Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt

Twi-Quilters are proud to bring you the Breaking Dawn Give-to-Win Charity Quilt fundraiser.

Last year, our Eclipse charity quilt raised $1,729.00 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. With your help, we hope to raise even more than last year.

This year, we have decided to pledge donations to two charities: Alex's Lemonade Stand and Childhelp. Our group members have donated all the fabrics and supplies, as well as our time, to create this quilt, which includes scenes from Breaking Dawn, as well as autographs from eight cast members, including Peter Facinelli, who plays Carlisle Cullen and is a spokesperson for ALSF, and BooBoo Stewart, who plays Seth Clearwater and is an ambassador for Childhelp.

For every $5 donation from you, which will be split evenly between the two charities, you’ll get one chance to win the quilt. So please give generously. Donations will be accepted through January 31, 2012 and the winner will be announced by February 7, 2012.

Read more about the individual blocks:

Alice: Vampire Bat in the Belfry by Colleen
Alice's Note by Nicole
The Amazon Coven by Nicole
Aro's Gift by Angie
Bella & Edward's Cottage by Beth
Bella & Edward's Wedding by Mel
Bella's First Hunt by Beth
Bella's Shield by Iris
Bella's Transformation by Jerri Lynn
Cast Member Autographs
Cravings by Angie
The Denali Coven by Joyce
Eggs by Kate
The Egyptian Coven by Nicole
Feathers by Cat
The Hybrids by Joyce
The Irish Coven by Jerri Lynn
Isle Esme by Cat
Jacob & Renesmee by Elizabeth
Jacob & Rosalie's Rivalry by Kate
Jason Scott, Attorney at Law by Wanda
Midnight Swim by Kate
The Nomads by Joyce
Renesmee by Joyce
The Romanian Coven by Joyce
The Wolf Packs by Elizabeth

For more information about the charities, click on the buttons below.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Cast Member Autographs

Have we mentioned? We've got autographs in our Breaking Dawn Charity quilt! Eight of them! Kate went to Twi-Con and finagaled some signatures. Among them are Peter Facinelli, who plays Carlisle Cullen and is a spokesperson for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and Booboo Stewart, who plays Seth Clearwater and is an ambassador for Childhelp. Have a look at who else "signed our quilt."

The quilt is nearly finished and we're excited to show you. We'll have photos up in the next few days. In the meantime, remember that each $5 donation you make, which will be split evenly between the charities, gives you a chance to win the quilt. So give generously and give often.

A Quilt for Little Peanut

We love to quilt. And not just Twilight. In early 2010 we discovered that our cute little Mel was expecting, so we started planning a quilt for her new little one. While she was pregnant she called him, Little Peanut, so we decided on an elephant/peanut theme for the quilt. Nicole headed up this project, setting the layout, choosing fabrics for the border and sashing and assembling the blocks. She did a really fabulous job! Mel's sweet little baby boy was born on October 1, 2010. This post is long overdue, but we still wanted to share this fun group project.

Mel had this to say about the quilt, Last year, for my 29^th birthday, I received a totally wonderful and unexpected present. A quilt, handmade by my very special Twilight Quilters friends! It made my day to open up the package and find that beautiful quilt, made just for my little baby. I got very emotional, to the point where I called my husband at work and sobbed. Owen has loved his one-of-kind present from the start. (And let me share a little secret . . . I used it a few times myself! And it's really snuggly!!!) This is something I will treasure for the rest of my life, and I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful friends, even if they all live hundreds and hundreds of miles away from me.

Elizabeth
I thought a quilt with elephants needed a few jungle trees. I used a rubber stamp as my 'pattern' for the trees. I stamped the image onto paper, scanned it, enlarged it and then also reversed it so that I had trees going in both directions. I did raw-edge appliqué using Heat 'n Bond and did a machine blanket stitch around the trees. Then I did a bit of messy free-motion stitching to add a few details to them. The background fabric was a FQ that Wanda sent to me for my birthday, and I thought it was perfect for the trees. These were a lot of fun to make.

Wanda
This is tiny version of a wall hanging I made my own grandson. It's ironed on and machine stitched. The E is for elephant as you can see! I absolutely loved the peanut and elephant theme of this quilt. It was so fun to be a participant.

Joyce
To make this design, I looked at quite a few pictures of real and cartoon elephants. Elephants have fairly simple shapes when broken down, so it wasn't very hard. I loved the background fabric because it was so bright and fun and looked 'jungle-y' to me. The elephant pieces were cut out and fused, then appliquéd. I added the eyes, and the block was complete. I think he's cute and fun (and will probably get into some mischief)!

Nicole
I did my block with a free pattern I found online. It was originally for a political elephant, but I used green and blue instead of grey and red! I just thought he was a cutie. It was one of my first advanced paper piecing squares.

Joyce
Since he was her 'little peanut,' I wanted to make a pile of peanuts. I drew a variety of peanut patterns in different sizes and shapes, then sorted through all my yellows and browns (and took a little shopping trip, too) looking for 'peanut-worthy' fabric. For the background fabric, I used a dotted swiss from my stash. I chose a 'grassy' print for the peanuts to rest on, then arranged and rearranged the peanuts until I was happy with the design. I appliquéd them layer by layer until it was complete.

Kate

Iris
My little guy was inspired by some baby blankies I've seen lately and a stuffed animal picture I saw online. Very contemporary, minimalist elephant. And he had to have a little birdy buddy cuz I'm into birdies lately and I wanted to add some diversity to the quilt. I used a white on cream background I've had for at least 10 years, purchased at a JoAnn's, and the other fabrics came from my LQS within the past year. Very contemporary boyish colors, which I don't get to use much having two daughters! Both elephant and birdie are raw edge appliquéd using my favorite double sided fusible web, "Lite Steam-A-Seam 2," and blanket stitched with the machine. I really enjoyed making these cuties!

