My Twilight Quilt: Bella's Broken Heart

How many ways can one heart be mangled and still be expected to keep beating? I’d lived through a lot that should have finished me in the last few days, but it didn’t make me feel strong. Instead, I felt horribly fragile, like one word could shatter me.
–Bella Swan, New Moon, page 495

It had not been Edward and Jacob that I'd been trying to force together, it was the two parts of myself, Edward's Bella and Jacob's Bella. But they could not exist together, and I never should have tried. –Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 608

This block is symbolic several different ways. In New Moon, Edward leaves Bella because he hopes that she will be better off without him and she completely falls apart. Jacob becomes her best friend and helps put back the pieces. In Eclipse, Bella has to choose between Jacob and Edward because she loves them both. The pattern is by Jennifer Ofenstein, a very talented and prolific pattern designer.

And, my quilt to date.

My Twilight Quilt: Earthbound Sun

Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was. –Bella Swan, New Moon, page 145

When I decided to expand my layout for this quilt, I knew I wanted to include this block. I used the design I did for the New Moon charity quilt with the Twi-Quilters, but since I only had a 6" space to fill, I left off the soda cans.

I really like doing crazy-quilt patchwork. It is a lot of fun. I was very conservative with the thread colors I used in the first block. But this time, I went with a golden yellow for the stitching between the patchwork pieces. I really like how is emphasizes the crazy quilt aspect, but it made things difficult when it came to embroidering the little phrase from the book, like an earthbound sun. I had to go with a really deep golden floss for it to show, and even then the words kind of collide with the stitching.

I've mentioned before that I'm making two identical Twilight quilts. Up until now, I've never bothered to photograph the twin blocks, because they are identical. You've seen one, you've seen them both. But Jacob's suns turned out differently because I didn't use a pattern to do the patchwork. So, I thought I'd show you a few sets of my twin blocks, just so you know that really am making two quilts.

LadyBug saw both clock tower blocks on my table and asked, why are you making two clock towers? I told her it is because I am making two quilts. Her reply? Well, that's just crazy. She might be right. It took two weeks to finish these and I'd estimate that each block took about 20 hours.

Two of the little diamond heart Edward gave to Bella.

Two La Push First Beach blocks.

OK. I can see some of you are going to sleep. I won't bore you with photos of the sets of all blocks for both quilts. But trust me when I say there are two of every. single. one.

Now, for my favorite part, the layout with one less empty space.

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.

Sneak Peek

As the clock began to toll out the hour, vibrating under the soles of my sluggish feet, I knew I was too late — and I was glad something bloodthirsty waited in the wings. For in failing at this, I forfeited any desire to live.

The clock tolled again, and the sun beat down from the exact center point of the sky.
-Bella Swan, New Moon, pages 1-2

Here's a sneak peek of what I've been up to lately. A little bit of piecing. A little bit of Fairy Frost. A little bit of needle-turn appliqué. A little bit of embroidery.

It's taking longer than I expected. It always does. But I'm having lots of fun.

My Twilight Quilt: La Push First Beach

I’d been to the beaches around La Push many times during my Forks summers with Charlie, so the mile-long crescent of First Beach was familiar to me. It was still breathtaking. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water’s edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves. –Bella Swan, Twilight, page 114-115

This is First Beach, along the Olympic coast in La Push, Washington.

First Beach plays a big part in the Twilight series. Bella spends a lot of time with Jacob there. Cat, one of my favorite pattern designers and fellow Twi-Quilter did a paper-pieced First Beach several years ago and I've been dying to do it ever since. I finally got to it!

This block went together so quickly and finished really nicely. I love how it came out! I found the same “water” fabric as Cat used in her block {although I might not have done the best job with the fussy cut} and the beach fabric has a little bit of sparkle to it {though you can't see it in this picture}. I used a mix of green fabrics for the trees, the same green fabrics I'm using throughout my quilt. My only reservation about the block is that the grays I picked for the mountains might not be quite dark enough. Still, it's one more block finished!

My Twilight Quilt: Graduation from Forks High

Edward kissed me quickly, sighed, and went to go stand with the C’s. . .

