A Holmesian Solstice

Title: "Labours of Love"
Recipient: ghostbees / vernets
Artist: strampunch
Verse: ACD canon, Granada
Characters/Pairings: Holmes/Watson
Rating: Suitable for general audiences (mild nudity in second to last image)
Warnings: None
Summary: After the gift receiver mentioned "scrapbooking" and "English paper piecing" I went down a rabbithole of research and learnt about this wonderful quilting technique.
From the EQS website: "English Paper Piecing is a method of quilting that involves using a paper shape, most commonly a hexagon, to add stability to the quilt. The quilt is hand stitched with pieces of fabric cut a ¼ inch bigger than the paper shape. The fabric is basted to the paper shapes before the shapes are sewn together. Once the quilt top is completed the papers are removed." The technique dates from 1770s and was popular during the early 1800s in the UK, then in the mid 19th century in the US and it made a comeback during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the pattern was called in the sewing magazines "Grandma's Flower Garden", but before that it was simply known as hexagonal pattern or (you guessed it) honeycomb pattern.

The paper used for these quilts were usually recycled from newspapers or scrapped letters, and the fabric used to come from old garments that had seen better days, and since a lot of the times the paper was simply left in these quilts are marvelous time capsules that contain a wealth of information about the person who made them and their environment. I encourage you to look up English paper piecing (EPP) quilts from the early Victorian decades, they're fascinating!
So this little series of illustrations shows Watson dealing with Holmes still indulging in scrapbooking, and how the doctor picks up the discarded pieces and their old 221B era clothes to make something entirely new and uniquely theirs.

(Technique: India ink, watercolours and gouache paint over cold pressed cotton paper)


( Labours of Love )

Title: Weathered til Content
Recipient: BookGirlFan
Author: REDACTED
Verse: Sherlock Holmes (1987 TV/Granada)
Characters/Pairings: Holmes & Watson, Watson/Mary
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None
Summary:
I do not, as a general rule, aspire to contentment. It is a lazy goal, lacking in ambition. And so it is, with some surprise, that I look back upon the late years I shared with Watson at 221B Baker Street and recall with surprising nostalgia that - taken as an average over time - contentment is what I had found.

It couldn’t last, of course.

Read on AO3: Weathered til Content

Title: Soft moments
Recipient: strampunch
Artist: yakichoufd
Verse: Granada TV show
Character/pairings: Holmes/Watson
Rating: General
Warning: None
Summary: Soft moments between Holmes and Watson.


( Soft Moments 1 and 2 )

Title: beyond your peripheral vision
Recipient: sanguinity
Vidder: rachelindeed
Verse: Granada
Characters/Pairings: Irene Adler & Sherlock Holmes & many of the ladies of canon. Gen, with background Irene/Godfrey Norton, Irene/King of Bohemia, and glancing references to other relationships from the Doyle stories.
Rating: G
Summary: Irene Norton, née Adler, moves through life with love, courage, occasional heartbreak, intelligence, pride, and generosity. Along the way, she opens Holmes's eyes to his own biases. He takes the lesson to heart and grows more mindful of the women he encounters in his cases, regarding them with greater attention, admiration, and empathy as they navigate their own dangers and adventures. This vid celebrates all of that, and all of them.

( beyond your peripheral vision )

Title: The Emerald Circle
Recipient: natrix_natrix / two-nipples-maybe-more
Author: REDACTED
Verse: Granada - Sherlock Holmes (1984)
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Rating: Mild to moderate violence or depictions of non-sexual mature themes
Warnings: Mild gun violence; mild homophobia; alcohol use
Summary: A case and a young client forces Watson to admit a long-kept secret to Holmes, and the two of them are moved to go undercover at a private club with a very particular clientele.


Read on AO3: The Emerald Circle

Title: The Adventure of the Quiet Tenants
Recipient: scfrankles
Author: oldshrewsburyian
Verse: Granada
Characters/Pairings: Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Wiggins, Inspector Lestrade, others in minor roles
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Mrs. Hudson lets her rooms, writes to a friend, and deals with unexpected developments.

Read on AO3: The Adventure of the Quiet Tenants

Title: Underwater
Recipient: fictionforlife / ireallyshouldbedrawing
Vidder: rachelindeed
Verse: Granada TV Show; Ritchie Films; Sherlock BBC; Livanov/Solomin Russian Holmes
Characters/Pairings: Holmes/Watson, Moriarty
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: Reichenbach waits for them, always.
Author's Notes: Thank you so much, ireallyshouldbedrawing, for allowing me to use your beautiful art as part of this vid! I've loved your work for years and it was such a pleasure to make a gift for you. You said you liked angst with a happy ending; I hope you'll enjoy this. And thanks as well to my beta sanguinity for all their help. Song credit: "Underwater," by Vertical Horizon.


Watch on AO3: Underwater

Title: Twice on the Divan
Recipient: Keenir
Author: Lamplighter1890
Verse: Canon/Granada
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/Irene Adler
Rating: General Audience
Warnings: None
Summary: It's post-Reichenbach and Holmes has been missing for two years; however, he is about to encounter someone he has not seen in a long time, someone who will be just as surprised, just as pleased and just as intrigued about the uncertainties of their future.


Read on AO3: Twice on the Divan

Title: The Midnight Caller
Recipient: unovis
Author: miss_violet_hunter
Verse: ACD canon / Granada
Characters/Pairings: Holmes/Watson, Mrs. Hudson & Sherlock Holmes
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: A midnight caller wants to see Mr. Holmes. Mrs. Hudson has not had to wake him recently.

( The Midnight Caller )

Title: Something Good (Will Come From That)
Recipient: gardnerhill
Author: sanguinity
Characters/Pairings: Holmes & Watson; Holmes/Watson
Rating: General
Summary: One hundred years of moving pictures about Holmes and Watson.
Author Notes:

My deepest thanks to my collaborator and source-monkey, k_e_p, without whom this would have required twice the work and been half as good. Major thanks also to grrlpup, who watched many hours of source and many drafts of the vid, and to ghost_lingering, who provided excellent beta and technical advice.

If you spot an error in the source list, please say so. I am especially uncertain that I have credited the correct actors for Jighangsha (1951). If there’s anyone out there who can double-check against the in-film credits (which are in Bengali script), that would be a great boon, thank you.

gardnerhill, I trust balance has been maintained in the Force. ;-)

Also on AO3: "Something Good (Will Come From That)"

( Something Good (Will Come From That) )

( Sources )

( Lyrics )