I'm so excited today! Why? It's the first month of the Snapshots Quilt Along! I'll give you the full scoop in just a minute. But first, I gotta show you this month's block! It's a LAYER CAKE!

Just what we need right after the holidays, right? A big piece of yummy cake. Except that this cake has no calories. None whatsoever. And we can all feel good about having our cake because the Snapshots Quilt Along is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

On the 15th of each month for twelve months, Fat Quarter Shop will post a block pattern that you can download. The link to this month's pattern is here. The blocks represent snapshot-worthy moments in our lives, such as sewing (of course!), food, entertainment and pets. (My cats can't wait for me to hurry up and get to the kitty block!) The patterns are free, but a donation of $5.00 per pattern is suggested. St. Jude will benefit from the funds raised, and Moda Fabrics and Fat Quarter Shop will match donations, with a goal of $10,000. As I write this, donations are already at $2040, and today is just the first day!

I'll be sewing with the Snapshots kit. It features Bonnie & Camille's hot new Daysail fabric collection for Moda Fabrics. I'll also add in some of Bonnie & Camille's Miss Kate just to be a little different from the kit. The kit is available for preorder here, and it even includes a spool of Aurifil thread and some buttons for the cat and dog eyes. There's also a backing kit which has a camera block. But you can definitely get creative and use your stash or your own customized fabric collection. All you need to do is download the pattern each month and you're ready to sew! I'd love to see this done in Me & My Sister's new Bandana fabric, a grouping of Fig Tree fabrics, or Bunny Hill's new Mistletoe Lane.

Bonnie & Camille have even filmed a tutorial on how to assemble the cake block along with Kimberly Jolly from Fat Quarter Shop. You'll see that the block only looks complicated. It's easy to do when broken down into simple steps. And there's no applique and no templates!

Each month, I'll be sewing along with a group of amazing designers and bloggers. I'm honored to be included with this talented group of ladies. Be sure to hop over to be inspired by their cake blocks, too.