With all the craziness of this week, I’ve barely had time to process what has happened here locally. I just returned from a long teaching trip, received a huge shipment of my fabric, and then awoke to the news on Monday morning of the tragedy that struck my home town here in Las Vegas. So it’s been quite an emotional week. It’s now Thursday and it’s taken me that long to catch my breath. I’ll be blogging about happy quilty things shortly, but for now I wanted to share this announcement on how you can help:
My local guild, Las Vegas MQG is collecting finished quilts and quilt tops to pass out to those affected by the shooting. They are still finalizing details of where to ship, but here’s the basic info, copied directly from their website:
Hello Quilters! The outpouring of love and support we have received is nothing short of incredible and we are overwhelmed with it. We have been struggling to put together words for what has happened in Las Vegas and have decided to put together quilts!
There have been a ton of people reaching out asking how they can help so we have put together a quilt drive for #quiltsforvegas. We are requesting completed quilts and quilt tops but will also accept blocks and monetary donations to our efforts. Monetary donations will cover shipping, fabric, thread and other quilt costs; any leftover donations will be donated to the GoFundMe that has already been set up.
The Block:
We would love to have quilts with grayscale blocks.
in any arrangement along with one heart block somewhere on the quilt.
Both block patterns are from Cluck Cluck Sew, using the 10 inch finished block size.
We ask that you use 2 fabrics in each block; white and a happy contrasting color but feel free to mix it up however you like! See our Instagram or Facebook for examples.
-
Where do I send this stuff?
We will update you on this as soon as we have it all nailed down! For now, just start working on blocks and quilts!
Please include a full sized piece of paper with your name, guild if a member (even not modern guilds!), what you’ve sent, and location so that we can attempt to keep a record of everyone who helps.
-
What if I can’t make a whole quilt?
We would love completed quilts or quilt tops but if you can’t; then make a block, even one block will help. Send in some binding, send some backing fabric, send some money to help us cover postage and other costs such as fabric.
-
I already have a quilt that is made with love, can I send it?
Send it. Please send it, we need a lot of quilts! We offered a specific block to give people an idea of what to create; if you have already created something else, please send it on; we are happy to have it!
-
Can I use a block other than the one you showed?
Do whatever you feel led to create; we chose the grayscale block because it is a block that represents our guild.
-
How big should my quilt be?
I’m asking for quilts no smaller than 48×60, and no larger than a twin sized. If you are making the grayscale blocks it comes out to 5 blocks by 6 blocks or 30 blocks in total. If you are outside these sizes don’t fret; send it on!
-
Whats the due date?
We are asking for quilts, blocks, binding, ect. to be delivered by November 15th. If you need a little extra time that’s OK! We just want to try and get quilts out ASAP.
-
Where are these things going?
Our intention is to get quilts to the victims and first responders but in cases where this is not possible or we have a plethora of quilts, quilts may be given to first responders to give to victims of violence in our community.
Hopefully any and everyone affected will receive a quilt if they want one. We are still making contacts, so if you are personally affected by this please email me at quiltsforvegas@gmail.com so we can work to get one to you!
-
Anything else I should know??
We will continue to update as more information becomes available, so check back for the latest updates and feel free to email us at quiltsforvegas@gmail.com if you have a question!
Click here to bookmark the LVQMG website for updated information.
Christa Quilts 
Wonderful, what a beautiful way to try and deal with this tragedy.
Great post for a great cause. And so well said. Count me in. And, I’ll happily help with PR too…just need to chat with you (or someone in your guild). There are so many that could use a good quilty hug your generous guild simply can’t do this without help.
QuiltShopGal
http://www.quiltshopgal.com
Such a tragedy, my heart aches for those affected. They were all just out for a fun time. What a lovely idea to collect up the quilts. I’m currently at the NZ Quilt Symposium in Christchurch and the organisers mentioned at opening night just how much it meant to the victims of the 2011 earthquakes to receive quilts. Out of tragedy always comes some goodness.