Jerri Lynn (Grey Elephant)

Kate

Angie
I made the 'silly peanut'. I had such a hard time finding a pattern I wanted to use and I don't have ANY pattern designing skills! Plus, Mel is the silly one in our group so I just knew I didn't want to do something ordinary. I found a pattern that was intended for making a Father's Day card out of paper and and fudged it as appliqué. I used a new technique that I learned in a workshop a few months back to mimic needle turn, then I cut small 'spots' and raw edge stitched them to the body to create some depth. I was going to stop there but the card pattern had arms and legs that stuck out and flopped around so I used some ultra suede and made some that sort of resembled limbs. You would think that I would think to myself, "is this going to make it hard to quilt?" But I didn't. It was my problem to quilt it anyway so at least I only made it harder on myself .

Cat
For this block I used a modified version of a Margaret Rolfe pattern. Margaret Rolfe is an Australian quilt pattern designer and a lot of her patterns lend themselves to being done using American Paperpiecing* or foundation piecing techniques.

The main part of the elephant is done using one of my favourite batiks. The pattern effect of this fabric gave me the feeling of wrinkled elephant skin. For the background I wanted something bright and vibrant with an almost circus feel. I also wanted something to feel like it came from the Twilight quilters group in a subtle way. I could remember on the chicken themed quilt made for my Eoin (pronounced Owen) earlier by the group, that one of the ladies had a chicken driving a silver car. That was my Edward chicken in his silver volvo! So for my the ribbon motive on the red background made me think of the Eclipse Ribbon without being overty Twilight themed. That was my little subtle Twilight imput to the quilt.

*I live in Australia and in Australia a lot of books call the British Paperpiecing methods as Paper Piecing, although the two methods are quite different.

Jerri Lynn (Grey Elephant)

Wanda
This polka dot elephant is an iron on version of a block I saw in a book of vintage quilts. I thought it was so whimsical and cute and loved that I found the polka dot fabric for it. I stitched around it with my machine and voilà it was done!

Angie
To quilt it, I did a swirling pano pattern that covered the whole top. I knew I wanted to use something soft that a baby would like to touch on the back. The fabric stores where I live leave something to be desired so I couldn't find a minkie color that I liked and I loved the idea of a silky backing so I opted for a lightweight satin on the back. I know that the color is not exactly 'baby-like' but I thought it complimented the front. I hope he gets lots of fun out of it!

And here is the Little Peanut, with his new quilt.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Aro's Gift

The present itself was not overtly threatening. Extravagant, yes, almost frightening in that very extravagance. The threat was in the parting line of Aro's congratulatory note, written in black ink on a square of heavy, plain white paper in Aro's own hand:

I so look forward to seeing the new Mrs. Cullen in person.

The gift was presented in an ornately carved, ancient wooden box inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl, ornamented with a rainbow of gemstones. Alice said the box itself was a priceless treasure, that it would have outshone just about any piece of jewelry besides the one inside it.

The necklace was simple—gold woven into a thick rope of chain, almost scaled, like a smooth snake that would curl close around the throat. One jewel hung suspended from the rope: a white diamond the size of a golf ball.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 531-532

From the beginning of signing up for this block I didn't really ‘feel’ it, ya know? I opted to take this block because someone needed to do it and I had gotten the block I really wanted and knew exactly how I was going to do that one. This one did not come so naturally. I did know that I was going to a jewel, I even knew what I was going to use for it. I have this prism that hangs on my studio door and in the afternoon it shines rainbows on my cutting table. As much as I would miss it, I just

thought it looked like the jewel that was described in the book. Anyway, I put it off and thought and put it off. Then the deadline was getting close so I had to bite the bullet and just make the thing.

I looked around for a paper-pieced pattern for the box but just couldn't find one. My idea was to make a box and put a velvet lining on the ‘inside’ and then attach the prism in the middle. Well, I just couldn't find a pattern I wanted so that put me off for a few more weeks because I felt stumped again. So I decided that I would appliqué a box instead and then keep my idea of adding the ‘jewel.’ I don't know why by I kept coming up with this sort of engagement ring box in my head so that is what I tried to make. I used a black velvet with a gold sort of hinge on a pink satin background, I thought the pink satin would represent the wedding part of the gift. Well, it ended up looking like a morbid clam. It was hideous! I showed it to my hubby and said ‘what does this look like to you?’ If he had just been able to identify it as a jewelry box, I might have kept it. He just stared at it like a dog does when you whistle at it and said ‘I have no idea.’ I immediately threw it in the trash and went to bed. The next morning I decided to start over. I grabbed my copy of the book and found the description of the box and decided to go more literally with the design. I saw an old sort of pirates chest type design with jewels embedded in the wood. Since I can't draw to save my life, I started googling clip art for pirate's chests and found a few that I liked and took different elements from them and put them together to make a pattern. I used some fabric that was the border print for the New Moon quilt for the wood grain and some other random browns.

Then I ran off to the craft store to try and find something to accent it with to give it that sort of gilded gold feel. I found the ribbon and scored double with these ‘jewels’ on a string for the trim too. So I get the box made, and go to add the prisim and low and behold, the one thing I was sure about just didn't work. So it was back to the craft store to find something that would. I added the chain and the note and called it good.

I know that was a long winded story, thanks for hanging with me for it.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Cravings

“Bella, love, we're going to ask you to do something monstrous,” [Edward] said, using the same adjectives he'd offered me. “Repulsive.”

Well, at least he was giving it to her straight.

She took a shallow, fluttery breath. “How bad?”

Carlisle answered. “We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than to yours. We think it's thirsty.”

She blinked. “Oh. Oh.”

“Your condition—both of your conditions—are deteriorating rapidly. We don't have time to waste, to come up with more palatable ways to do this. The fastest way to test the theory—”

“I've got to drink it,” she whispered. She nodded slightly—barely enough energy for a little head bob. “I can do that. Practice for the future, right?” Her colorless lips stretched into a faint grin as she looked at Edward. He didn't smile back.
–Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn, page 242

Pieced by Angie

I have wanted to do this block for a long time so when we got to the planning stages of this quilt I was doing the "me me me" dance when we were picking who was going to do this block. I have to say this part of the book gave me the heebies, I think that is why I wanted to do it.

