Eclipse Charity Quilt: I am Switzerland

Switzerland by Angie

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

I used Cat's Switzerland crest pattern. It is super simple and I wish I had had some time to embellish it some but was in a time crunch so I just made the pattern the way it was designed. Since I couldn't add anything, I tried to use the most fabulous fabrics I could in the block. I used white (Snow) fairy frost for the center cross and Holly Berry fairy frost for the shield part. I have to tell you about this fabric...I got it at 'my happy place,' MaryJo's. It was marked 'as is' so I thought maybe there was a mistake in the bolt somewhere...but didn't see any in the yard I bought so I didn't worry about it. Now I think it is discontinued. I have looked around to get more of it and even gone back to the store to get more and have never seen it's equal again. It is the most awesome fabric! It is different shades of blood red with the fairy frost print on it and then sort of sprinkled with gold glitter. You have to see it to appreciate it. Anyway...the black is just basic Kona cotton in black. I really like this pattern and like all of Cat's patterns it was super easy to make and lots of fun!

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Penguins

Penguins by Joyce

"You won’t let me be like that. We’ll live in Antarctica."
Edward snorted. "Penguins. Lovely."
-Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Eclipse, page 26

We wanted to celebrate the humor in Eclipse and enjoyed all the discussions between Bella, Edward and Charlie about where to apply and attend college.

I used the Wee Penguin design by Jennifer Ofenstein on Sewhooked.

If you've read about my other blocks, you'll recognize some of the fabrics. The feet are the yellow from the Forks high school sign. The beak is the batik used on the fish in the Nature block. The whites are also used in the Nature eagle, and the black was also used for Bella's silhouette. I wanted an icy blue for the sky, and loved the sparkly blue for the water.

I designed the school pennants on Printmaster and printed them on printable fabric, then cut them to size along with the 'sticks' and Steam-a-Seamed them onto the block. The penguin's eyes are black beads.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Trip to Florida

Trip to Florida by Joyce

I wasn’t about to send you off alone. With your luck, not even the black box would survive. -Edward Cullen, Eclipse, page 88

We wanted to symbolize the trip to Florida with the airplane because, not only did Bella and Edward take a plane to Florida, they have the whole 'black box' and 'what if' note conversation after they get home. I used the same blue batik that I used for the water in the Nature block for the sky in this one.

Originally, I had used grays for the plane, but there wasn't enough contrast, so I used 3 different reds. I like it much better!

The design is from Paper Panache and was designed by Linda Worland. It is called Airplane.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Nature

Nature by Joyce

You see it everywhere. Nature taking its course - hunter and prey, the endless cycle of life and death. And yet, you don't see the fish trying to plant a kiss on the eagle. You never see that. -Jacob Black, Eclipse, page 109

I read and re-read the section of Eclipse where Bella visits Jacob and they talk on the beach. I drew what I thought it might have looked like, then searched through pictures of eagles and salmon. I combined elements from many pictures to create the eagle in the position I wanted.

The sky is a batik that varies in color. It is one of my favorites. I used a darker batik for the water and sewed the two together. The beach came next, and I added some curves to give the feel of waves coming ashore. Having finished the foundation, I started cutting out the characters and details.

Bella is black with a treble clef design. Jacob is black with a 'furry' design. I drew the tree freehand and adjusted it to curve and turn with the designs on the fabric where possible.

The fish was drawn freehand and is a batik fabric which goes from yellows to purples. The eagle has many fabrics and is layered. I used Lite Steam A Seam 2 to attach everything and sewed where I wanted a bit more detail. The eye of the eagle is a french knot.

I think this is probably my favorite block. I really like how it turned out and hope you do, too.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: High School Days

High School Days by Joyce

"Hey, Edward. Ditching, Bella?" [Emmett] grinned at me.
"We both are," Edward reminded him.
Emmett laughed. "Yes, but it's her first time through high school. She might miss something."
-Eclipse, page 283

Since high school plays such an important role in the books, we wanted it represented in this quilt. I started with a sketch of my design.  Then I went to fabrics and details.  I had this beautiful leaf fabric that really said 'Forks' to me, so used it as a background. I used Printmaster to create the book covers and poster and printed them on printable fabric. I had planned to put cover art on the books, but it just looked too busy.

