Twilight Saga Charity Quilt

When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end. –Bella Swan, Twilight, page 1

I know. My geek is showing. But we're all friends here, right? And it's no secret that I ♥ Twilight. Since January of 2009, I've been working on a Twilight-themed quilt {which I really want to finish this year} and also collaborating with an on-line group of friends to create more Twilight-themed quilts, which have been auctioned or "raffled" off and all the proceeds given to charity. We call ourselves the Twi-Quilters. And we all love Twilight. But more than that, we've become friends.

All told, we've made seven eight quilts together and we are proud to show our ninth quilt and to give you an opportunity to win it—all for charity, of course.

My part in this quilt was the center block; representations of the four book covers. The patterns were designed by Cat, and I'd done three of the four covers several times each. The Eclipse cover was the only one I hadn't done and I was excited to try it. I enlarged the patterns to 12" and used my favorite Fairy Frost fabrics to put them together.

Our group members have donated all the fabrics and supplies as well as our time, to create this beautiful quilt, which includes our favorite scenes from all four of the Twilight Saga books. Angie, our quilter extraordinaire, has expertly and artfully finished the quilt and we're going to give it away to one lucky fan! For every $5 donation from you, which will go directly to George Mark Children's House, you’ll get one chance to win the quilt. We hope you'll give generously to this worthy cause. Donations will be accepted through March 9, 2013 and the winner will be announced by March 15, 2013.

Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more information and links to posts about the individual blocks..

Make your donation

The Twilight Saga Charity Quilt

“Twilight again,” he murmured. “Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end.” –Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 495

I belong to this really awesome on-line quilting group. We met through the TwilightMOMS forums and live scattered across the US. We even have a member {and pattern designer extraordinaire} in Australia. We're a little nutty in our obsession with a series of books about sparkly teenage vampires, and the crazy is translated with fabric and thread into quilts. We call ourselves the Twi-Quilters.


Over the last four years, we've created four Twilight themed quilts. We gave our first one to Stephenie Meyer, the author of our favorite books, and we auctioned off the other three and donated the proceeds to two different charities.

The final movie in the Twilight franchise, Breaking Dawn, part 2 is set to be released in just under a month. In conjunction with this culminating event, we are pleased to announce the Twilight Saga Charity Quilt. Here's just a teaser ...

The quilt will also include one embroidered quote and five blocks from each of the books, depicting our favorite moments in the Twilight series. Watch for more about this quilt coming soon.

As always, our goal is to raise money for a worthy cause. We're donating our time and materials and for every $5 donation you make to our charity, you'll get one chance to win the quilt. We've chosen George Mark Children's Hospital to receive your contributions. Details on donations will be announced soon.


In the meantime, here's a little something to tide you over. I mean, is there such a thing as too much Twilight?

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: Alice's Porsche, Take Two

“How far is it from Florence to Volterra?”

“That depends on how fast you drive. . . . Bella?”

“Yes?”

She eyed me speculatively. “How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?”

A bright yellow Porsche screamed to a stop a few feet in front of where I paced, the word TURBO scrawled in silver cursive across its back. Everyone beside me on the crowded airport sidewalk stared.

“Hurry, Bella!” Alice shouted impatiently through the open passenger window.

I ran to the door and threw myself in, feeling as though I might as well be wearing a black stocking over my head.

“Sheesh, Alice,” I complained. “Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?”

“The important question,” she corrected, “is whether I could have stolen a faster car, and I don't think so. I got lucky.”

“I'm sure that will be very comforting at the roadblock.”

She trilled a laugh. “Trust me, Bella. If anyone sets up a roadblock, it will be behind us.” She hit the gas then, as if to prove her point. –Bella Swan and Alice Cullen, New Moon, page 439–440

My first Porsche block wasn't quite right. I'm pretty sure I didn't check the scaling before I printed the pattern, so the car came out pretty small in the completed block. And the tiny little flowers on the fabric I picked weren't so small on the tiny little Porsche. So, I did a re-make. This is the last time I'm going to re-make any blocks for this quilt, I promise. Maybe.

First, a shout-out to Iris, my enabler, who sent me the rock fabric. Twice. And a special thanks to Cat for her amazing pattern. Thanks to both of you! I wanted the car to be really spectacular, so I used Fairy Frost in Canary this time. I mean, what was I thinking before? Fairy Frost is the obvious fabric choice for a shiny yellow Porsche. I also made sure I had the scaling right before I printed, and I even enlarged it a tiny bit so that the car would fill the block a little more. The button wheels fit this car much better. And to complete the look, I did a little satin stitch embroidery for the emblem on the hood. I think this one's a keeper.

