Favourite Things Friday: Reading and Books

Story is one of the most serious intruders into the heart. –Jane Yolen

I love to read. I've always loved to read. It is wonderful to let a book take you to places you've never been before, to explore new ideas, to meet new people, to live a new life. I love reading so much so that in college one of my three minors was English Lit. But when I got to the 400 level classes, I was in over my head with all the required reading. I could have made it work if I didn't also have homework for other classes, a job and, most importantly, social commitments. Everything kind of suffered, and I often went to class without having all of my reading finished. It was really stressful trying to balance, because I wanted to read, understand and enjoy everything I was supposed to be reading, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. When I quit school {three semesters short of graduating }, I took a break from reading. For five years. Mr. Bug {who is always reading} wasn't even sure I could read .

My big reading come-back was the Harry Potter series; it was my first book obsession. Which is ironic because I didn't really like Sorcerer's Stone the first time I read it . It was December of 2001 and Sorcerer's Stone had just come out in theaters. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie because books are always better, {except in the case of The Time Traveler's Wife, which is one book I wish I could un-read}, and though I finished it, I didn't really enjoy it much. At the time, Mr. Bug had to travel frequently for work and ended up having to stay over a weekend, and so feeling sorry for himself that he wasn't home, he went to see Sorcerer's Stone without me. I put my copy of Harry Potter on the shelf and didn't give it a second thought. Late in the spring of 2002, I picked up the DVD and couldn't believe how magical Harry Potter's world was. I decided to give Sorcerer's Stone a second chance; I read it again and was completely enchanted. Goblet of Fire {book four} had just come out in paperback, so I picked that up, along with Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban {books two and three}, and my love affair with Harry Potter began. When Order of the Phoenix came out a year later, I re-read books 1—4 and Mr. Bug picked up a copy of book five for me at midnight. Two years later, I re-read books 1—5 and then I went to Wal-Mart just after midnight to get a gallon of milk and a copy of Half-Blood Prince. And two years after that, I re-read books 1—6, dressed up as Professor McGonagall, went to the release party, arriving an hour-an-a-half before midnight to enter the costume contest hoping that would help make the time pass faster because I couldn't wait to get my copy of Deathly Hallows.

{My collection of hardback 1^st edition Harry Potter books}

Somewhere between Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows {circa 2008}, I discovered that I liked hardback books. Mr. Bug is paperback all the way, and considering his appetite for reading and his dislike of the public library system, paperback is definitely the more economical way to go. But I like the way a hardback book handles the love an attention and re-readings I like to give my books. I had HP 6 and 7 in hardback but the rest of my books were in paperback {although I'd bought book 5 in hardback, I'd given it to my mom and she bought it for me in paperback when it came out}. I had first editions — which aren't too hard to come by — so I went in search of first editions for books 1—5. I found what I was looking for on eBay. The prices were reasonable, but aside from book 5 {which is in better condition than my books} their conditions were only fair. I'm wondering, now, if I could have found new copies of them still circulating somewhere in a bookstore .

And I'm not exactly sure how to fit this in, but if you're a Harry Potter fan, check out these funny posts.
Lord Voldemort's Inbox
Severus Snape's Inbox

I'm the sort of person who likes to be busy all the time; I multi-task whenever possible, and since reading excludes any other activities, I'm particular about what I read. I've developed a funny sort of habit. I like to read what is familiar to me; books I've read before and enjoyed {as suggested by the number of times I've read through the Harry Potter series; it is more than I indicated above}. That way I know I won't be wasting my time. So, it is unusual for me to read something new. But two years ago, I picked up another book obsession. No, I don't think obsession is the right word. Addiction is more accurate. Which is an interesting thing because I was so hesitant to even read these books. I'm talking, of course, about the Twilight series. I kept hearing, It's the next Harry Potter. That put me completely off, because nothing was going to replace Harry Potter for me.

In the spring of 2008, I bought Penelope on DVD and there was a trailer for the upcoming Twilight movie. I recognized the male actor as "that kid who played Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire," and was intrigued by the chemistry between him and the female lead. So, I bought Twilight, and the sequel, New Moon in paperback. And they sat on top of my chest of drawers for a few months. Mr. Bug picked them up and read them. He said he thought that I might like them. Little did he know . A few months later, Breaking Dawn {the fourth book in the series} came out, so I picked that up, as well as the third book, Eclipse {both in hard back}, and Mr. Bug read those too. Then all four books sat in a neat little collection on top of the chest of drawers for another couple of months.