When we saw the Glee Slushy block on Jennifer's site I knew it was perfect. Then when I dragged my husband to this AWESOME fabric store while we were on our Anniversary weekend trip in Tennessee back in August, this red sparkly bolt literally jumped off the shelf and flopped around in front of me. I also picked up a great black with gold filigree stuff on it for the background but alas, it just didn't work in the block. I felt like it was too dark so it got nixed. Instead, I rummaged through my batik stash and came up with this great swirly beige. To have some depth and shading in the top part (and I was hoping to make a sort of lid look), I used the back side of the red fabric that is in the cup. The last touch to this block is the 'Starbucks' green straw. I dug around for what seemed like an hour in my scrap bucket to find this green but I am glad I did.

That's all I can really say about this block, I hope you like it as much as I liked making it. ;)

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Feathers

What had happened to me? I couldn't make sense of the fluffy white snow that clung to my skin. I shook my head, and a cascade of white drifted out of my hair.

I pinched one soft white bit between my fingers. It was a piece of down.

“Why am I covered in feathers?” I asked, confused.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 89

Design and piecing by Cat

I wanted to create a block of feathers floating everywhere. I drafted the pattern from scratch. I have pet chickens so I had no problems trying to visualize the feathers. To create a sense of dimension and to have each feather slightly different, each of the feathers is done using a different shade of cream. I was stuck on what to use. I like to think that the resulting block feels like feathers have floated in the air before settling in place.

The background fabric was chosen from my scraps and I like to use purple to represent Bella in quilting. Afterwards I thought it almost looked like Bella's bruises under the feathers although that wasn't the original intention.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quit: The Irish Coven

Carlisle has sent friends from Ireland and Egypt.

The Irish clan arrived first, and they were surprisingly easy to convince. Siobhan—a woman of immense presence whose huge body was both beautiful and mesmerizing as it moved in smooth undulations—was the leader, but she and her hard-faced mate, Liam, were long used to trusting the judgment of their newest coven member. Little Maggie, with her bouncy red curls, was not physically imposing like the other two, but she had a gift for knowing when she was being lied to, and her verdicts were never contested. Maggie declared that Edward spoke the truth, and so Siobhan and Liam accepted our story absolutely before even touching Renesmee.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 608-609

Piecing by Jerri Lynn

I represented the Irish Coven with Irish knot-work that I appliquéd. I started with the green background to remind us of Ireland's green landscape. I then moved on to the knot-work, which I worked out in red fabric. There are three knots, representing the three members of the coven; Siobhan, Liam and Maggie. As a beginning quilter, I found it difficult to get the pieces of the knot-work lined up so that I was happy with them, but in the end I was very pleased with how it came out.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Hybrids

“Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?” [Aro] questioned.

“Give or take a decade,” he answered in a clear, beautifully warm voice. His accent was barely noticeable. “We don't keep track.”

“And you reached maturity at what age?”

“About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown.”

“You have not changed since then?”

Nahuel shrugged. “Not that I've noticed.”

I felt a shudder tremble through Jacob's body. I didn't want to think about this yet. I would wait till the danger was past and I could concentrate.

“And your diet?” Aro pressed, seeming interested in spite of himself.

“Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either.”

“You were able to create an immortal?” As Aro gestured to Huilen, his voice was abruptly intense. I refocused on my shield; perhaps he was seeking a new excuse.

“Yes, but none of the rest can.”

A shocked murmur ran through all three groups.

Aro's eyebrows shot up. “The rest?”

“My sisters.” Nahuel shrugged again.
–Aro, Nahuel and Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 736-737

Design and piecing by Joyce

The Hybrids are a combination of Vampires and Humans, so the fabrics are a combination of plain and sparkly or shimmering. Since there may be Hybrids throughout the world, I thought they would have a variety of skin tones. The fabrics on the top half have sparkles or a satin shimmer to them. The fabrics on the bottom are plain. I liked the idea of having them on the diagonal to give it more interest. The drop of blood in the center brings it all together.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Wedding

“Get to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow.”

“Thanks! That's sure to help me wind down.”

“I'll meet you at the altar.”

“I'll be the one in white.” I smiled at how perfectly blasé I sounded.
–Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Breaking Dawn, page 29

Pattern from Paper Panache, piecing by Mel

I usually have lots of ideas for blocks when we start planning for our quilts. This time, I had nothing! So I was browsing the wonderful world of internet when I came upon one of my favourite paper piecing sites: Paper Panache. And there it was. A wedding cake pattern! I then searched my books and the internet for any mention of colour themes and I stumbled upon a site that had pictures of the wedding cake from the movie. It was covered in beautiful, rich red colours as well and flowers. I had a vision of this block with lots of pink, red and purple, and lots and lots of flowers! I went through the fabrics I have at home and found some lovely flowery fabric for the background in honour of Alice's decorations. The cake has subtle flowers on it as well. For Edward's suit, I thought to incorporate some black sparkling fabric to make him that much more "sparkle in the light." Overall, I really like the feel of this block, and I hope I did Alice proud!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Alice's Note

“Right after midnight, Alice and Jasper came to this place and asked permission to cross our land to the ocean. I granted them that and escorted them to the coast myself. They went immediately into the water and did not return. As we journeyed, Alice told me it was of the utmost importance that I say nothing to Jacob about seeing her until I spoke to you. I was to wait here for you to come looking for her and then give you this note. She told me to obey her as if all our lives depended on it.”

Sam's face was grim as he held out a folded sheet of paper, print all over with small black text. It was a page out of a book; my sharp eyes read the printed words as Carlisle unfolded it to see the other side. The side facing me was the copyright page from The Merchant of Venice. A hint of my own scent blew off it as Carlisle shook the paper flat. I realized it was a page torn from one of my books. I'd brought a few things from Charlie's house to the cottage; a few sets of normal clothes, all the letters from my mother, and my favorite books. My tattered collection of Shakespeare paperbacks had been on the bookshelf in the cottage's little living room yesterday morning. . . .

