’s Japan Tour
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