I walked down the line to take my place behind Jessica, mildly curious as to why she was suddenly so friendly. . .

Jess was babbling before I was in earshot.

“. . . so amazing. I mean, it seems like we just met, and now we’re graduating together,” she gushed. “Can you believe it’s over? I feel like screaming!” . . .

She droned on and on, and I was sure the sudden return of our friendship was due to graduation nostalgia. . . I paid attention as well as I could while I shrugged into my robe. And I found that I was glad that things could end on a good note with Jessica.

Because it was an ending, no matter what Eric, the valedictorian, had to say about commencement meaning “beginning. . .”

It went so quickly. . .

I watched as Alice, suddenly appearing, danced across the stage. . . Edward followed behind. . . Only the two of them could carry off the hideous yellow and still look the way they did. . .

Mr. Greene said something I didn’t hear, and everyone around me shouted and screamed. Yellow hats rained down.
–Bella Swan, Eclipse, pages 353-355

This block is a repeat—kind of. I made this block as part of my contribution to the Eclipse quilt that the Twi-Quilters made. The pattern was a collaboration between my favorite paper piecing designer, Cat, and me. She started it and I finished it and used it to I used a bit of Fairy Frost in this block; Gold, Yellow, Banana and Snow in the tassel and Snow, Icing and Sand in the diploma scroll. I debated back and forth quite a bit about whether I should add a little bit of blue to the tassel to keep the Forks High School colors and use the black Civil Ward reproduction fabric as my background, or go with the blue again for the background. There's a tiny part of my brain that is wondering how it would have come out had I gone that way. I'm glad I went with the dark blue, though, because I like how the it makes the yellow cap really stand out.

Yay! One more space on my layout filled!

My Twilight Quilt: The Meadow

I reached the edge of the pool of light and stepped through the last fringe of ferns into the loveliest place I had ever seen. The meadow was small, perfectly round, and filled with wildflowers – violet, yellow and soft white. Somewhere nearby, I could hear the bubbling music of a stream. The sun was directly overhead, filling the circle with a haze of buttery sunshine. I walked slowly, awestruck, through the soft grass, swaying flowers, and warm, gilded air. –Bella Swan, Twilight, page 259

It's been a whole year since I worked on my Twilight quilt. It is fun to be back at it. This is Iris' meadow, as seen in the Piece, Love, Twilight quilt our little group of Twi-Quilters did for Stephenie Meyer. I debated back and forth for over two years whether to use this block, or the meadow block Cat designed using a still from the movie. It was a tough choice, but in the end I went with this version because in the book, Bella doesn't lie down with Edward in the grass. She sits and watches him. I disapprove of certain liberties film makers take when making a book into a movie. I did, however, use Cat's brilliant idea to use seed beads for the flowers. The trees are the same green fabrics I'm using throughout the quilt. I used a bit of Fairy Frost for the stream, and the meadow fabric was a fabulous share from Wanda. I love our little on-line quilting group. When someone makes an awesome find, there is always the sharing of assets.

This is my favorite part; the layout with one more block filled in. Hey, progress is progress, even if it is slow.

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 8

I am a neutral country. I am Switzerland. I refuse to be affected by territorial disputes between mythical creatures. –Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 143

Now that my box of Twilight fabrics and blocks is open, I don't really want to close it. I've been working a little bit on Cat's Block of the Month and a little bit on my own Twilight quilt. The idea was to do each of Cat's beginner blocks and then if I hadn't already done her advanced block for that month and was using it in my quilt, I would do that too. I've worked my way up to block 8 now. This was really fun to put together and took less than 45 minutes, including printing out the pattern and picking fabrics. I used Fairy Frost in Red and Snow and I love how it came out.

I already had the advanced block finished. I was Cat's pattern tester for this one and I posted about it previously. But, you know me . . . any opportunity to do a bit of sew and tell, so you get to see it again. The red in the shield is some of the last bits I had left over from the Stephenie Meyer quilt, Piece, Love, Twilight. I had a lot of fun putting this block together.