“Alice has decided to leave us,” Carlisle whispered.

“What?” Rosalie cried.

Carlisle turned the page around so that we all could read.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 557-558

Design and piecing by Nicole

I wanted to stay simple for the letter. So I used purple as the accent color and found a light enough fabric that I could write on. I am sure Alice's handwriting is far better than mine, but I think it works!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Bella's Transformation

Edward had a syringe in his hand—all silver, like it was made from steel.

“What's that?”

. . . He shoved the needle straight into her heart.

“My venom,” he answered as he pushed the plunger down.
–Jacob Black and Edward Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 354

The warmth beside my heart got more and more real, warmer and warmer. Hotter. The heat was so real it was hard to believe that I was imagining it.

Hotter.

Uncomfortable now. Too hot. Much, much too hot.

. . . The burning grew—rose and peaked and rose again until it surpassed anything I'd ever felt.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 375

Design and piecing by Jerri Lynn

This block was meant to represent Bella's transformation. We hear over and over again in the books that the transformation process is like being eaten up by flames. So, I started with the flames. This is one of the first times I have ever made a block using appliqué, so I was a bit nervous. I created the flames using different colors of fabric, but then thought it needed more, so I added this great medium I picked up at a quilt show to give the flames some shimmer.

You can't have a transformation without venom, and for vampires this means the bite. I wanted to avoid the traditional biting imagery and focus on Edward's unique way of saving Bella's life, hence the syringe.

I am very happy with this block and hope you enjoy it!

Lunch with Friends

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. –Douglas Pagels

Twilight and quilting began our association. In the beginning, they were the only things we had in common. We live scattered across the United States and Cat lives on the other side of the world, in Australia. But as we've worked together long-distance on half-a-dozen quilts, we've become friends. This is the most important part of our group and the foundation for our success.

Both Wanda and Iris came to Utah to see the Stephenie Meyer quilt. We visited the quilt while it was displayed at a quilt show, enjoyed lunch together and then did a little shop hopping. It was a really fun time. A few months ago, Wanda, her husband, and their youngest daughter with her husband and their daughter came to Utah again. We enjoyed lunch together and just had a wonderful time visiting and talking about quilting and families and life.

When I decided to attend my cousin's wedding in California last weekend, I was hoping that I might have a chance to meet up with the girls who live there. Iris, Wanda and Jerri Lynn live relatively close to each other, so I texted to find out how close they are to where I was going. As it turned out, Wanda is really close to where the wedding was held and she offered to let me stay with her while I was in town. Not only that, she took me to every place I needed to go. She and her wonderful husband were such gracious hosts and I am so happy that Twilight brought our paths together.

The day after the wedding, Iris drove to the mid-point between her house and Wanda's and we had lunch together. Unfortunately, Jerri Lynn had other plans for the weekend. We had a great time catching up with each other and all the great things that are going on in our lives. There was a little gift exchange and I came away with an Alice doll {thank you, Iris!}.

I had such a fun time that I'm hoping to go back again soon, for a little sewing weekend. We always have a great time when we get together.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Bella's Shield

I saw Jane smile as Edward crossed the midpoiunt in the distance between us, when he was closer to them than he was to us.

That smug little smile did it. My fury peaked, higher even than the raging bloodlust I'd felt the moment the wolves had committed to this doomed fight. I could taste madness on my tongue—I felt it flow through me like a tidal wave of pure power. My muscles tightened, and I acted automatically. I threw my shield with all the force in my mind, flung it across the impossible expanse of the field—ten times my best distance—like a javelin. My breath rushed out in a huff with the exertion.

The shield blew out from me in a bubble of sheer energy, a mushroom cloud of liquid steel. It pulsed like a living thing—I could feel it, from the apex to the edges.

There was no recoil to the elastic fabric now; in that instant of raw force, I saw that the backlash I'd felt before was of my own making—I had been clinging to that invisible part of me in self-defense, subconsciously unwilling to let it got. Now I set it free, and my shield exploded a good fifty yards out from me effortlessly, taking only a fraction of my concentration. I could feel it flex like just another muscle, obedient to my will. I pushed it, shaped it to a long, pointed oval. Everything underneath the flexible iron shield was suddenly a part of me—I could feel the life force of everything it covered like points of bright heat, dazzling sparks of light surrounding me. I thrust the shield forward the length of the clearing, and exhaled in relief when I felt Edward's brilliant light within my protection. I held there, contracting this new muscle so that it closely surrounded Edward, a thin but unbreakable sheet between his body and our enemies.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 690-691

Pattern by Cat, design and piecing by Iris

I'll start off right off the bat saying that I had a hard time translating my idea for Bella's Shield into a fabric block. As soon as I saw that topic on our brainstorm list, I knew I wanted to use Cat's Swiss Shield pattern (without the cross in the middle) and I wanted to use an organza overlay on the shield with bright dots underneath to show the "bright points of light" that represented her friends and family under the shield.

Several obstacles arose.

First, finding the right fabric. I had a piece of the Kaufman Stargazers in Midnight which had some elements I thought would be really good: a swirl pattern to mimic her description of Alec's numbing "gift" hitting her shield; and golden starbursts that fit the "bright points of light" in her description. But since the confrontation is during a snowy day, I wanted something in whites/grays or blues. It took a couple hours of googles but I finally found the Stargazers fabric in Sky, which fit my idea.

I went to print out the pattern, enlarged, and my brain didn't work right and I printed it a bit bigger than I really would have liked. I didn't realize this until after I pieced it. So as a result you can't even see the cool snowflake pattern on the top half of the block. I tried out the organza idea, but even using the really thin printable sheets, you lost the whole pattern with the starbursts & swirls.