When I finally got around to reading them, these books made a big impression on me. I read the first one in three days, pausing to go back and re-read favorite parts {which is unusual for me — I like to read start to finish}. Then I read the next three books in the next three days, averaging about four hours of sleep a night and stopping only to feed the Little Bugs cold cereal or ramen noodles for dinner. And I became one of those fans . Completely obsessed. So obsessed that I'm {slowly} making a Twilight quilt. And while I'm talking Stephenie Meyer books, I also have to mention, The Host. It is a really great read.

{My Stephenie Meyer collection; the New Moon special edition is autographed}

Fablehaven is another fun series, although I'm not quite as obsessed with these books. My sweet friend, Jenna, gave us the first book for Christmas a few years ago. We read it aloud to the Little Bugs and have enjoyed each new volume in the now finished series.

It is impossible to list all the books I've read and loved. Anne of Green Gables and The Wizard of Oz both certainly deserve a mention. Shakespeare and Jane Austen are among my favorite writers. And these books sit on my nightstand, mostly to look pretty. I got them for Christmas a couple of years ago; they are leather-bound hardback editions of their complete works, with gilded-edged pages. But I know what are in those books and love them. I bought a few paperback editions of my favorite of Shakespeare's works at the used book store so that I didn't have to tote that gigantic tome around with me if I wanted to read a favorite. And I've given Anna Karenina a whirl. The writing flows nicely, but I haven't gotten far enough into the story to get caught up by it, so it sits, patiently waiting for me to get back to it.

Jane Austen was quite an amazing writer. She wrote what she knew and it is still relevant today. Of all her female characters, I love Elizabeth Bennet best. She was strong, she knew her heart and she didn't let the conventions of the time dictate her path. I love it when she tells Mr. Darcy, no, because he totally deserved it. And even though things work out in the end and he is fairly dreamy, he's not my favorite of Jane Austen's male characters. I love Mr. Knightley from Emma best. He is always Emma's friend and always has her best interest at heart. And for another funny post, check out Elizabeth Bennet's Inbox

This is another favorite collection of books. Both of the Little Bugs have small bookshelves in their rooms, filled with great stories. I bought these Classic Starts, condensed versions of classic novels, at Barnes and Noble as a way to help LadyBug develop a love of reading. We started with The Prince and the Pauper, her favorite story, which was so wonderfully retold that I had to have the entire collection {although I discovered with a quick peek over at B&N that there are a few new volumes}. We've read Dracula and Frankenstein and Robin Hood and The Story of King Arthur and The Three Musketeers together, with expectations of many more great adventures together.

Today's post brought to you by:

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!

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Announced today on Stephenie Meyer's web-site, a new book will be coming out on June 5, 2010. The book is titled The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella. From Stephenie's web-site:

This story was something that I worked on off and on for a while, just for fun, in between the times I was writing or editing other Twilight novels. Later, when the concept for The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide came up, I thought that might be a good place for Bree. Her story is a nice complement to Eclipse; it explains a lot of the things that Bella never knew. So I dusted it off and finished it up for placement in the Guide.

Then I got the news: my "short story" was nearly 200 pages long when typeset. It was too long to fit into the Guide—without ending up with a tome as heavy as the Oxford English Dictionary. My publisher approached me with the idea of releasing the Bree story on its own. One of the major benefits of this plan was that it would be out before the movie, so people would get to know Bree before they saw her in the film. That made sense to me, and we decided to go ahead with it.

The book is available for pre-order from Amazon for a GREAT price, with $1.00 of each purchase going to the American Red Cross. It will also be available for free (yes, really!) at BreeTanner.com from June 7 to July 5, 2010.

The Host Paperback Book Giveaway

I knew it would begin with the end, and the end would look like death to these eyes. I had been warned.

Not these eyes. My eyes. Mine. This was me now.

The language I found myself using was odd, but it made sense. Choppy, boxy, blind, and linear. Impossibly crippled in comparison to many I'd used, yet still it managed to find fluidity and expression. Sometimes beauty. My language now. My native tongue.

With the truest instinct of my kind, I'd bound myself securely into the body's center of thought, twined myself inescapably into its every breath and reflex until it was no longer a separate entity. It was me.

Not the body, my body. -Wanderer, The Host, page 9

I'm a Stephenie Meyer fan. Not just a Twilight fan, but a Stephenie Meyer fan. I love her writing style. Her books are nice and thick and full of juicy details. I have a hard time putting them down. The Host is no exception. She take impossible elements and creates a believable world, a place you could almost swear you'd been to. I'll be first in line to buy her next publication, because the places she creates are places I like to visit.

The Host is coming out in paperback on April 13th. If you've never read it, here's your chance to get a copy for free. Eve's Fan Garden is giving away 10 copies of the book, so head over there and check it out.

