‘I found a quilted heart,’ #IFAQH

Some of the things that matter most to me are cats and reading / libraries, and I had a walking adventure this weekend that featured all of those things.

I am a member of a Facebook group devoted to Little Free Libraries in my local area (Santa Rosa, CA), and this weekend, I wanted to navigate to a library that I’d seen in a photo that was posted to the group.

(This particular library appealed to me, because the owner had commissioned its construction from a local artist, Patrick Amiot, who works with repurposed materials. If you can make out the details from the accompanying photograph, the Little Free Library is made to resemble the chicken-legged hut of Baba Yaga, a character out of Slavic folklore).

I input the location into Google Maps, turned on the directional navigator, and my spouse and I set out walking.

We found our way to the Little Free Library and, once there, I looked inside. Lo and behold, I found this adorable quilted heart, made from assorted cat-themed fabrics and with a cute little cat button sewed onto it as well. What a delightful culmination to our walking adventure, and one that really speaks to my love of cats!

A card attached to the heart invited me to visit the website of I Found a Quilted Heart, a community of volunteers who place small quilted hearts in unexpected places where strangers can find them and hopefully brighten their day. If you find such a heart, the website invites you to post the story of where you found it, plus there is also information for people who would like to make and leave hearts of their own.

If you post your story to social media, you can use the hashtag, #IFAQH.

I took the quilted heart home with me, and will treasure this unexpected and delightful find. It’s a wonderful memento of this weekend’s walking adventure.

https://www.ifoundaquiltedheart.com/