I wanted to show "the confrontation", with her friends and family in the shield portion and the Volturi & Nomads around them, and was originally thinking about using fabric markers or embroidery. Angie made a great suggestion to use beads, which I thought would add interest to an otherwise simple block. I used topaz colored ones for her family, placing them mostly in 2's (all the mates) with a grouping at the front to show Bella, Edward, Carlisle and Renesmee. Yeah, I know she has brown eyes, but I got some matte brown beads (which turned out to be brownish/purple) for the wolves. So I made a unified line of those in back of the main Cullen group and had one in front for Jacob. I added a few red ones in the shield for the other Covens. The Volturi "enemies" are lined up outside, with a few Nomad couples behind them. I clustered 3 reds together in the front for Aro, Caius, Marcus, but also added a fourth bead for Renata, and a topaz bead for Katrina. ;)

So, if I had absolute unlimited time, like let's say I was a vampire that didn't need to sleep, or I was just that OCD, I would probably re-make this block just to size down the shield and show more background. However, because I have a wonderfully busy life outside of Twilight, and I still think it came out neat, and I had alot of fun with the beads, it is what it is.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Romanian Coven

There was a low commotion from the front yard. I heard Carlisle speaking over a babble of surprised voices.

“Did Alice send you?” he asked someone, his voice unsure, slightly upset.

“No one sent us,” a deep whispery voice answered Carlisle's question.

Carlisle's voice was wary as he responded. “Then what brings you here now?”

“Word travels,” a different voice answered, just as feathery as the first. “We heard hints that Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering.”

“We are not challenging the Volturi,” Carlisle answered in a strained tone. “There has been a misunderstanding, that is all. A very serious misunderstanding, to be sure, but one we're hoping to clear up. What you see are witnesses. We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't—”

“We don't care what they say you did,” the first voice interrupted. “And we don't care if you broke the law.”

“No matter how egregiously,” the second inserted.

“We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged,” said the first. “If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it.”

“Or even to help defeat them,” the second added.
–Stefan and Vladimir, Breaking Dawn, page 625-626

Design and piecing by Joyce

In Breaking Dawn, Stefan and Vladimir explain how the Romanian Vampires held all the power before the Volturi overthrew them. They are described as having powdery, papery skin (The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide p.267-269). Their eyes are clear, though, not 'clouded' like the Volturi's. The center features the 'powdery' skin and red eyes. I used white and red fabric for the eyes and satin stitched the pupils black, then stitched the eyelashes. Since they had been the 'rulers,' I made a broken crown with fabric that goes from yellow to purple. It looked beat-up to me. I covered the crown parts with gold fabric I found in the Halloween section at Jo-Ann's, then added beads for the 'crown jewels.'

The Romanians also talk about their castles being destroyed and burned. I used Cat's paper-piecing castle as inspiration, but didn't want to paper-piece that small of a section, so I appliquéd it. I used a brown fabric and ivory fabric with crackle designs, then used sparkly black netting behind the windows. I satin stitched to outline and define the castle ruins. The background fabric is sparkly purple stars and swirls signifying their past royalty.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Alice, Vampire Bat in the Belfry

“Bella gets in the way. She’s all wrapped around it, so she’s . . . blurry. Like bad reception on a TV—like trying to focus your eyes on those fuzzy people jerking around on the screen. It’s killing my head to watch her. And I can’t see more than a few minutes ahead, anyway. The . . . fetus is too much a part of her future. When she first decided . . . when she knew she wanted it, she blurred right out of my sight. Scared me to death.”

She was quiet for a second, and then she added, “I have to admit, it’s a relief having you close by—in spite of the wet-dog smell. Everything goes away. Like having my eyes closed. It numbs the headache.”
–Alice Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 276-277

Alice wants you too. She says she’s tired of hanging out in the attic like the vampire bat in the belfry. –Seth Clearwater, Breaking Dawn, page 290

Design and piecing by Colleen

I chose to represent Alice with the Bat in the Belfry block. I love the way Alice and Jacob bond a little when the “fetus” is giving Alice headaches. I found pictures of belfries on the internet. I liked this one because it was white like the Cullen house in the books. I used a white fairy frost fabric and a slightly darker beige fabric with a subtle lace pattern on it for the tower. Those fabrics seemed very Alice to me. I also used a black sparkly fabric for the bat (thanks Iris!). I lucked into the background fabric and it was exactly what I was looking for to provide a background with trees.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Amazon Coven

And then another pair of unexpected friends arrived—unexpected, because neither Carlisle nor Rosalie had been able to contact the Amazons.

“Carlisle,” the taller of the two very tall ferine women greeted him when they arrived. Both of them seems as if they'd been stretched—long arms and legs, long fingers, long black braids, and long faces with long noses. They wore nothing but animal skins—hide vests and tight-fitting pants that laced on the sides with leather ties. It wasn't just their eccentric clothes that made them seem wild, but everything about them, from their restless crimson eyes to their sudden, darting movements. I'd never met any vampires less civilized.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 612-613

Design and piecing by Nicole

This one took a while longer than my other blocks, as I toyed with the idea of trying to create the forest. That didn't work. Someone made the suggestion of doing a map of the forest. So I used my favorite green for the background, and a shiny black to show south America. I found the really bright green, blue and yellow fabric and it said “use me for the Amazon!” So I did. I did this via appliqué and this was my first time doing the satin stitch, but it finishes it nicely.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Midnight Swim

“Everything was black-and-white, leached colorless by the moon.”
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn page 83

Design and piecing by Kate

This is one of my favorite scenes in the entire saga, so it was most important to me to get the basic essence of the moment.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Renesmee

Renesmee did not cry, but she breathed in quick, startled pants. Her eyes were open, her expression so shocked it was almost funny. The little, perfectly round head was covered in a thick layer of matted, bloody curls. Her irises were a familiar—but astonishing—chocolate brown. Under the blood, her skin looked pale, a creamy ivory. All besides her cheeks, which flamed with color.

Her tiny face was so absolutely perfect that it stunned me. She was even more beautiful than her father. Unbelievable. Impossible.

“Renesmee,” I whispered. “So . . . beautiful.”

The impossible face suddenly smiled—a wide, deliberate smile. Behind the shell-pink lips was a full complement of snowy milk teeth.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 372

Someone very small was leaning forward out of Rosalie's arms, peering around Jacob. Immediately, she had my absolute attention, my every thought, the way nothing else had owned them since the moment I'd opened my eyes.

