Hi everyone. While I grew up in the US, after nearly ten years here, I now consider myself a Sydney-sider. It was with utter devastation yesterday that I watched the Sydney siege unfold a block away from my office building. While I was completely safe on the sixteenth floor, and my employer took the utmost care in making sure we all arrived home safely, my thoughts through the evening never left the events unfolding.

Upon waking this morning to find that two of the hostages had been killed by the gunman, I sobbed. I sat on my couch and reached for tissue after tissue. Terror was suddenly on my doorstep, a situation–living far away in Australia–I thought I was immune from. As a full account has emerged, the two slain victims in this horrific ordeal are the true heroes. I am compelled to play a part in recognising this, and sharing my gratitude with their families for protecting the lives of others in the Lindt cafe, and the sanctity of free human life.

So what can I do? I can make. I can make quilts. And I’m asking for your help. I already have the #NGAQB sending rainbow, tone-on-tone, hash tag quilt blocks for my month of December as King Bee. So do you want to join us in contributing to what will be two seriously awesome, rainbow quilts celebrating the lives of two seriously, wildly deserving people? I hope so.

The tutorial for these 5″ finished (5.5″ unfinished) blocks is here:

They are super easy. They take ten minutes max. You can use your scraps. You can make one. You can make one hundred. You can help.

I’m still formulating details, and I’ll share them as soon as I can–and I’ve figured them out myself! Leave your thoughts in the comments, and share this with as many sewists as you know.

My address to send blocks:

Joshua Helms

201 / 20 Dunkerley Place

Waterloo, NSW, Australia 2017

Thank you Glitterati for your support. Thank you for your thoughts for our city, our country, and the affected members of our society. Let us love each other. Let us help each other. Let us show the world how we truly sparkle.