Today I went to see a new doctor. The minute I opened the front door to his clinic, there on the back wall facing the front door was a queen-size string quilt with hand ties in addition to the quilting. It was amazing. I peered behind the quilt (it was perfectly hung by a sleeve on a curtain rod) and saw the backing was unbleached muslin ("brown domestic" as I've learned from my reading the old-timers called it). I could see tears that had been lovingly repaired. I asked the receptionist if it was truly antique and she said yes. I explained to my SO why I was so impressed by the quilt -- little tiny one-of-a-kind strips of fabric pieced into blocks with regular quilt stitches, sturdy ties, neat mending, etc.
When I came out of the back office with my doctor at the end of the appointment, I raved again about the quilt. The doctor said a patient had found it at a garage sale (!) and given it to the clinic. The doctor let me touch it. There was a flour brand stamp on the back -- the backing was from flour sacks!
I take this as a good omen for my health and this doctor. (Yes, I can be a bit superstitious when it suits me.)
Edna Pearl