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 9

Your best friend is a werewolf? –Alice Cullen, New Moon, page 387

The beginner's block for month 9 of Cat's mystery quilt was another fun and quick block to put together. I used Fairy Frost, of course, I really like how it came out.

I'd already done the advanced block, but I thought it would be fun to show again.

I also did two different sets of paw prints for the New Moon quilt. This first set was about 50% of original size.

Jacob

Paul

Sam

Embry

Jared

It was a good thing that this is one of my favorite of Cat's patterns because we did a revision on the layout and the first set of blocks was just a little bit too big to fit the new layout, so I did a second set on an even smaller scale. After making so many of this block, I still think it is really fun to do.

Today's post brought to you by:

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 6

The wolf closest to me, the reddish brown one, turned its head slightly at the sound of my gasp.

The wolf's eyes were dark, nearly black. It gazed at me for a fraction of a second, the deep eyes seeming too intelligent for a wild animal.

As it stared at me, I suddenly thought of Jacob. –Bella Swan, New Moon, page 244


I'm slowly closing the gap, getting caught up with Cat's Twilight Mystery Block of the Month. July's focus was Jacob. The beginner's block is the same as the previous two months; a heart, this time in Jacob-y colors. I used Fairy Frost in Coin for Jacob's russet colored heart.

I'm a very visual person, so I thought it would be fun to see how all the blocks I've finished look together. I'll probably put a black sashing between them with red setting squares at the corner, but I haven't decided for sure.

The advanced block for July is the cutest wolf block. Which presents a bit of a dilemma for me. As I mentioned when I posted my May block, I already had my layout decided on when Cat announced her BOM. I'd chosen to use her paw print to represent the part of Jacob who is Bella's friend, who she loves. And I chose Jennifer Ofenstein's Howling Wolf block {pattern here} to represent the part of Jacob that Bella can't stand, the pushy, obnoxious, moronic DOG! {Eclipse, page 332} Cat's wolf is too sweet to represent the angry, hurt side of Jacob and I've already got the paw print done for the nice side of Jacob, so to keep my pile of orphaned Twilight blocks from growing, I'm going to have to go with common sense and leave this wolf block out of my quilt.

Perhaps I'll do a wolf pack wall hanging sometime {after I finished the 572 other things I'm working on}, making the wolves in their different colors {yeah, I'm gonna list them all }:
Sam {black}
Paul {dark silver}
Jared {medium brown}
Embry {gray w/spots}
Jacob {russet}
Quil {deep chocolate brown}
Leah {silver}
Seth {sandy brown}
Collin {?}
Brady {?}

Cat's Twilight Block of the Month: Block 3

It didn't matter to me that we were surrounded by our extraordinarily dangerous enemies. 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


I haven't worked on anything Twilighty in a while. I've been listening to the audio books lately while I have been working on other things, so I thought I'd dust my paper piecing skills off and see what I could get done. The April blocks {yes, I know I'm waayyy behind} are representations of the New Moon book cover. Everybody is scratching their heads over the parrot tulip that graces the cover. It is a really far stretch to relate it to anything in the book, so I won't even go into that.

I'm doing all my beginner's blocks at 3" {I reduced the pattern to 60%} and I want all the images to really pop, so I'm using my stash of Fairy Frost. I scanned the block, so some of the shimmer is lost. I used Hollyberry for the red {I also used it in the apple for my beginner's block one} and Snow for the white. I really like this stylized version of the tulip. The pattern is really fast and easy, too. I finished it in about an hour.

The advanced block is a more literal recreation of the book cover. I got to be Cat's pattern tester for this block. You can see my first block here. The finished block comes out at 5". The dots {while awesome for other stuff} are a little distracting and my seams pull just a little. Then I reduced the pattern to 80% {see also: ideas-that-sound-great-in-my-head-but-are-a-little-tricky-in-the-execution } and made four more of these to use in our quilt for Stephenie Meyer. I did three other parrot tulips blocks {enlarged to 120% for a 6" finished block}; one for a book cover banner, and two more for my own twin Twilight Quilts {have I mentioned ideas that sound good in my head but are a little crazy in real life?}.

I know I've posted about this block before, but since it's been a while since I've done anything Twilighty, a re-run will have to do.