“I was out just two days?” I gasped, disbelieving.

The stranger-child in Rosalie's arms had to be weeks, if not months, old. She was maybe twice the size of the baby in my dim memory, and she seemed to be supporting her own torso easily as she stretched toward me. Her shiny bronze-colored hair fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Her chocolate brown eyes examined me with an interest that was not at all childlike; it was adult, aware and intelligent.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 438

Design and piecing by Joyce

We wanted to represent Renesmee's quick growth. I thought of various ways to make that happen, but ended up not liking any of them. Breaking Dawn tells about Alice and Rosalie taking hundreds of pictures, so it made sense that they would have made a “Baby Book” for Renesmee. I used transfer paper on white fabric to make the nameplate on the front of the book.

The first page has her name, birth date and place of birth. I made an educated guess at Renesmee's birth weight and height and put those along with her hair and eye color on page 2. Page 3 lists Renesmee's family. Page 4 has some of Renesmee's favorite things — song: Renesmee's Song by Edward, catching snowflakes (described in the book), food and pet. I thought putting Jacob's name was something Rosalie would definitely do! Page 5 has a list of “Firsts.” Most of them came straight from the book, but I, again, made a few educated guesses on some dates. Pages 6 and 7 represent Carlisle's records. I used a baby growth chart along with the information in the book to fill in the numbers. After completing the pages, I “bound” the book and sewed it to the background fabric.

I loved the shimmery flowers in the purple book cover fabric and how the light lilac was so similar to the pale lilac in the background fabric. As far as the background fabric, I just loved the color variations and all the leaves.

This block was so much fun to do. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Jason Scott, Attorney at Law

“Are you J. Jenks?” I asked.

“Why're you looking for J?”

“That's my business.” Besides, I didn't have a clue. “Are you J?”

“No.”

We faced each other for a long moment while his sharp eyes ran up and down the fitted pearl gray sheath I wore. His gaze finally made it to my face. “You don't look like the usual customer.”

“I'm probably not the usual,” I admitted. “But I do need to see him as soon as possible.”

“I'm not sure what to do,” he admitted.

“Why don't you tell me your name?”

He grinned. “Max.”

“Nice to meet you, Max. Now, why don't you tell me what you do for the usual?”

His grin became a frown. “Well, J's usual clients don't look a thing like you. Your kind doesn't bother with the downtown office. You just go striaght up to his fancey office in the skyscraper.”

I repeated the other address I had, making the list of numbers a question.

“Yeah, that's the place,” he said, suspicious again. “How come you didn't go there?”

“This was the address I was given—by a very dependable source.”

“If you were up to any good, you wouldn't be here.”
–Bella Cullen and Max, Breaking Dawn, page 637-638

“You've got to be involved in something big. And bad,” he mused.

“It's not really like that.”

“That's what they all say. But who else needs papers? Or can afford to pay J's prices for them, I should say. None of my business anyway,” he said, and then muttered the word married again.

He gave me an entirely new address with basic directions, and then watched me drive away with suspicious, regretful eyes.

At this point, I was ready for almost anything—some kind of James Bond villain's high-tech lair seemed appropriate. So I thought Max must have given me the wrong address as a test. Or maybe the lair was subterranean, underneath this very commonplace strip mall nestled up against a wooded hill in a nice family neighborhood.

I pulled into an open spot and looked up at a tastefully subtle sign that read JASON SCOTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW.

The office inside was beige with celery green accents, inoffensive and unremarkable. . . A fish tank was set into the wall, and a blandly pretty blond receptionist sat behind the desk.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 641-642

Design and piecing by Wanda

My block represents J. Jenks and the documents Bella must obtain for Jacob and Renesmee. In the book when she finally tracks him down, his office is in a strip shopping mall so I used the brick fabric for that, thinking I've seen brick shopping centers before and it was the only reasonable fabric building material I had! I constructed my façade with raw edge appliqué and Steam-a-Seam to adhere the door and window. I added the pediment at the top of the door just because it seemed to me to look a little more “attorney” like. In the book when Bella enters the office she sees the fish tank and I put in a desk to hold the tablet with the personal info to make the documents. I tried to add a few stitches but in the end had to use my sewing machine to further hold things in place. The idea for this block just came into my head after reading those pages in the book more than a few times!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Jacob and Rosalie's Rivalry

“It had once probably been a big mixing bowl, but she’d bent the bowl back in on itself until it was shaped almost exactly like a dog dish. I had to be impressed with her quick craftsmanship. And her attention to detail. She’d scratched the word Fido into the side. Excellent handwriting.”
–Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn, page 294

Design and piecing by Kate

The challenging part to this block was picking the fabrics to represent Jacob and Rosalie. For Jacob, I used warm earthy tones. For Rosalie, I knew I wanted to use sparkly white to represent her as a vampire, but it wasn’t until I saw someone dressed as “human Rose” at the Boston Twilight Convention did inspiration strike. Feminine retro-fabrics to reinforce her story.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Bella's First Hunt

There was a hint of something different, a faint trail to the east…

My eyes flashed open, but my focus was still on sharper senses as I turned and darted silently eastward. The ground sloped steeply upward almost at once, and I ran in a hunting crouch, close to the ground, taking to the trees when that was easier. I sensed rather than heard Edward with me, flowing quietly through the woods, letting me lead.

The vegetation thinned as we climbed higher; the scent of pitch and resin grew more powerful, as did the trail I followed—it was a warm scent, sharper than the smell of the elk and more appealing. A few seconds more and I could hear the muted padding of immense feet, so much subtler than the crunch of hooves. The sound was up—in the branches rather than on the ground. Automatically I darted into the boughs as well, gaining the strategic higher position, halfway up a towering silver fir.