For the high school sign, I framed the yellow fabric with the brown. After trying a variety of things, I decided to write Forks High School with fabric marker.

The center is three sections. The top is just the green fabric. The second is the sign. The third is the green bordered with the brown 'legs'. I attached them together, then added the left and right sides.

I attached the books with Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite (thank you, Iris, for sharing this with me. I couldn't live without it now!), then satin stitched around the book covers and binding to give it a little more detail and make the books look used.

I put the 'Save the Olympic Wolf' poster on the sign leg as if it had been blown there by the wind. It is supposed to look weathered and old.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Jacob's Note

Jacob's Note by Angie

Don't give yourself a brain hemorrhage, Jacob. Just spit it out. -Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 4

When I started thinking about this block I pictured a crumpled up piece of notebook paper kind of tacked down to the background. But that just seems kinda boring. I thought about making a shirt pocket with plaid fabric so it looks sort of like a flannel shirt. Then someone suggested using a jeans pocket like Bella took the note and shoved it into her back pocket. I happen to have a box full of my son's old jeans that I plan to make a quilt out of some day. Plus I was thinking that since they are smaller the pocket would be the right size. It was actually a little small. I had a hard time getting enough of the 'butt part' of the jeans that didn't have a seam on it, that is why it was set sort of wonky. But I like it that way. I added some blue fabric to the borders to make it big enough. Then I printed out the quotes from the note on printable fabric. I changed the order of the messages a little from the book since I REALLY like the "what part of mortal enemies" quote and I really wanted it to be seen once I put the note into the pocket. It is a simple block but I like it, I hope you do too.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Council Meeting/Third Wife

Council Meeting/Third Wife Block by Angie

I was thinking of someone outside the magic altogether. I was trying to imagine the face of the unnamed woman who had saved the entire tribe, the third wife. -Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 260

I had this great picture in my mind of a brightly colored campfire rising up from the logs. Showing through the smoke, I saw a beautiful native woman holding her arms out and in one hand there was a knife. I tried many versions on this idea...mostly with appliqué but as I am not a great artist, I couldn't get the picture right. It was really frustrating and I left it alone and did the other two blocks. I came back to this one last.

Iris had sent me a great pattern with tents on it and in one corner of that pattern was a campfire. So I made that pattern and stared at it for a while. And again, walked away because it just wasn't talking to me. I couldn't see the rest of the picture. Plus there wasn't anything framing it. I made a big ole' pine tree and tried to put it next to the campfire...it looked ridiculous! So the tree went into the 'to be used with some other project later' pile. I made a mirror image of the background without the campfire...I wanted it to look quilty so I used different sizes and colors of green on the meadow part of the background. Then I used fusible web to attach some free-cut trees I made and then blanket stitched those down as well. I was pretty ok with the backdrop but was still somewhat stuck with how to depict the stories that were told around the fire.

I knew I needed to represent the third wife portion of the story and searched for DAYS for the right picture that I kept seeing in my head. Alas, I could find no such picture so this was the best I could do. Iris had sent me some printable organza at the beginning of this project and that is what I used for the pictures. Once I had printed that one out, I decided that one picture was not enough and started looking for something to show the 'sprit wolf' portion of the story. I considered doing other pictures too but didn't want it to be too crowded. I was trying very hard to make the story elements not look 'ghostly.' I wanted them to look more like memories or like when you hear a story and you make pictures in your mind...I used almost all batiks for this block as I LOVE them! Nothing captures natural shading and real life colors like batik fabric. The logs in the fire were make with muleskin so they look heavier than the fire. Anyway..there's my crazy developments of this block...

