This is the full image of The Moon Quilt which I made for my friend Thelma Smith www.thelmasmith.com/blog/ during my chemo year. the first year I was in Virginia. She had seen images of Na Keola o' Malama which I had made for my surgeon in Hawaii and wanted a smaller above-the-headboard size quilt for her bedroom -- something serene and uplifting she said. She dyed the background hemp/silk fabric herself since she was looking for a very specific blueish purple. I dyed the midnight green foreground fabric for the branches myself just before I left Arizona and did the applique very quickly once I got moved in. But the quilting took longer.

I think I was really just trying to draw the process out. The movement of the silvery thread through the silk and the image of the moon were so soothing and mesmerizing -- just what I needed as I worked through my feelings about the recurrence of cancer and plunging into the marathon of chemo that had to be run before any surgery could be done. Really, by the time I shipped this piece off to her in Arizona it had done a great deal of healing work for me as I created the small dots of seeds on the breadfruit and the rays of silvery light. And, of course, the whole time I was thinking about Thelma herself, and her unique approach to life's challenges, both spiritual and intensely intellectual at the same time. She, herself, has been a tonic in my life.

Below is a closeup of the central image of The Moon Quilt.

and yet another where you can see the detail of the dot stitches more clearly.