Today's post brought to you by:

Big Day

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give your beloved, how could you not give it? –Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 2

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 7

Aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, I decided — flushed from the snow fight maybe — the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

I glanced up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.

“Did you get contacts?” I blurted out unthinkingly.

He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. “No.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “I thought there was something different about your eyes.”

He shrugged and looked away.

In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he’d glared at me — the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. I didn’t understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts.
–Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Twilight, pages 41 and 46

When I pulled out the storage bin I keep my Twilight fabrics in to work on my Breaking Dawn Quilt blocks, this pattern kept staring at me. It was sitting right there on top, and every time I would go to pull fabrics out, it would stare at me some more. So, I finally decided to work it. This is the beginner's block for month 7 {which was August. Of 2010}. The pattern is called Topaz Eyes and makes reference to the color of Edward's eyes. Well, OK, not just his, but all 'vegetarian' vampire eyes. It worked up really quick and it was fun to do. I used an ivory iridescent sparkle fabric that I picked up at JoAnn's more than 2 years ago and haven't seen there since for the skin. The sparkle is hard to see in the photo {it always is}. The others are fabrics I received in swaps from fellow Twi-Quilters Iris and Wanda.

The advanced block for this month is called The Meadow. Cat took a screen shot from the movie and turned it into a paper piecing pattern. I've debated back and forth for two years now {I got a sneak preview} whether or not I was going to use Cat's meadow in my quilt. There's this whole book vs. movie vs. pros and cons of each pattern going on in my head. Long story short {mark the date and time; that won't happen again} I've finally decided to use Iris' meadow pattern from the Piece, Love, Twilight quilt. But make sure you go and take a peek at Cat's block. It is amazing!

Today's post brought to you by:

Twilighty Fabric Postcards

Why don't you sit with me today? –Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 87

Yeah. I know . It is completely ridiculous to be so be so into a series of books about teenagers — teenage vampires, no less. But I am. If you haven't read the books, you can't judge. And if you have read them and don't like them, well, not everyone has good taste .

In an effort to feed my obsession shortly after first reading the books, I searched the internet for anything Twilight related. Eventually, I found TwilightMOMS^TM, where I met lots of other Twilight obsessed people. Those of us who liked to sew and/or quilt kind of banded together and formed a little group. We are each working on our own individual Twilight themed quilts and we've made a few quilts together as a group; we sent one to Stephenie Meyer and the other two were auctioned and all the proceeds were donated to charity. We live scattered across the States and we even have a member in Australia. We've been quilting together, coordinating our efforts via e-mail and private messages, for almost two years now. We've become quite good friends. We do a gift exchange at least once a year, we commemorate our anniversary with a little swap, and those who want to send each of the others a little something for their birthdays {tradition is a card and a fat quarter}. And we very often trade in Twilighty fabrics and merchandise.

Last fall, I decided to make Twilighty fabric postcards to send out with my birthday fat quarters. I used this tutorial, with a few minor alterations. I finished my outer edges differently {she did a satin stitch, I used pinking shears}. And I used Pellon Peltex 72F II double-sided fusible stablizer instead of the non-fusible Peltex to save on Heat 'n Bond to fuse the front and back to the Peltex. I still used Heat 'n Bond to fuse the additional fabric elements on top. For the pictures, I used fusible ink-jet fabric sheets.

I had all the supplies necessary on-hand. I bought I don't know how many yards of the double-sided fusible Peltex {with a 50% off coupon, I'm sure} probably a year-and-a-half ago, planning to make birthday fabric postcards to send to family and friends in 2010. I never got around to and I still have a ton of it left. It is all cut and ready to be made into more postcards. Maybe 2012 will be my year.

I started working on these last fall. I was going to make them a few at a time, as the birthdays came up. But life got on the way and the three I started with for October birthdays got set aside. Then two more birthdays happened and I decided that I'd better just finish them all in one go and get the late ones out to the birthdays that had already passed and then be prepared for the birthdays still to come. And while I was at it, I made a few extras.