Personally, I like hardback books. They stand up to the wear and tear of reading and re-reading much better than a paperback. I had a copy of The Host in paperback (really, I did! They were only available through the school market at book fairs in the spring of 2008) but I traded one of my best girlfriends for a new copy in hardback. But I entered this giveaway because the paperback includes a new, never-before-published “Bonus Chapter.” Personally, I'm hoping for a sequel, but even just another chapter of Stephenie's amazing writing is a bonus for me.

To enter the giveaway, fill out the form at the bottom of their post. You can also leave a comment, but that doesn't count as an entry. Good luck!

My Twilight Quilt: Identical Twins

I've mentioned before that I'm making two identical Twilight quilts. "Why," you might ask, am I making two identical Twilight quilts? There are a couple of reasons. My quilt started out as a traditionally pieced 'snuggle-under-it-and-read' kind of quilt. I was following the Block of the Fortnight Mystery Quilt instructions on the Zeppelin Threads web-site. I'd bought enough fabric for two quilts and intended to make one for Stephenie Meyer and one for myself. When there was a pause in the release of the instructions for the Mystery Quilt, plans began to emerge for a group quilt for Stephenie (Piece, Love, Twilight) and it seemed to me that a sending a quilt to Stephenie from just me was no longer the thing to do.

Still, I'd started two quilts and so I decided to finish two, mainly because I'd bought enough of a very expensive black Civil War reproduction fabric for two quilt backs. I'm beginning to think that was a little neurotic. As we worked on the Stephenie Meyer Quilt Plans for my own quilt began to evolve at the same time. By the time I realized that I was going to be spending an obscene amount of time on each intricately designed paper pieced block and that my quilt had expanded and morphed into something that no one would ever use for such a casual purpose as snuggling under to read, it was already too late. I was already in too deep with my 'twin' quilts to give it up. I'd spent too much time on the few blocks I'd completed to abandon one set and make just one quilt. There was only one thing to do, keep on keepin' on.

Before I realized the intense amount of time each block would take, I didn't think to keep track of the hours I was spending on this quilt. Once I realized that is was taking hours and hours for each block, I just had to turn a blind eye. I couldn't bear to think of how much time it was taking. So, I think that the name More Than A Little Obsessed is very fitting for these identical quilts. And anyone who has read Twilight should understand the double meaning.

Now the question is, 'what to do with the second quilt?' I plan to add a room onto my house for the first quilt and build a shrine to it. The second quilt will probably be locked away in some earthquake-proof, fire-proof, flood-proof, impervious-to-natural-disasters safe placed on the dark side of the moon.

My Twilight Quilt: New Moon Book Cover

I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough. My legs seemed to move slower and slower as I fought my way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the huge clock tower didn't slow. With relentless, uncaring force, they turned inexorably toward the end -- the end of everything.

But this was no dream, and unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

Alice had said there was a good chance we would both die here. Perhaps the outcome would be different if she weren't trapped by the brilliant sunlight; only I was free to run across this bright, crowded square.

And I couldn't run fast enough.

So 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'm excited to have all four book covers and consequently all four corners of my quilt finished! This is the New Moon Book cover, pattern designed by the lovely and talented Cat. I had previously made five other Broken Petals blocks when working on the Stephenie Meyer quilt. I made one test block at 5", and then four more, reduced to 80% to add to the medallion center of the quilt. For my quilt, I enlarged the pattern to 120%, to make a 6" block.

As I was working my blocks this time, I compared the design to the book cover. Cat does an amazing job using light and shadow and color to create the book covers. It is no small task to translate a picture into workable pieces on a pattern, even using the paper piecing method. I think that when I have it quilted, I would like to have the "veins" of the flower petals quilted in to give it that delicate look that the book cover has. The main red color is a fabric that Iris sent me. I think she's used it in her quilt as well. I had exactly enough to make the tulips. Thanks Iris! The darker burgundy accent (just a few spots of it) is from Wanda. The white is Snow Fairy Frost (can I ever manage a block without Fairy Frost?) and the background is the black I've chosen to use throughout my quilt. I know I've mentioned it before, but is a Civil War reproduction fabric and that always makes me think of Jasper when I think of that. It always surprises me that it fits in so well in every block I've used it in. The tiny flowers are so perfect. They add just the right texture and color compliment to the blocks.

And here is the layout, with all four corners filled in:

My Twilight Quilt: Breaking Dawn Book Cover

No longer just a nightmare, the line of black advanced on us through the icy mist stirred up by their feet.

We're going to die, I thought in panic. I was desperate for the precious one I guarded, but even to think of that was a lapse in attention I could not afford.