The soft thud of paws continued stealthily beneath me now; the rich scent was very close. My eyes pinpointed the movement linked with the sound, and I saw the tawny hide of the great cat slinking along the wide branch of a spruce just down and to the left of my perch. He was big—easily four times my mass. His eyes were intent on the ground beneath; the cat hunted, too.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, pages 421-422

Design and piecing by Beth

The image of Bella, newly-turned vampire, poised to make her first kill is one of the strongest I have from Breaking Dawn. So naturally, it was my choice to bring to fabric and thread as my addition to this quilt. As a newbie quilter, I’m most comfortable with hand-stitching and appliqué techniques from my years of embroidery experience, so I relied heavily on them when designing this square. But my education in architecture and drafting have given me a solid understanding of how paper piecing works, so I decided to attempt it for the first time.

I was able to find wood bark and pine needle fabrics to paper piece the tree branches and background. I used Snow Fairy Frost to appliqué Bella in a crouching pose (sans silver shoes which had been left back at the Cullen house). Because Bella’s senses were so sharp and clear, I chose actual blue satin for her dress and brown silk for her hair to give some sheen and vibrancy to the scene. I also made sure to show her knees when positioning her dress because she had split the material for her leap over the river. I hand-stitched lines for limb definition and her facial features, adding red French knots for her newborn vampire eyes. For the mountain lion I chose three varying shades of the same-patterned material so I could utilize them to give shading to the cat’s underside, paws and limbs. Again, hand-stitched lines define the cat’s hind quarters, slinking shoulder line and complete his facial features.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Egyptian Coven

It seemed an unlikely grouping—though the Egyptians all looked so alike, with their midnight hair and olive-toned pallor, that they easily could have passed for a biological family. Amun was the senior member and the outspoken leader. Kebi never strayed farther away from Amun than his shadow, and I never heard her speak a single word. Tia, Benjamin's mate, was a quiet woman as well, though when she did speak there was great insight and gravity to everything she said. Still, it was Benjamin whom they all seemed to revolve around, as if he had some invisible magnetism the others depended upon for their balance. I saw Eleazar staring at the boy with wide eyes and assumed Benjamin had a talent that drew the others to him.

“It's not that,” Edward told me when we were alone that night. “His gift is so singular that Amun is terrified of losing him. Much like we had planned to keep Renesmee from Aro's knowledge”—he sighed—“Amun has been keeping Benjamin from Aro's attention. Amun created Benjamin, knowing he would be special.”

“What can he do?”

“Something Eleazar's never seen before. Something I've never heard of. Something that eve your shield would do nothing against.” He grinned his crooked smile at me. “He can actually influence the elements—earth, wind, water, and fire. True physical manipulation, no illusion of the mind. Benjamin's still experimenting with it, and Amun tries to mold him into a weapon. But you see how independent Benjamin is. He won't be used.”
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 609-610
Design and piecing by Nicole

I loved doing this block, but it's probably because I can relate to Benjamin. I knew that I needed a pyramid, so I took a picture of one and created a paper piecing template to follow. I used rock fabrics for Benjamin's control of the natural elements, and the sandy fabric to represent the arid desert.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Nomads

“Are there a lot of . . . your kind?” I was surprised. How many of them could walk among us undetected?

“No, not many. ... Most won't settle in any one place. ... Nomads, for the most part. We've all lived that way at times. It gets tedious, like anything else.”
–Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 290

“We'd need quite a show of witnesses,” Rosalie said harshly, her voice brittle as glass.

“We'll have to ask them just right,” Alice murmured. ... “Some of the nomads—Garrett and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair.”

“What about Peter and Charlotte?” Jasper asked.
–Breaking Dawn, page 550-551

Design and piecing by Joyce

Nomadic Vampires wander the globe. I selected a batik for the background. The world is made with a sparkly blue fabric that looked like water. I cut out as much as I could of the Western Hemisphere and used my favorite Steam A Seam Lite 2 to attach the pieces. Since the Nomads travel, I wanted their footprints. I started with a silver fabric, but it didn't look right, so I changed to a black fabric with stars that one of the Twi-Quilters sent me.

I satin stitched the globe, but left the other pieces raw. I think it captures the Nomads pretty well, and hope you like it!

Nicole

Hey! My name is Nicole, and I have been married for 5½ years. I grew up with a mother and grandmother who did all sorts of crafty things. I tried cross stitch; one took me five years to do! I did mainly music things, panio and violin. Then when I went to college, I seemed to get better at the cross-stitch. So I decided to start sewing again. I bought my first sewing machine when I was 18. I still have it, and am still learning about it. I have made six quilts; one of them my grandma helped me with. I am currently working on my favorite quilt so far. It's a rock quilt! I have also made clothes, and am currently working on a Minnie Mouse costume! I also love to read! I enjoy thunderstorms and other natural occurrences (earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes....)!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Isle Esme

“Bella, look there.” [Edward] pointed straight ahead.

I saw only blackness at first, and the moon's white trail across the water. But I searched the space where he pointed until I found a low black shape breaking into the sheen of moonlight on the waves. As I squinted into the darkness, the silhouette became more detailed. The shape grew into a squat, irregular triangle, with one side trailing longer than the other before sinking into the waves. We drew closer, and I could see the outline was feathery, swaying to the light breeze.

And then my eyes refocused and the pieces all made sense: a small island rose out of the water ahead of us, waving with palm fronds, a beach glowing pale in the light of the moon.

“Where are we?” I murmured in wonder while he shifted course, heading around to the north end of the island.

He heard me, despite the noise of the engine, and smiled a wide smile that gleamed in the moonlight.

“This is Isle Esme.”
-Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, pages 77-78

Design and piecing by Cat

I wanted to create a very tropical feel for this block. The house is supposed to be white with large windows and looks out onto the beach. I tried to capture this with the block and added the palm trees lend to the tropical feel of this block.

Originally I was going to piece a dolphin in the water but was pressed for time so found this lovely dolphin fabric instead. I managed to fussy cut the dolphin fabric to get some of the waves crashing on the beach as well as the dolphins playing in the water. I am pleased with the overall feel of the block and the dolphin fabric ended up working out really well, even if it wasn't what I originally had in mind.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Eggs

“Do you know how many eggs you’ve gone through in the last week?” He pulled the trash bin out from under the sink—it was full of empty blue cartons.” –Edward Cullen, Breaking Dawn page 111

Design and piecing by Kate

This was the most challenging block I have done, by far. But I love the subject and when I found the blue carton-fabric, I knew exactly how I wanted it to look. I think I broke every quilting “rule” on this one, but it was the result that mattered. It is a combination of piecing and appliqué.

