One things leads to another

It's interesting how one thing can lead to an entirely different thing, through a path one might never expect. For the past two weeks, I've been chipping away at the UFO pile, machine quilting and tying baby blankets for my local children's hospital. I had quite a bunch needing finishing, and yesterday I put the last stitch in the last binding, creating this pile of finished blankets and quilts. (Some are blankets because they have flannel as a backing and no batting. I figured the hospital could probably use all kinds.)


This is the outside of my house and the corner plot I plant and tend every summer. It's a bit wild this year, and the zinnias self-seeded and have been blooming all summer. Karen from the Selvage Blog was asking about the view outside our houses, and this is one angle.
This morning, my neighbour rang my bell and asked if he could pick some of the yellow zinnias to present as a gift to a new baby, whose aboriginal spiritual name is Little Yellow Flower. As we we talking about the new baby, it turns out she is one of twins born yesterday at the local women's hospital (connected to the children's hospital) and the parents are struggling in many ways. I asked if they needed baby quilts, showed him what I had, and together we picked the next two as gifts for these wee twins (4.5 pounds each). My neighbour came back an hour later, by which time I had photographed the quilts, and wrapped them in tissue paper and ribbon and put them in a gift bag.

My neighbour was touched I would give strangers these quilts, but since he knows them, they're connected to me by one degree of separation. The others will go to children's hospital as planned, unless I get led down another garden path.