In Protest Sew Along Week Five

"You have the capacity to do extraordinary good in the world. And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize, and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together."

- Kamala Harris, 2024 concession speech

Reflections:

Last night, I got an unkind comment on one of my Instagram posts about my Hate Has No Home Here design. And as much as I wanted to just delete the comment and move on, I'll be honest, it shook me. I lay awake thinking about how sad and defeated I feel to live in a world where “Hate Has No Home Here” is a contentious statement.

This morning, though, I woke up to notifications from multiple In Protest chat groups. You were sharing ideas, talking about your progress, and cheering each other on. It was such a powerful reminder that while there will always be people who disagree with me, about little things and big things, there are also so many people who care deeply and advocate fiercely for their communities and for a more just world.

I still believe that together, we can be a force for good.

I hope you’ve found that same sense of community in this sew-along, and that even as our official timeline draws to a close, you’ll continue to support one another, show up, and spread kindness wherever you go.

Stats and survey:

This project has become so much bigger and more powerful than I ever could have imagined. I am collecting a little bit of data about the reach of this project and plan to create an image gallery of your quilts for anyone interested in sharing their work. So far, we have quilters from at least 30 US states (AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI) and 7 countries (US, Canada, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Germany). If you would like to share where you are joining us from or share an image of your quilt, please take a moment to fill out the super quick survey below. (If you already filled it out last week, thank you!)

Super quick survey

Week 5:

It's hard to believe that we are in our final week of the sew-along. If you are keeping pace with the weekly schedule, this week you can work on finishing up your block. Don't forget to post a check-in on Instagram if you would like to be entered to win a prize.* (If you are just joining or working at your own pace, that's ok too!)

I've been teasing you all from the beginning about my idea for interchangeable sign blocks, and I’m very happy to report that I made it work. I used rare earth magnets sewn into the corners of the binding on each sign, with matching magnets placed in the corresponding spots on the back of the main quilt.

For the sign: I cut 1.5" fabric squares, folded them diagonally, and attached one at each corner of the sign while sewing on the binding. This created small pockets in each corner (basically the same method I would use to make corner hanging pockets - if you haven't done this before, here's a tutorial) . Once the binding was finished, I slipped a magnet into each pocket and sewed it shut with a blind stitch

For the main quilt: I attached magnets to the corresponding locations on the back of the main quilt. Currently, these are attached with just an adhesive dot, but I plan to appliqué a small piece of fabric over top to secure them more permanently.

*Participants who post at least two check-ins over the course of the sew-along will be entered to win a prize. You can mention me by typing @quiltbynight (make sure to include the @) in your caption or tag me by clicking ‘tag people’ and adding me.

New here?

If you signed up recently, please be sure to check my other blog posts for previous weekly updates. If you signed up to chat but haven’t been assigned a chat group, let me know so we can troubleshoot.

That's all for today! Thanks again for being here :)

Warmly,

Becky