These are for the girls who are Team Jacob. I used these as an opportunity to to a little free-motion quilting practice. I did pebbles across the brown strip. The first one wasn't much fun, but I'd gotten into a groove by the second one. My original plan was to quilt in a birthday wish using the character's font from the book, but after spending well over an hour on the first one, I changed my mind. This cute little paw print fabric I used for the background came from Angie.

These are for the girls who are Team Switzerland. Again, I did a little FMQ practice — horizontal straight lines on the background, a few flourishes at the corners of the pictures and some elongated loops across the burgundy strip. Sorry about the fuzzy picture.

And these are the Team Edward postcards. I found this fabulous batik with the apples on sale on-line, six or eight months ago and bought a yard, wondering what fabulous project I could make with it. LOVE it for these postcards! The red Moda Marbles came from Wanda. I quilted swirly scrolls along the red accent strip and did flourishes or frames around the picture.

More postcards for Team Edward. I did the same quilting on these; swirly scrolls on the accent strip and frames around the pictures.

Our group is predominantly Team Edward. Iris sent me that gorgeous gold fabric I used for the accent strips. Nothing too original with the quilting on these — elongated loops across the gold strips and flourishes on the pictures. I also did vertical straight-line quilting on the backgrounds for these.

I did stippling on the red background and just a straight stitch across the black accent strip. That fabric is some of the tiny bit I have left from the quilt we made for Stephenie Meyer. I love the swirls in it.

I love this picture of Bella and Edward. I kind of went with what I knew for the quilting and did elongated loops across the burgundy accent strip and flourishes on the pictures.

And this is my absolute favorite — Edward in the meadow. Wanda found the background fabric and sent a little bit to everyone in our group who wanted some. It goes perfectly with this picture. I did little flowers across the accent strips and flourishes at the corners of the pictures.

And there you have it. Fifteen Twilighty fabric post cards. Am I going to count this as fifteen finishes? You bet your sweet Aunt Fanny I am! It is nice to start the year off with a bang, especially since most of what I've been working on are things I started a while ago. Hooray for clearing out projects half-done!

Today's post brought to you by:

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 5

"You see, every person smells different, has a different essence. If you locked an alcoholic in a room full of stale beer, he'd gladly drink it. But he could resist, if he wished to, if he were a recovering alcoholic. New let's say you place in that room a glass of hundred-year-old brandy, the rarest, finest cognac – and filled the room with its warm aroma – how do you think he would fare then?"

We sat silently, looking into each other's eyes – trying to read each other's thoughts.

He broke the silence first.

"Maybe that's not the right comparison. Maybe it would be too easy to turn down the brandy. Perhaps I should have made our alcoholic a heroin addict instead."

"So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

He smiled swiftly, seeming to appreciate my effort. "Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin."
–Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 267-268

Cat told me once that she sometimes dreams in geometric shapes. She really is a very talented lady. I love her designs. Slowly I'm catching up on her super fun Twilight Mystery Block of the Month. I've finished with June .


The focus for June was Bella. Here is the beginner's block, a simple heart in red – red because Edward loves the smell of Bella's blood. [Editor's Note: I'm so not into vampires and this sounds totally cheesy, but trust me, just read the books.] I used Fairy Frost in Scarlet for Bella's heart and reduced the pattern to 3" {60%}. Because the beginner's block is the same this month as last {just in a different color} Cat did a cute bonus pattern for people who like vampires with fangs. I'm not one of those people, so I don't think I'll have a need for that pattern, but I do think it is funny.

The advanced block is the charm bracelet that Jacob gave to Bella in Eclipse. This pattern is one of the first that Cat designed, but she has just now released it {well, back in June }. This was my first attempt. You can read all about why it wasn't right here.

This is the Bella's Bracelet block that is going into my Twilight Quilt. I think this one came out much better. It is 6" {I enlarged the pattern to 120%} and you can read all about why this one works here.

I was starting to feel all on top of things, but Cat just put out Block 9 this weekend. I'm only hyperventilating a little. I've got the beginner's blocks for months 6, 7, 8 and 9 to do {and those go really fast}, and only the advanced blocks for months 6 and 7 to get all caught up. Being pattern tester has its advantages .