Here is a little index {mostly for me} of each of the blocks that have been released to date. I've got a little catching up to do .
Block 1, February: Twilight Book Cover
Block 2, March: Charlie
Block 3, April: New Moon Book Cover
Block 4, May: Edward
Block 5, June: Bella {with bonus pattern}
Block 6, July: Jacob
Block 7, August: Edward & Bella
Block 8, September: Edward, Bella & Jacob

Piece, Love, Twilight: A Quilt for Stephenie Meyer

I've been a member of the Twilight Quilters Coven for more than a year. Our official anniversary is March 31, 2009, but we were talking about Twilight and quilting and working on our own Twilight themed quilts before we formed our group. We live scattered across the United States, Canada and even have a member in Australia. As we chatted about the books and quilting and quilting about the books we decided that we wanted to give something back to the woman who has inspired each of us in so many ways. Despite the geographical obstacles, we began work on a Twilight themed quilt that was eventually named Piece, Love, Twilight: A Quilt for Stepehnie Meyer.

When we began this quilt, we'd never met each other in person. We coordinated design and blocks on a thread at TwilightMOMS. Our starting point came from a member who has since left our group. She suggested a medallion for the center of the quilt with a representation of each of the book covers in the parts of the medallion. Because I'm bossy and opinionated, she and another of our group nominated me to be the project leader, and being bossy and opinionated, I took the job. I took the medallion idea and ran with it. I made a scale paper model of the medallion and then we began discussing ways to complete the rest of the quilt. We brainstormed for the best ways represent the books in quilt blocks and make it work with the medallion center. We decided to put a quote from each book in the four corners of the quilt and blocks representing characters and key parts of the books on all four sides. I had no experience with PhotoShop (still don't), or even Microsoft Paint, so I Mickey Moused another paper model, printing out pictures and a rough grid filled in with color so that we could have a layout to be getting on with.

Each of us signed up for blocks that interested us and when they were completed, everyone mailed them to me for assembly. My part of the quilt was the three outer layers of the medallion. I felt like the quilter who had come up with the medallion idea should have the honor of creating the center block. Here are a few shots of my blocks.

This is the parrot tulip from the New Moon cover. The Twilight and Breaking Dawn covers really make sense after you've read the books, but the parrot tulips on the New Moon cover have a lot of folks shaking their heads. In the weeks after I read the books, I read on-line somewhere that Stephenie Meyer didn't have a lot of say in the book covers until the later books.

My favorite paper piecing designer, Cat is responsible for no less than six of the designs in this quilt. But at the time, she didn't have a design for the Eclipse cover ribbon (another one that makes us wonder). So I decided to use real ribbon. This was a bit of a scary proposition, though, and so I sashed the center block, cut my setting triangles and moved on to making the Breaking Dawn chess board. I'd already modeled that out in about 12,472 1" paper squares, so I knew what I was up against there. I thought that if I had the Breaking Dawn portion of the medallion all ready to go, it would force me to come back to the ribbon and just do it.

I used the actual book cover as a model for the placement of the ribbon on the quilt. I snipped away a section of the selvage edge of the ribbon with my sharpest scissors and pulled out the cross threads. Then I hacked away the length-wise threads kind of the way the hairstylist does when she's texturizing your hair. I pinned it in place and sewed it down. It was kind of a group consensus to make it a continuous pattern through the four setting triangles, rather than repeating the ribbon break in each section. I think it worked out well.

This section was pretty smooth sailing, for the most part. I strip pieced as much as possible and only sewed individual 1½" blocks when absolutely necessary. I used the Breaking Dawn cover for the chess pieces — traced them onto paper and then reversed that over a light table and onto Heat 'n Bond Lite. The shadow details were added in by the marvelously talented quilter, Vivian of Quilts with Love.

Here is the complete center of the quilt. I find myself wondering if this quilt has any appeal greater than a niche market. But you kinda have to admit that the red, white and black really catches the eye, even if you have no clue what it is all about.

The blocks came in and as everyone else's work on the quilt was complete, I still had a bit to do. I arranged the blocks around the center and took photos of different layouts. We talked about it and may have even had a formal vote on it. The layout we ended up with was a general consensus among the group. When I finished the top, I mailed it to Vivian, who did a beautiful custom quilting job on it. She then hand-delivered the quilt back to me for binding and a label.

Elizabeth (l) and Vivian (r), July 8, 2009

When the quilt was finished, we entered it in the Springville Art Museum quilt show where it won Best Group Quilt with a $100 prize (which was donated to ALSF) and the Pacific International Quilt Festival. We were even featured in the February/March 2010 issue of Quilter's Home Magazine. We sent the quilt to Stephenie Meyer in January of 2010 as thanks for the inspiration she gives to each of us.

