My Twilight Quilt: The Clock Tower at Volterra

The throng jostled around me, spinning me the wrong direction. I was glad the clock was so visible, or I'd never keep my course straight. But both hands on the clock pointed up towards the pitiless sun, and, though I shoved viciously against the crowd, I knew I was too late. I wasn't halfway across. I wasn't going to make it.

. . . But there was a break in the crowd—I could see a bubble of space ahead. I pushed urgently toward it, not realizing till I bruised my shins against the bricks that there was a wide, square fountain set into the center of the plaza.

I was nearly crying with relief as I flung my leg over the edge and ran through the knee-deep water. . . . The fountain was very wide; it let me cross the center of the square and then some in mere seconds. I didn't pause when I hit the far edge—I used the low wall as a springboard, throwing myself into the crowd.

They moved more readily for me now, avoiding the icy water that splattered from my dripping clothes as I ran. I glanced up at the clock again.

A deep, booming chime echoed through the square. It throbbed in the stones under my feet. . . . I started screaming as I ran.

“Edward!” I screamed, knowing it was useless. The crowd was too loud, and my voice was breathless with exertion. But I couldn't stop screaming.

The clock tolled again.

. . . “Edward, no!” I screamed, but my voice was lost in the roar of the chime.

. . . The clock tolled, and he took a large stride toward the light.

“No!” I screamed. “Edward, look at me!”

He wasn't listening. He smiled very slightly. He raised his foot to take the step that would put him directly in the path of the sun.
–Bella Swan, New Moon, page 449-451

This block was a lot of fun to do. I used the design that Iris came up with for the Stephenie Meyer quilt. She used a photo from the New Moon movie set in Italy as the inspiration for her block and did an amazing job. I was completely blown away by her design. She was kind enough to send me a couple of the fabrics she used in her block; the stone fabric for the plaza, as well as the bottom floor of the building. I used a photo copy of her original block as a guide. Iris pieced the majority of hers, only appliquéing the clock, the rounded windows and the door. But with all those tiny, tiny little pieces, I decided to piece the main foundation of the block, the buildings, and then appliqué the other elements. It was a lot of work and I'm not sure if I saved time doing it that way, but I love to do needle-turn and am really happy with how it turned out.

And, yay! One more block filled in. There are about twice as many spaces filled in as there are empty, which is really encouraging.