We were planning on returning to our regularly scheduled Block Lotto this month, but unfortunately, instead we have another charity block to make.
On June 12th there was a shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando which killed 49 people and injured 53. This shooting targeted LGBTQ+ people as it was a gay nightclub, but in particular targeted People of Colour, as it was a Latin theme night at the club. Over 90% of the people killed were POC.
Within days of the massacre, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild started a drive for quilts for the survivors of the shooting and the families of those killed. They are asking for quilts that are rainbow and heart themed. You can follow the progress on the hashtag #quiltsforpulse.
VMQG will be sending completed quilts (as requested by the Orlando MQG), and all are welcome to participate, whether you are a VMQG member or not.
We will need 112 blocks to make two quilts, which is what we have committed to thus far. If we receive enough blocks to make a third quilt, we will.
We will be making 10″ (finished) blocks using THIS TUTORIAL from Cluck, Cluck, Sew. Please note that the tutorial includes multiple sizes, but we are making the largest. Elizabeth Dackson has provided a free paperpieced pattern for the same block, for those of who might prefer paperpiecing.
We are asking that you use you BRIGHT, MODERN fabrics in RAINBOW colours for the hearts. They do not have to be strictly tone on tones, but they should read as one colour. For instance, a fabric with pink, blue and yellow all in equal amounts would not be appropriate, but a blue fabric with a few pops of yellow would be fine. If you are purchasing fabric, know that you can get 3 hearts out of an 11.5″ x WOF piece.
Feel free to use colours that are not strictly in the ROYGBIV rainbow – pinks and teals are fine too! Â The important thing is that we use bright, cheerful fabrics, and since we’re a modern quilt guild, modern fabrics are appreciated!
For the backgrounds, please use a solid WHITE or a white tone-on-tone print. Please avoid tans, beiges and greys, they will draw attention away from the hearts themselves.
We also ask that if you get carried away making blocks (which is understandable, they’re easy to make, especially in an assembly line!), please don’t make all of your blocks one colour. We don’t want to end up with 50 blue blocks and only 10 orange blocks!
Please bring your blocks back to our July meeting, which will be our annual outdoor meeting (weather permitting, of course!). If you are not able to attend the meeting, please send them with a friend or contact the executive in advance (executive@vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca)
At the July meeting we’ll take stock of what we have, and what colours we may be short on, and will ask for any additional blocks that we need. Finished quilts need to be received in Orlando by September 15th, and we still need to assemble the tops and quilt them.
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And a tip! If you press all of the seams towards the heart on one half of the block, and all of the seams towards the background on the other, your block nestles together quite nicely in the centre.
and a close up –
