I'M BACK!

Okay, okay. I've been slacking a little. Okay, A LOT! 

It's been a crazy few months since "Quilts for Colorado" and I haven't been able to update everyone on how it went.

Overall, the trip was amazing and the quilts turned out great. I ended up with seven quilts. All equally beautiful! One finished quilt was donated and it was absolutely beautiful. Special thank you to Jessica over at Euphoria!! Allison Glass donated some of her latest fabric and Nicole "Sew Nomadic" donated enough completed blocks for an entire quilt. And more thank you's to my Aunt Monica, Mary, Patty, and everyone else who sent in blocks. The quilts were donated to an organization holding an auction with all proceeds benefiting the victims of the Colorado flooding.

Big thanks to my friend Kim, who was nice enough to photograph all the quilts before I left.

Time to Get Sewing

The time has come! Quilt blocks are coming in and it's time to start putting them together! Along with many quilt blocks, I've received a fully finished quilt, a quilt top and lots of fabric. I'm excited to see everything coming in and can't wait to get to CO! My flight has been booked; I leave the day before Thanksgiving and return that Sunday. I'll be volunteering with  All Hands Volunteers in Greeley, CO. I will post a more detailed post soon with photos of the donations I've received and finished quilts.

It Has Begun!

I was SOO thrilled to see this post on Instagram earlier this week. Patty is the first person to participate and share her blocks. It was so great to see someone as excited as I am!

This weekend was a great time for me to start my personal quilt to donate. I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting on others, so I figured I'd work on my own quilt while I wait for blocks to start arriving :) I decided on red, white, and blue because when I found this fabric bundle, I fell in love!! It was so busy and patriotic, I couldn't turn it down! I thought it would be perfect for this project, AND for the November challenge "Design Your Own Quilt" at the Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild. 

So yesterday I cut out forty 8in blocks, 8 of each of the 5 fabrics. I had tons of scraps and wasn't sure what to do with them so I started sewing them onto the squares. No two blocks ended up the same. Some had diagonal designs, like above, others had straight strips added on. Each block stayed at 8in though. I did half with scrap "designs" and half stayed as plain blocks. 

Next, I laid all the blocks on the floor and played with the final layout. I didn't want two of the same fabrics side by side, it took a little while, but eventually I got it figured it. With no help from this guy, of course! Luckily, all the rows were already sewn together!

This is the finished quilt top! I must say, I LOVE IT! I felt like I got it done so quickly too. 

Today, with quilt top done and backing in hand, I decided I needed to add some pzazz to the back of the quilt. I took the scraps I had left, and made a scrap block for the back. I'm keeping the outcome a secret until the very end!

Quilting on this beauty started, but I'm not expecting to finish it quickly. I'm new to machine quilting (I was taught hand quilting on the block corners with embroidery thread) so I plan on taking my time. Not to mention, I want this quilt to be as perfect as it can be!

Quilts for Colorado

Today I started my email frenzy. I sent emails to all volunteer organizations doing the flood clean up in Colorado, with hopes that they'll spread the word about this project. I'm really hoping to make it to CO for Thanksgiving weekend so that I can personally deliver quilts and assist in the clean up efforts. Having been in RI to see the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, I know how much volunteering is necessary. With my research for volunteer opportunities I found there isn't anything being done in NM. I'm not sure if this is because there's more destruction in CO or if the flooding was minimal, so I still hope to bring some to NM but CO will be first priority. If anyone knows anything, please let me know! I'll keep you posted when I find out my volunteer plan.

Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild

This weekend I attended my first Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild meeting in Lincoln, RI. I must say, I was relieved to walk in to a group of woman of all ages and skill levels. It was a great meeting and I saw so many amazing quilts - I can only hope to make one that good! I'm excited to keep attending monthly meetings and make some new friends; hopefully they can teach me some of their secrets :) I was able to share my plans for Quilts for CO and NM! They sounded excited to help and shared the information on their blog.

As I spread the word more and more, I'm starting to get anxious by what the outcome is going to be. Am I going to get 10 blocks? Or am I going to be totally overloaded with tons? Either way, I'm so excited for this project. Once we get closer to November and I begin planning my hopeful CO visit, I am going to be looking for help. I'm a beginner quilter, and as much as I'd love to be confident that I can do this all my self, I know that's being too adventurous. So if you're unable to make blocks, or you'd like to help in another way, please let me know. I'll be looking for help basting, quilting, and binding some of the quilts.

If you're planning on sending in some blocks, please email me for the mailing address. I'm not totally comfortable with posting it online, so I'd rather answer everyone personally (Also gives me a glimpse at the blocks I'll have coming in)

RIMQG Members, feel free to hold your blocks until the November meeting!! Or contact me and we can try to meet up. No need to waste money on shipping :)

Please share this information on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc!! I also have a flyer I'd be happy to send to anyone that can post it at their work, gym, etc. I appreciate all the help spreading this project.

Quilts for CO and NM

Earlier this year, while browsing Instagram, I found the Boston Modern Quilt Guild was doing a collection of quilt blocks from all over the country so they could make quilts for the Boston Marathon bombing victims. I was so excited to find this and couldn't wait to get started, that was until I saw I had missed the deadline. So while I couldn't participate, I did enjoy seeing all the blocks and quilts as they were put together and finished. The quilts all looked amazing and I'm sure they went to some very appreciative people.

Fast forward to today, as I watch another news caster talk about the over 500 people still unaccounted for in Colorado & New Mexico and countless others homeless. I can't help but wonder how can I, one 24 year old from little RI, help these people and make a lasting impression in their lives.

So this is my goal, to bring warmth, love and kindness to those who may be feeling homeless, depressed, and worried about what their future brings.

This is as work in progress and I don't have all my plans in a row just yet, but I'm hoping you're willing to jump on board with me and make an impact to these devastated people. I'm in the process of contacting local guilds to help me carry out this project. Once things have settled a bit, I plan on contacting authorities in CO and NM so I'm able to get these quilts in the right hands.

My plan, so far, goes as follows:
1. Quilt colors will be red, yellow, blue and white. These are the colors of the CO and NM state flags. Fabrics may be solid or print, as long as they are these colors.
2. I'd appreciate help from all skill levels. I'm a beginner sewer, so I encourage even the least experienced to give it a try! I found the Scrapp Trip Along to be a very simple, yet fun block to do.
3. Blocks should be 12 1/2" tall by whatever length you'd like. This means they may be 12 1/2" by 6" or 12 1/2" by 16" (The Scrappy Trip Along above becomes 12 1/2" by 12 1/2") Anything is welcome.
4. Please use quality quilting fabric and thread.

Please mail blocks by November 1st. I'd like to have some quilts done before Thanksgiving because I have volunteered to help and I'm hoping to go Thanksgiving weekend!

I will post a mailing address in the coming days.

Please comment or email (amccormick730@gmail.com) with any questions or suggestions you may have.

Glow under Black Light Cupcakes

These have to be my favorite cupcakes, by far!

This weekend we had a neon 21st birthday party to go to. I've had this pin for Glow in the Dark Cupcakes on my Pinterest for months and thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it!

I did my cupcakes and frosting as normal, adding a small drop of tonic water to the frosting as it was mixing. Next, I put the cupcakes in the freezer so the frosting would free. After about 20 minutes, we dipped the cupcakes into a cup of tonic water and let it drip. Once they were all dipped, we put them back in the freezer until party time. We topped a few of them with Nips, as you can't go to a 21st birthday party without alcohol for the birthday boy!

As you can see, they glow pretty well! Next time I'll probably dunk them a few times, freezing them in between so they're really covered in the tonic so they glow bright!