They ghosted closer, their dark robes billowing slightly with the movement. I saw their hands curl into bone-colored claws. They drifted apart, angling to come at us from all sides. We were outnumbered. It was over.

And then, like a burst of light from a flash, the whole scene was different. Yet nothing changed—the Volturi still stalked toward us, poised to kill. All that really changed was how the picture looked to me. Suddenly, I was hungry for it. I wanted them to charge. The panic changed to bloodlust as I crouched forward, a smile on my face, and the growl ripped through my bared teeth.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, pages 367-368

During my layout revisions, I decided that I needed the book covers in the four corners of the quilt, to kind of 'book end' the quilt, and everything between those four book covers in the corners was what went on in them. I originally planned to do a checkerboard for the book cover. I used my Civil war background fabric for the black and then used a calico print with small flowers and swirls. This is the same white fabric I used in the checkerboard on the Stephenie Meyer Quilt.


But after looking at it for a while, I decided that I wanted to use Natural Fairy Frost so there would be more contrast between the white queen chess piece and the background checkerboard that were to be appliquéd onto the block . So, I made a second try, even though I had no idea what I'd do with the two checkerboards I'd already made.


And then I saw Cat's plans for her own Twilight quilt. And I knew I had to have her design in my quilt, so I discarded my checkerboard block (4 blocks altogether -- OCD much?). I am always so grateful that Cat will share her awesome patterns; I even got to be her pattern tester for this one. I used Fairy Frost (what else?): Red for the pawn, Snow for the Queen and Natural on the chess board. Again, I used the black Civil War reproduction fabric for the background. I keep wondering if it is going to work on the next block but it always seems to look nice with whatever other fabrics I pair it with. I like the contrast in textures between the Fairy Frost and the plain old calico. The chess board is almost the exact size of the book cover (the width is exact, but it is just a tiny bit shorter) and is about as close as you can come to the real thing in fabric. Cat did a really amazing job with this pattern. I traced the chess pieces directly off the cover of the book. More details will be added to the Queen and pawn when they are quilted, defining the ridges on the pieces.


Three attempts and six blocks later, I think I've finally got it right. Here it is, filling its spot on the layout.

My Twilight Quilt: Eclipse Book Cover

The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an eclipse. –Jacob Black, Eclipse, page 600

Part of my contribution to the Stephenie Meyer quilt was the Eclipse section in the medallion. I wanted a representation of each of the four book covers in my own quilt. I used a washable polyester ribbon from JoAnn's for this block. Using the same technique as I did for the Stephenie Meyer quilt, I used the scissors to cut away the selvage edge a few inches into the ribbon, and then pulled the cross fibers out about an inch down. Then I snipped away the remaining fibers, using the book cover as model for how much to snip away and what to leave. Then I pinned the ribbon in place, again using the book as my guide, and sewed the edges down.

My Twilight Quilt: Twilight Book Cover

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. –Genesis 2:17

It's twilight . . . the safest time of day for us . . . the easiest time. But also the saddest in a way . . . the end of another day, the return of the night. –Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 233

As much as I wanted to keep my Twilight quilt traditional quilting, it was hard to resist some amazing paper piecing patterns by Australian designer Cat Magraith. A member of our group on TwilightMOMS pointed us SewHooked, a free paper piecing website where her patterns were hosted. I resisted, looking for ways to represent the books without using paper piecing, but in the end, I gave in and decided to include the Forbidden Fruit block, Cat's tribute to the iconic cover of the Twilight book.

After finishing the most detailed paper piecing pattern I'd ever done, I posted to my friends at TwilightMOMS, I did it! It only took forever, but I finished my Forbidden Fruit block!

All of Cat's patterns are done at 5", which much be confusing since they use metrics in Australia, so I enlarged it to 120% to make a 6" block. The black background fabric is a Civil War reproduction fabric and I'm using it throughout where a black background is called for, as well as for the outside border and quilt back and binding. The white and cream fabrics have an iridescent sparkle to them, which is difficult to photograph or scan. The reds in the apple are from a fabric swap, with one of my dear Twilight Quilters Coven friends and fellow TwilightMOM, Iris. The stem is hand satin stitch embroidery.

Inasmuch as I had started two quilts, I decided that I wanted to continue with two quilts. My design had changed, I'd discarded some blocks and we decided to make a group quilt to give to Stephenie Meyer, but I had enough fabric on my hands for two quilts and I decided that's what I wanted to do. Even after spending hours and hours on duplicates of on 6" quilt block, I decided that I wanted to make two quilts. Eight months later, I'm still not certain what I'm going to do with the second quilt, but as I work my blocks, I always make them in twins.