Hawthorne Stars

This is my twenty-sixth hospital quilt, made almost entirely from donated fabric and scraps from my own stash. (I purchased six yards of a red polka-dot print for the back, plus a yard of the cream/gold for setting triangles.) Just a few hours after my mother and I presented it to the hospital quilters to be quilted, we received emails telling us the hospital volunteer program has been temporarily suspended, until “the risk of the virus spreading is no longer a concern in our communities.” It wasn’t a surprise - I’d actually come to the decision on my own that I wouldn’t be coming in - but it’s sad nonetheless. The piano in the lobby is perfectly capable of playing itself. But without the army of volunteers to man information desks, to run the gift shop, to comfort babies, give directions, deliver flowers and even shuttle visitors in a golf cart, the hospital must be a very different place.