To Boston with Love

Over the weekend I took some time to make a flag for the "To Boston with Love" effort put on by the Vancouver MQG.

I kept seeing all of these awesome "B" blocks pop up in the Flickr group, representing Boston and the Red Sox, so I knew I needed to make sure my beloved Patriots were represented. The logo is raw edge appliquéd down to the gray background. While it's hard to tell in this picture, I took a little liberty with the colors of the logo to go more with the color scheme the VMQG provided. The red is actually a bit more coral and the blue is a bit lighter than the picture implies.

For those looking to make a flag for this wonderful effort you can read more about here. 

Quilts for Boston

As I mentioned yesterday, the Boston MQG has decided to do something for our community given the recent events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing. The modern quilting community really stepped it up leading up to QuiltCon, and we are reaching out to the quilting community once again to help those affected by these tragic events.

We are asking folks to make quilt blocks in blue, yellow, gray and white - the colors of the Boston Marathon and The One Fund. Your blocks, like those made for QuiltCon, should be at least 12.5" wide by however long you decide. Below is a sample color pallet pulled by the talented Natalie of Greenleaf Goods. For the full details, please check out the Boston MQG blog post.

Please mail your blocks to the Boston MQG by May 24th. In addition, we are also looking for coordinating fabric for the sashing, backing and binding.

Blocks can be mailed to:
Quilts for Boston
P. O. Box 79225
Belmont, MA 02479

To help inspire you, here are some pictures of the many wonderful quilts created at QuiltCon using 12.5" quilt blocks.

Love from Boston

Many of you may have already seen the amazing outpouring of support from our friends in the Vancouver MQG: To Boston With Love. If you haven't read about this effort organized by the VMQG, please read more about it here.

Throughout this whole ordeal, we've seen images of love, courage and support. It's these images that we need to hold onto and remember years from now. It's the playing of Sweet Caroline at other MLB ballparks, even Yankee Stadium that need to be remembered. It's the pictures of those helping the injured without any thought of their own safety that should be remembered. It's the marathon runners finishing the race and continuing to run to donate blood that restore faith in humanity. It's the tributes pouring in from around the world, like at the London marathon, that show how truly amazing our society really is. And, it's efforts like those of the VMQG and other quilters that warm our hearts.

As a fellow member of the Boston MQG, I first and foremost want to say thank you to everyone who has shown their support and is taking the time to make flags. We met as a group over the weekend and talked about how amazing this gesture is and what it means to us. We're looking to do something ourselves as a guild, so stay tuned for more details.

Every one of us in the guild was affected one way or another. Many were on lockdown as the suspects were on the run. We knew people who were running or watching the marathon. So many of us went to school in the Boston area and frequented the areas where everything went down.

For me, I have watched that marathon at least half a dozen times in person. I've walked Boylston St. too many times to count. I went to college just outside the city and frequent it often. I was just there yesterday checking out my sister's new condo that she just purchased - not even 500 ft. from where the suspects lived. She's a teacher at the high school they went to, although she never actually taught them. Everyone I talk to has a similar story. This has hit incredibly close to home, which makes the outpouring love and support that much more meaningful and greatly appreciated.

Through all of this, I think we have shown the world how wonderful Boston is as a city. If you haven't visited our amazing city, I encourage you to come visit sometime. As you've seen, we're a very proud city filled with some amazing people.