Created by Donna Dwiggins:

Juggling stress levels of work, research, and writing during the final stages of my dissertation, I desperately needed an anchoring point that would also be relaxing - voila - the quilters' group! A confessed fabric-aholic, I come from a heritage of needlework, coutourier dress design (my maternal grandmother), and general sewing, and have always sought refuge among the comforting folds of bolts of fabric. When I heard about the group, my long-buried desire to quilt surfaced and needled my wish to rejoin the "fold(s)".  Taking the time to nurture my need to snip, create, sew, & visit with sister stitchers, gave me the anchor of 'tranquilt-ity' I needed to be able to complete my dissertation.  In spite of dissertation, family crises, and a couple of moves, I managed to complete one square  -  menorah that holds symbolic references to the passing of time, eternal renewal, and stability of spirit.

Menorah.  The menorah's branches, emanating from a solid tree trunk, reveal the dark/light dichotomy of Life as the seasons are enumerated throughout time: the left side contains Autumn, Winter, and "dark of Night" while the right side symbolizes regeneration as the branches change, with increasing sunlight, through spring and summer. The menorah thus forms an unbroken circle, symbolizing steadfast continuity and renewal throughout never-ending cycles of change. Weekly rekindling of the menorah serves a similar purpose in our ever-changing lives.