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Rosalie's Unhappy Ending

Rosalie's Unhappy Ending by Mel

Would you like to hear my story, Bella? It doesn't have a happy ending -- but which of ours does? If we had happy endings, we'd all be under gravestones now. -Rosalie Hale, Eclipse, page 154

Being a mommy of a toddler is fantastic. I find inspiration in my kid's toys, I swear it's true!!! That's where I found the inspiration for this block. My daughter has some cue cards, and one of them had a handheld mirror on it, one of those antique-looking, ornate ones. I thought right away of Rosalie (you know you're a Twilight fan when...) What I did was hand draw a template and then I imported it into my computer and used EQ5 to draw up a paper piecing pattern. I am proud to announce that this is my very first paper piecing pattern!

The mirror represents Rosalie's beauty and vanity. It is broken because in the end, her story is sad and her life gets shattered. I thought this was a great representation for her. I decided to use a gold-tone mirror, because I feel like Rosalie would not have anything silver, only gold. I originally had an ornate rose at the top, but it didn't look right. The background fabric is just some fabric I had bought and never used. I thought it fitted perfectly, as it looks really period-like. I used some fairy frost (courtesy of by Wanda!) for the mirror, and a sparkly black fabric for the broken piece. As a final touch, to make it more polished and rich looking, I added iron-on rhinestones on the mirror frame. So this is my interpretation of "Rosalie Unhappy Ending". Enjoy!!!

xoxox
-Mel

Eclipse Charity Quilt: The Volturi

The Volturi by Mel

We don't make exceptions. And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. -Jane, Eclipse, page 578

This block gave me cold sweats and waking nightmares! It was a very important part of the book for me, and being a Volturi fan, I wanted to get this just right. I had the idea of having the Volturi guard, with Jane at the head, holding skulls. The skulls are meant to represent the fact that to the Volturi, Bella's life is going to be over one way or the other. It was then suggested that I put a forest background, to make it fuller. The Forest block is a design by Cat, and was paper pieced. I used what I hope looks like a stormy sky fabric because that's how I remember the scene form the book. The two guard Volturi in the back are holding skulls, which are actually buttons. The Volturi are appliquéd. In the front, you can see Jane, engulfed in fire to represent her very special Pain talent. Also, her cloak was made out of a black fabric with some flowers in it, as when I was watching the special features for New Moon, I realized they used a flowered fabric for her cloak. I thought it would be cool to use this in my representation. If you have been following our blog, you will most probably notice that the Volturi look practically the same as they did in my last block, for the New Moon quilt. I thought why mess with something that worked well for me??? So I used Heat 'N Bond and zigzag stitched my way through the Volturi! However, I added a little twist this time: red French Knot eyes. I hope this lives up to expectations! (I'm still hyperventilating at the thought of making this block...which I volunteered for!!!)

-Mel

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Bella's Broken Heart

Bella's Broken Heart by Wanda

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

I used Jennifer Ofenstein's paper pieced pattern on Sewhooked for Bella's Broken Heart. Of course as you know, one piece of the heart belongs to Edward and one piece to Jacob, so in the beginning I experimented with different fabrics in the heart to represent each one. But it just didn't look right so I opted for the traditional red heart using a batik fabric which seemed very heart like to me! The gray background was used to explain the storm and mood in Bella's heart at being torn between two loves.

-Wanda

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Jasper

Jasper by Wanda

She took a step closer, and inclined her head as if she were going to kiss me. I stood frozen in place, though my instincts were screaming at me to run. -Jasper Hale, Eclipse, page 295

The Jasper block consists of a machine appliquéd state of Texas and a Confederate uniform. I chose the little star fabric for the "lone star state" and for the star that Jasper wears on his uniform as a Major in 1861. The uniform is machine appliqued as well with some straight stitching for sleeve embellishment and French knots for buttons. Just for fun and interest I might add that in the beginning I wasn't sure how to draw the uniform so I researched on line. Then one day as I looked at a sale ad for Macy's I saw a coat which made me think of the military uniform and that helped me with the lines! The background fabric is a Civil War reproduction print which represents the time frame of his story and the dress fabric for the women he was evacuating and for Maria who changed him.