Here are some close-up shots of the individual blocks (place cursor in the right hand corner to bring up play options to pause, stop, etc. the slideshow):

Block credits
Medallion Center:
Twilight Book Cover: Forbidden Fruit pattern by Cat, piecing by Shannon
New Moon Book Cover: Broken Petals pattern by Cat, piecing by Elizabeth
Eclipse Book Cover: design and piecing by Elizabeth
Breaking Dawn Book Cover: design and piecing by Elizabeth

Miscellaneous:
Quilt layout, assembly and binding: by Elizabeth
Book Quotes: machine embroidery by Jerri Lynn
Machine Quilting: by Vivian

Top Row:
The Forks Forest: design and piecing by Wanda
Charlie: Two-Tone Star pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, design and piecing by Jerri Lynn
Vampire Baseball: pattern by Elizabeth, piecing by Wanda
Bella's Truck: Red Truck pattern by Cat, piecing by Joyce
“My” Jacob: Paw Print pattern by Cat, piecing by Jean

Left Column:
Vegetarian Vampire Eyes: traditional jewel box pattern, piecing by Jean
Carlisle & Esme: Hardback Book pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, layout and piecing by Iris
Emmett & Rosalie: Grizzly Bear pattern by Linda Hibbert at Silver Linings Originals, piecing by Shannon
Jasper & Alice: Crystal Ball pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, Jasper fabric by Iris, piecing by Shannon
The Meadow: pattern and piecing by Iris

Right Column:
The “Other” Jacob: Howling Wolf pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, piecing by Joyce
La Push: First Beach: La Push: First Beach pattern by Cat, piecing by Jerri Lynn
Bella's Bracelet: Charm Bracelet pattern by Cat, piecing by Joyce
Edward's Diamond Heart: pattern and piecing by Iris
The Volturi: Clock Tower at Volterra: pattern and piecing by Iris

Bottom Row:
And So the Lion Fell In Love With the Lamb: Lion pattern by Linda Hibbert, Lamb pattern by Four Twin Sisters, piecing by Shannon
Bella & Edward's Wedding Dance: Strike Up the Band part 1 and part 2 pattern by Liz Schwartz & Stephen Seifert, piecing by Shannon
Isle Esme: Quill pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, layout and piecing by Iris
Renesmee's Locket: design and piecing by Joyce
Bella & Edward's Stone Cottage: pattern and piecing by Shannon

Our group also created a New Moon quilt for the release of the movie in November of 2009. The quilt was auctioned off for $850, all of which was donated to ALSF.

We are currently working on an Eclipse donation quilt, the proceeds of which will also go to ALSF.

Working with a geographically scattered group creates an interesting dynamic. You have to give up a certain amount of control and develop trust in your fellow quilters. The result is sometimes unexpected, but alway amazing. Thanks ladies for a wonderful year of quilting together. I'm looking forward to many more.

P.S. Although we really expected nothing in return, it was totally awesome to receive a personalized autographed New Moon collector's edition from Stephenie Meyer in the mail. Each of us got one. Pretty amazing!

Sun, New Moon & Quilting

Today is the Vernal Equinox. From Wikipedia, An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the sun, the sun being vertically above a point on the Equator. What that really means is that the long nights and short days are over -- it is officially spring! Hooray! And spring is beautiful in my neck of the woods. I hope to find a bit of time to putter around in the gardens today.

Today is just full of special things. Today, New Moon is available on DVD. Were you one of the enthusiastic, vampire-clad fans celebrating at the pre-launch parties? I don't have quite enough nerve to do that, although I do have a pair of golden contacts (thanks, Iris) that are fun to wear. Or did you just brave the crowds, head ducked, to get your copy at midnight last night? I'm not quite that brave either. I'm going today, hoping that the crowds have thinned and there's still a copy left for me. Different stores are offering different features. When Twilight came out, I HAD to have two different copies of the DVD because of the special features. This time I'm only getting one copy. The special features on the Wal-Mart DVD interest me most this time -- exclusive scenes from Eclipse. Need I say more?

Today is also National Quilting Day. The National Quilting Association has put together a quilt pattern (download here) for groups, guilds or individuals to work on in honor of our troops. They suggest you gather up your scraps, put this quilt together and donate it to a VA hospital, a military base if one is near you or the family of a neighbor or community church member serving in the military. This is a very worthy cause, indeed, but only one suggestion of how to spend National Quilting Day. I'm off to get my copy of New Moon DVD, perhaps drop in at my favorite LQS, Corn Wagon Quilt Co. and see what is happening there, and then settle in with some sewing and my newly acquired DVD and all its special features. Then if there's any time left in the day, I'm going to dig a little in the dirt.

Happy Spring! Happy New Moon Day! Happy Quilt Day!