Healing Comfort

I was commissioned to make a get well quilt for a brave friend battling cancer. The commission was for a soft and warm quilt. I asked about color choices. Modern favorite is black and white sophistication. NO WAY!! Make it cheerful and comforting. colorful and pretty. I thought about what would be nice to cuddle under, something that touches and has tactile interest. Something to ponder and day dream under. A meditation mantilla. Something with the chakra rainbow colors, to aid in visualizing healing. Softest quality flannel, front and back. The image that came to mind first was a hummingbird. "Ancient Aztecs recognized hummingbirds as brave and courageous fighters. It was admired because, despite its size, it showed great strength and power to fly. Its beauty, color and accuracy were highly prized qualities." I love the idea that bravery comes regardless of facts to the contrary, that despite lovely facades, a steely reserve can abide. The feathers are iridescent, prismatic. With amazing accuracy they dip into flowers larger than they are, and lap the nectar with their tongues. Their favorite are red flowers, such as honeysuckles and hibiscus. I drew up a pattern for a 3 foot hummingbird. The wings and tail would have rainbow colors. I decided to make a rag quilt with fringe on the top and smooth underside. In a style like foundation piecing I put the hummingbird together. Then I built the flower, red, pink, and orange with a yellow center sewn around the narrow beak. I imagined the hummingbird in a sky of blues. Beneath it a garden of greens. I pieced it together with pink and yellow on the back. Pink to symbolize cancer awareness, yellow as a cheerful warm sun. As I sewed I prayed and visualized healing miracles. I sewed love into the quilt. I put my heart into the quilt, and spent many hours creating a labor of love. As I held it up to look at it, I saw the world from a hummingbird's perspective. They don't consider bravery. They act on instinct. Wise beyond imagining, they migrate each year to the same feeders, the same gardens, and the same lovely humans who are so fond of them. If you chirp at them, they will chirp back. Their songs communicate to their young, their mates, warn adversaries, and sing for joy. Here is my quilt, front and back.