-Wanda

[Editor's Note: Wanda did the most beautiful French knots for buttons on the coat. Click on the picture for a closer view.]

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Imprinting

Imprinting by Wanda

Sometimes ... we don't exactly know why ... we find our mates that way. I mean . . . our soul mates. -Jacob Black, Eclipse, page 122

This is a traditionally pieced love heart with a machine appliquéd paw print to show imprinting. The paw is a rough sketch (not exactly the same) of Cat's paper pieced paw pattern, which was used in our other quilts. I wanted the appliqué  to be similar to that, but felt the best way for me to achieve this was to appliqué it.

-Wanda

Mimi: This Chick's too hip

Sent from Heaven
up above,
Here is a baby
 for you to love.

Happy news! Last month I became a first time g-ma! David Augustus was born on March 19th weighing in at 8 lbs. and 7 oz. At first the new parents couldn't decide if they would call him David or Gus, but the latter prevailed and so its baby Gus! As all of you know, newborns can be fussy so I call him Afusstus sometimes. As far as being called Grandma I wasn't sure about this so my daughter started calling me Mimi which I love, but will still answer to grandma too. I saw a sign I'm going to buy which reads: MIMI: This chick is way too hip to be called grandma!

A new baby in the family is such a blessing and it felt heavenly as my daughter placed her newborn son in my arms. I fell in love instantly.

I'm working on a monkey quilt for baby Gus (should have had that finished by now) and a special little white collared smocked bubble suit for him to wear to church on his blessing day.

I'd like to say thank you to all those who sent their good wishes, comments and thoughtful gifts. It's been a delight.

-Wanda

A Poem for Patchworkers

A Poem for Patchworkers

Patchworkers are a different breed
The things we hope for, the things we need,
We wish for fabric to finish that row
we sometimes wish our guests would go.

We wish all day for that time to be
that special time - that time for ME.
Each needle is threaded, the colors arrayed,
Scissors and pattern have been carefully laid.

Now we relax, this is our pleasure,
stitching this piece of soon-to-be treasure.
We always ignore that mental warning,
Stitching all night mades it rough in the morning.

But time's unimportant, we don't heed clocks,
We just need fabric and a sewing box.
Our project awaits us, now we proceed
this must be heaven - what more do we need?

Author Unknown

Letter to the Editor

The Twilight Quilters Coven and the Stephenie Meyer Quilt, Piece, Love, Twilight were featured in the February/March issue of Quilter's Home Magazine. The April/May 2010 issue features a letter in the reader's comment section in response to the article about us.  We must admit before we continue, that none of us like the fanged vamp pictures QHM has paired with articles related to our quilts, so we edited out the vamp that went along with this letter for this post.  We were thrilled that more than just the TQC members read the article about us and the SM Quilt, and we were excited that quilters out there were doing the same thing we are -- quilting about the books we love so much.  Click on the article for the image at a readable size.

For those of you who've dabbled around a bit with Twilight quilting or crafting, we'd love to see your work! If you've blogged about it or have a web-site that you've posted to, enter the direct link to your specific post or page in Mr. Linky below and we and our readers will be able to check you out.

Instructions:

• Click on the 'click here to enter' link.
• Type in a short description of your Twilight craft followed by your first name.
• Enter the address to the specific web-page or post that contains your Twilight craft. (Note: Please link to the specific post and not to your home page.  For blogs, click on the title of your blog post to bring up the url for that specific post and not your entire blog.  Non-specific links will be deleted).
• Type in your e-mail address (will not be shared).

Eclipse Charity Quilt

On January 22, 2010 we began officially planning an Eclipse themed quilt to be finished and given away in conjunction with a fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and the release of the Eclipse movie on June 30. This is our index page for the quilt. All of the posts related to this quilt are indexed and linked here, so you can follow our progress and find everything about the quilt in one place.