My Twilight Quilt: Bella's Bracelet Redux

[Jacob] turned the bag upside down and shook something silver into my hand. Metal links clinked quietly against each other.

"I didn't make the bracelet," he admitted. "Just the charm."

Fastened to one of the links of the silver bracelet was a tiny wooden carving. I held it between my fingers to look at it closer. It was amazing the amount of detail involved in the little figurine – the miniature wolf was utterly realistic. It was even carved out of some red-brown wood that matched the color of his skin. –Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 374

[Edward] pulled my left wrist away from my leg, and touched the silver bracelet for just a moment. Then he gave me my arm back.

I examined it cautiously. On the opposite side of the chain from the wolf, there now hung a brilliant heart-shaped crystal. It was cut in a million facets, so that even in the subdued light shining from the lamp, it sparkled. I inhaled a low gasp. –Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 438

Bella's Bracelet was one of the first blocks I made for my Twilight Quilt. That is to say, after I discarded all the blocks from the Zeppelin Threads Mystery Quilt, made my own layout and then changed it 2½ times, it was one of the first blocks I did. But it just wasn't quite right. The block {really, set of two blocks, because I'm making two quilts} went in the huge pile of orphaned Twilight quilt blocks and I went back to the drawing board.

I puzzled and puzzled over exactly the right background fabric to use in this block. The Mystery Quilt assigned purple to Bella, presumably, because in the movie Charlie buys her a purple comforter set for her bed. I tried to carry that over from the Mystery Quilt; the idea of assigning a color and fabric to each character to use throughout the quilt. And I wanted to use the fabrics I'd already invested in. It works great for Jacob. I found a really cool Moda Marbles in russet for him. I used that for his little wolf charm on the bracelet and on his Wolf Paw block. And it works for Edward too – white and sparkly. I used that in the heart charm on the bracelet, in his Diamond Heart block and in the Fire and Ice block. {Sidebar: I'm wondering why I didn't use Jacob's russet fabric in that block too. I went with an earthy orange fabric to represent fire, because the block is called Fire and Ice. But the design is very abstract and since it represents Jacob and Edward I could have gone with the russet fabric just as easily as the orange. I'd better not think about that too much, or I'll obsess over it and have another block for the orphan pile .}

I had a hard time with a color for Bella, though. The Mystery Quilt, with mostly traditionally pieced and appliqué blocks, was a very different style than my new layout, though. The fabric I used just didn't work for the paper pieced bracelet block {but it looks really nice in my Snowball Quilt }, so I went out and bought four or five other purple fabrics. Some of the Twilight Quilter's Coven girls even sent me purple fabrics. But none of them worked. So, I shoved the pattern to the back of my stack. As time passed, I pretty much gave up the idea of using one color to represent Bella and started thinking about the best color to use to set off the bracelet; the best color to use as a background. The last time I thought about it seriously, gold was at the top of my list. I like gold and silver together, and it seemed a nice, neutral color. I didn't have a specific fabric in mind, but last week when I pulled out my things to work on Edward's Diamond Heart, right on top was a piece of pretty ivory fabric with tiny gold flecks on it that Wanda had sent me. Bella's Bracelet was next in line after the Diamond Heart, so my mind was working on it more actively. Things clicked into place and I finally had a fabric that seemed just right for the background.

I used Silver Fairy Frost for the bracelet {what else? } Under the 'frost' overlay, the fabric has subtle variations in color and I used the lighter fabric for the front of the bracelet and the darker fabric for the back, as indicated in the pattern, to give it perspective. As mentioned, the little wolf charm is made from a Moda Marbles in russet and the heart charm is white with iridescent sparkles {Crystalline Solids from JoAnn's}. I'll add jump rings to the block {probably after it is quilted} so the charms are attached to the bracelet.

This is one of the first Twilight patterns Cat designed. We used it in the Stephenie Meyer quilt and it is included in Cat's Mystery BOM.