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Denali Coven

“Are there a lot of . . . your kind?” I was surprised. How many of them could walk among us undetected?

“No, not many. But most won't settle in any one place. Only those like us, who've given up hunting you people” — a sly glance in my direction — “can live together with humans for any length of time. We've only found one other family like ours, in a small village in Alaska. We lived together for a time, but there were so many of us that we became too noticeable. Those of us who live . . . differently tend to band together.”
–Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Twilight, page 290

Behind my human friends were my new cousins-in-law, the Denali vampire clan. I realized I was holding my breath as the vampire in front—Tanya, I assumed from the strawberry tint in her blond curls—reached out to embrace Edward. Next to her, three other vampires with golden eyes stared at me with open curiosity. One woman had long, pale blond hair, straight as corn silk. The other woman and the man beside her were both black-haired, with a hint of an olive tone to their chalky complexions.

And they were all four so beautiful that it made my stomach hurt.
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 53-54

“We stand with Carlisle,” Tanya said. “And we fight with him.” –Tanya, Breaking Dawn, page 659

Design and piecing by Joyce

In 2003, I got to go to Alaska. The day we left Denali, we had a clear view of Mt. McKinley. I used pictures from my trip to make the design for this block. I liked the variation of color shades in the sky fabric. I used white glittery fabric for the main section of the mountain. For other peaks, I used white fabric with silver swirls. The transition area is gray fabric with black, sparkling leaves. I also used this fabric on the month of January block for the New Moon quilt.

My pictures showed a stream coming down the mountain and flowing into a lake, so I cut a piece of tie-dyed fabric that went from white to blue. The greens are some of my favorites. I used the one with the larger print on the School Days block on the Eclipse quilt. Satin stitching around most of the sections defines and highlights different aspects of the scene.

If you want to do a block like this, it helps to think it through in layers and build it as you go from further away to close by. I love how it looks!

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: Bella and Edward's Cottage

I stared into the violet dark. There, nestled into a small clearing in the forest, was a tiny stone cottage, lavender gray in the light of the stars.

It belonged here so absolutely that it seemed as it if must have grown from the rock, a natural formation. Honeysuckle climbed up one wall like a lattice, winding all the way up and over the thick wooden shingles. Late summer roses bloomed in a handkerchief-sized garden under the dark, deep-set windows. There was a little path of flat stones, amethyst in the night, that led up to the quaint arched wooden door.

“…Don’t you like it?” Alice’s face fell. “I mean, I’m sure we could fix it up differently, if you want. Emmett was all for adding a few thousand square feet, a second story, columns, and a tower, but Esme thought you would like it best the way it was meant to look.” Her voice started to climb, to go faster. “If she was wrong, we can get back to work. It won’t take long to—”

“Shh!” I managed.

She pressed her lips together and waited. It took me a few seconds to recover.

“You’re giving me a house for my birthday?” I whispered.

“Us,” Edward corrected. “And it’s no more than a cottage. I think the word house implies more legroom.”

“No knocking my house,” I whispered to him.

Alice beamed. “You like it.”

I shook my head.

“Love it?”

I nodded.

“…But of course I love it. How could I not?”

–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, pages 475-477

Design and piecing by Beth

I have a thing for houses. How they’re made and how their pieces represent the people that call them home. So no wonder I loved bringing this image to the quilt! The description in the book is fairly succinct. It was just a matter of finding fabric with the correct patterns. I found a shop online and ordered several different patterns and colors of rock and stone, and they also offered different colors of roof shingles!

Once I looked at the pattern sizes and put together complementary shades, I drafted the cottage. I wanted an asymmetrical structure to add some quaintness with curving lines and dormer windows and, of course, a chimney. I planned on setting the house against waves of green fabric with my favorite lavender, scrolly material above as the “violet sky.” But when I found the forest-scape fabric, it was beyond perfect. It came in a deeper, darker green, but I chose this more vibrant green because of the yellows in the trees throughout, since it was early fall in the book. I moved the cut-out of the house stone around on the forest fabric until I found the backdrop look I wanted with the side trees and the pines peaking up above the chimney.

I appliquéd the stone of the cottage onto the backdrop, then the roof thatching (which was difficult around the dormer window cut out) and the chimney. I used the same wood bark fabric from my First Hunt block (details coming soon) for the front door, then hand-stitched outline details to give the chimney it’s 3D corners.

I cut out the backdrop fabric where I’d stitch in the violet sky, but after I put the lavender piece in, things didn’t look right. So I cut around the trees to add more sky showing on the sides and then top-stitched the trees for added reinforcement. I appliquéd on the three windows in a dark (almost black) gray, hand-stitched the door hinges, handle and dormer details, then satin stitched both sets of eaves.

I tried satin stitching the pathway stones in purple, but wasn’t satisfied with the result so I opted to appliqué each of those in an amethyst fabric. I had always planned on ribbon embroidery for the rose bushes and honeysuckle, utilizing simple brown floss backstitches for the rose bushes themselves, but with the lush green of the now-changed background, I was afraid they’d get lost. So I utilized one of the green patterns I had planned to originally use for the green waves of backdrop. I noticed the pattern had small bush-like groupings if I strategically cut them, so I free hand appliquéd those as well.

I used silk ribbon in red and cream to ribbon embroider the roses on the bushes. I’ve always loved this technique and really like how it gives some texture to the block. Lastly, I chose very vibrant DMC flosses to free hand embroider the honeysuckle. I used backstitches for vine, lazy daisies for leaves, 5-point backstitched stars for flowers and French knots for buds.

Although I’m newer to quilting, this block will always be one of my favorites. I really enjoyed making it and am very pleased with the results!