Our discussion thread on TwilightMOMS

Jacob's Note Block
Penguins Block
Trip to Florida Block
High School Days Block
Nature Block
Imprinting Block
I Am Switzerland Block
Rosalie's Unhappy Ending Block
Council Meeting/Third Wife Block
Jasper Block
Graduation from Forks High School Block
Newborn Combat Training Block
I Can't Fight With An Eclipse Block
Bella's Bracelet Block
Edward's Bedroom/The Proposal Block
The Tent Scene Block
Bella's Broken Heart Block
Victoria Block
The Volturi Block
The Meadow Block
The Quilt Under Construction
Give to Win
The Beginnings
It's All In the Details
The Finishing Touches
Thanks For All the Support
And the Winner Is . . .
A Home for the Eclipse Quilt

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Graduation from Forks High

Graduation from Forks High by Elizabeth

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

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 Bedroom by Elizabeth

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 this all sounds very silly when I talk about it. But Stephenie Meyer can tell quite a story. If you haven't, you ought to read it in her words.

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. 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.  The ring represents Edward's eloquent proposal and the black rose on the floor represents the rose Edward broke off the bed frame and crushed to dust to show Bella just how fragile she is to him. For the bed frame, I used some of the black fabric that was left from the Stephenie Meyer quilt.  I thought that the swirls in the fabric would give the bed that sort of  'wrought iron appearance.'  I used shades of gold for the rest of the room.  The book describes the bed covers as just lighter than the walls, but I went with lighter walls to give the block a bit of contrast.  The fabric I used for the walls is absolutely gorgeous and feels so nice.  I combined three patterns, altering and resizing to get the final result.  I used Harry's Bed by Jennifer Ofenstein, Cat's Rosebud pattern, and Gaunt's Ring by Michelle Thompson.  All of these patterns are available at SewHooked.


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

TQC Anniversary Giveaway Winner

Comments were closed last night and we've drawn a winner for our giveaway.

We drew the winner by hand. All the comments were printed out, cut apart into strips, folded and put in a big bowl. We really mixed them up and then Grasshopper, Elizabeth's son (who's home sick from school today) pulled out the winner. Our prize goes to Zarina:

The favourite tool will be have to be the rotary cutter. I still remember cutting those pieces by scissors eons ago - and those hexagons (which am working on now).

Congratulations Zarina!

Boring details, mostly for Zarina. You'll be receiving an e-mail shortly requesting your mailing information so we can send your prize to you. We put this giveaway together on-the-fly. It was very last minute and none of us live close to each other. We live scattered across the US, Canada and Australia.  So a few items for the prize have not arrived at 'prize central' yet. Your package will not be shipped until April 6th, which is only next Tuesday -- not so far away. Thanks for being patient with us. This is our first giveaway. We'll hopefully have it more 'together' the next time around.

We had lots of great comments and honestly wish that we could have picked you all to win our anniversary gift.  But since we can't, we thought we'd share with you instead few of our favorite comments from the giveaway.

Z Any Mouse:

My favorite quilting tool is the picture of shirtless Edward I have taped to my sewing machine (also named Edward), to give me incentive to quilt every day. It really works!

Backstitch:

I'd use this fabric and the ruler (in a size I don't have) to make a block for a coworker who loves Twilight and vamps in general and also quilts. She has it pretty rough and it'd be nice to do something for her that I know she'd like.

Ashley:

I'm so glad a friend of mine convinced me to begin the series two years ago. I've read it 3 1/2 times since. I'd love to use this fabric to create a little something for her for introducing me to the books.

Deanna:

My favorite quilting tool is my imagination. I would be lost without it.

SewCalGal:

Favorite quilting tool: Porcupine quill. Yes, a porcupine quill is a must have to help guide small fabric pieces into your sewing machine to ensure even 1/4" stitching at starting point (and frequently finish).

Melzie:

*Sewed* your button on my sidebar! hehe xoxo

Kristen:

I can't believe I just now heard of this blog!

Janet:

My favourite tool is the stitch ripper - especially on the days that I don't have to use it!

Welcome to all our new followers. We've got a project in the works that we're excited to show you over the next few weeks. A big thank you to all who entered and congratulations again to our winner, Zarina, who, by the way, lives in Malaysia!