And now my favorite part of my Twilight Quilt Sew and Tell, the layout with one more block filled in :

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Graduation from Forks High

Edward kissed me quickly, sighed, and went to go stand with the C's. . .

I walked down the line to take my place behind Jessica, mildly curious as to why she was suddenly so friendly. . .

Jess was babbling before I was in earshot.

". . . so amazing. I mean, it seems like we just met, and now we're graduating together," she gushed. "Can you believe it's over? I feel like screaming!" . . .

She droned on and on, and I was sure the sudden return of our friendship was due to graduation nostalgia. . .  I paid attention as well as I could while I shrugged into my robe. And I found that I was glad that things could end on a good note with Jessica.

Because it was an ending, no matter what Eric, the valedictorian, had to say about commencement meaning "beginning. . ."

It went so quickly. . .

I watched as Alice, suddenly appearing, danced across the stage. . . Edward followed behind. . . Only the two of them could carry off the hideous yellow and still look the way they did. . .

Mr. Greene said something I didn't hear, and everyone around me shouted and screamed. Yellow hats rained down.
-Bella Swan, Eclipse, pages 353-355

This is my Graduation from Forks High block. When I showed Mr. Bug the pattern, he pointed to the section with the tassel in it and asked, is that actual size? He wondered how all those tiny pieces were going to come off. I think the tassel is my favorite part, though. I used Fairy Frost in Gold, Yellow, Banana and Snow. I also used Fairy Frost on the diploma scroll; Snow, Icing and Silver. I like how the dark blue background makes the yellow really stand out.

Finals were done and most of them had been a cakewalk. My high school education was over. And I didn't really know how I felt about that. I couldn’t look at it objectively, tied up as it was with my human life being over. -Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 323

I'm going to use this block in my own Twilight Quilt. I am debating about whether to keep the blue background for my quilt or to use my trusty black Civil War Reproduction fabric for my own blocks. In my 'research,' I found out the Forks High School colors are blue and yellow, and as I mentioned, I like how the blue works with the yellow cap. But I also like continuity in my quilt, which would mean using the black background. Opinions?

This block is going in the mail today, on its way to Iris, who designed this quilt and will be assembling it. Hooray! I'm finished!

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Edward's Bedroom

Edward's room was at the farthest end of the third floor hallway, hard to mistake even when the huge house had been less familiar. But when I switched the light on, I paused in confusion. Had I picked the wrong door?

Alice giggled.

It was the same room, I realized quickly; the furniture had just been rearranged. The couch was pushed to the north wall and the stereo shoved up against the vast shelves of CDs -- to make room for the colossal bed that now dominated the central space.

The southern wall of glass reflected the scene back like a mirror, making it look twice as bad.

It matched. The coverlet was a dull gold, just lighter than the walls; the frame was black, made of intricately patterned wrought iron. Sculpted metal roses wound in vines up the tall posts and formed a bowery lattice overhead.
-Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 150

The Twilight series of books are a far cry from a Harlequin romance novel, but things get a little steamy in Eclipse when Edward provides a bed for Bella to sleep in while he has his family hold her hostage when he is away on hunting trips. He returns early from a hunting trip and there is a lot of kissing. But that is as far as he lets it get. As a matter of fact, when Edward himself holds Bella hostage with the rest of his family away for the night, Bella tries to seduce Edward. Fortunately, Edward is a bizarrely moral vampire and insists that Bella marry him first.

I pause here to point out that I realize that it is very silly for a 37 year-old woman with two children and a wonderful husband to be obsessed enough with teenage vampires to be quilting about them. When I talk about the books, it makes it sound even sillier. But Stephenie Meyer can tell quite a story.

I'm happy to report that I've finished the most difficult of the two blocks I signed up for for the Eclipse Charity Quilt with my on-line quilting group. I think it came out pretty well. The pieces in the ring and the rose were so small and intricate that I'm going a little bit cross-eyed. I plan to finish the second block tomorrow and get them in the mail to the group member who is assembling the quilt.

I coveted you. I had no right to want you -- but I reached out and took you anyway. And now look what's become of you! Trying to seduce a vampire. -Edward Cullen, Eclipse, page 454