Snugglepot & Cuddlepie

The Old Home's in the old place.
The same old stars are on the Wall.
–May Gibbs

At the end of June 2012, our sweet Catherine gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. We're just getting around to posting it now. The quilt is just too cute not to.

And so, of course, we had to make her a quilt. We knew that she loves the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie series of books by May Gibbs and when we were talking about ideas for the quilt, that theme came up. Since the books are Australian, and we all live in the US we Googled the characters and put together a fun quilt for her sweet new arrival.

This is what Cat had to say about the quilt: Well not long after my second child, Connall was born I received a lovely surprise in the mail. It was a beautiful Snugglepot and Cuddlepie themed quilt!! Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are a children's classic that I grew up with here in Australia, so I was quite surprised and thrilled to see that my USA mates had decided to use this as a theme for a quilt for my little Connall. I'm sure he will treasure for years to come.

Sea Horse by Angie

Koala by Beth
My koala block was a paper piecing pattern found in a quilt pattern book by Australian Margaret Rolfe. The book featured Australian animals. I used the leafy green material to mimic eucalyptus leaves that I had purchased for the rose bushes in front of Edward and Bella’s Cottage on the Breaking Dawn Quilt and the pine trunk printed material from the Cottage’s front door was perfect for the trunk of the tree. I’m a literalist when interpreting fabrics. LOL The gray material had been ordered as a possibility for the cottage’s stone façade, but I didn't use it, so it found a perfect use in this project! The koala’s mouth and nose are both appliquéd by hand, the eyes are hand satin stitched and the claws are hand backstitched to complete him.

Baby in Leaves by Joyce

Mushrooms by Iris
When I searched for Snugglepot and Cuddlepie images online I came across this photo. I love mushroom shapes and I've always loved the Anne Geddes style photos of babies so I knew this is what I wanted to do, only a simplified version. Lucky for me Vanessa Wilson at Crafty Gemini had just designed and posted this cute pattern for the Garden Blog Hop hosted by Jennifer at Sewhooked in April. It was perfect! I just pieced it with one less 'shroom then appliquéd the two babies. I was especially happy that I had that background fabric that reminds me of the eucalyptus leaves. I drew the details on the babies with a fabric pen. Don't you just love the little baby booty? ;)

Kookaburra by Colleen

Hedgehog by Kate

Gumnut Babies by Elizabeth
When we make a quilt we all throw ideas out and then we sign up for the block or blocks we want to do. I love to do needle-turn appliqué, so I thought it would be fun to do the little Gumnut Babies, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. I have never seen the books, so I used an image I found on-line for my pattern. Everything is needle-turn with a bit of embroidery for the details. I did a satin stitch for the pupils and the white reflection on the eyes and for the mouths. I used backstitch for the noses, eyelashes and around the chins for definition.

I love the beautiful quilting job Angie did. I'll let her work speak for itself.

Frog by Nicole
First off he's so cute with the lily pads (quilting that Angie did)!

Second, I wanted to do a frog because I like frogs. I figured he'd be in the water so I stuck with using blue for the background and green for the froggy. Then I found the perfect eyes, well buttons. But they look awesome!

Owl by Jerri Lynn

Obelia By Beth
My Clam Shell Obelia square is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to design. I chose the Obelia character because I knew I wanted to do something water related because I’m a swimmer. After trying to paper piece an open clam shell, I abandoned the idea when it became too busy a background to embroider the vibrant little character on.

The green patterned material lent itself to a seaweed-looking background, so I appliquéd the brown outline of the shell. Running behind to meet the deadline, I hand stitched the character on the only light background I had, some muslin, by stitching through a printed paper onto the fabric and later removing the paper. Not an advisable method, but without fancy backlit machines, a material transferring printer, or other higher-technology helpers, it got the job done! I was even able to use metallic threads for the bubbles Obelia sits on. Lastly, I appliquéd the embroidered muslin into the open clam shell.

Flower by Angie

Kangaroo by Joyce

Lizard by Wanda

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: Book Covers

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. –Oscar Wilde

Twilight Saga Book Covers
Patterns by Cat and pieced by Elizabeth as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn

From Elizabeth:
I had done Cat's Twilight, New Moon and Breaking Dawn patterns each several times and enjoyed doing them. I had never tried the Eclipse pattern, though, so I was excited to try it. I enlarged the patterns to 12" and used my favorite Fairy Frost fabrics to give the blocks that shimmering vampire quality.

I especially love the beautiful quilting Angie did in these blocks (and throughout the quilt). Her work is amazing.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: Edward's Diamond Heart

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

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

“It was my mother’s.” He shrugged deprecatingly. “I inherited quite a few baubles like this. I’ve given some to Esme and Alice both. So, clearly, this is not a big deal in any way.”

I smiled ruefully at his assurance.

“But I thought it was a good representation,” he continued. “It’s hard and cold.” He laughed. “And it throws rainbows in the sunlight.”

“You forgot the most important similarity,” I murmured. “It’s beautiful.”

“My heart is just as silent,” he mused. “And it, too, is yours.”

I twisted my wrist so the heart would glimmer. “Thank you. For both.”
–Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, Eclipse, page 438–439

Edward's Diamond Heart
Pattern by Cat and pieced by Wanda as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Wanda:
My Edward's heart block is the pattern of our very own Cat Magraith! I have a love of the heart shape and have made hearts for our last quilt. This heart is paper pieced and made with sparkling white fabrics which just made me think of Edward putting his diamond heart charm on Bella's bracelet. The background fabric shimmers in the night highlighting the brightness of Edward's love for Bella!

From Cat:
Well I had the bracelet pattern so I also needed the heart. I did this block as pattern for a BOM that I did a while ago. The diamond heart is more than just the charm that Edward gave Bella, it also represents him. It appears at first to be cold and hard, but it is also strong, indestructible and a real treasure. It also sparkles .

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: Bella's Bracelet

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

“I didn’t make the bracelet,” he admitted. “Just the charm.”

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

Bella's Bracelet
Pattern by Cat and pieced by Jerri Lynn as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Cat:
I occasionally dabble in a little jewelry making and had made myself a bracelet based on the one that Jacob gave Bella with the wolf charm and then Edward added his diamond heart. I thought if I could make a real one, then I could also make a quilt block too! So I sat down and came up with this design.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: I Am Switzerland

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 Am Switzerland
Pattern by Cat and pieced by Iris; embroidered quote by Jerri Lynn for our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Iris:
There's something about this block that I really love. It's simple, but the combination of the sparkliness of the the Fairy Frost, the different textures, and the embroidery really appeal to me. I really loved putting this block together for such a special quilt.

From Cat:
I have been to Switzerland in the past as I have friends there and I noticed that a lot of the towns displayed shields for the country and region more so than flags, so to represent Bella’s “I am Switzerland” stance I created a Swiss Shield pattern. Although I hadn't read Breaking Dawn yet when I designed it, it was a good choice as Bella’s special gift as a vampire was to shield her loved ones, so this is a perfect representation for Bella.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: Grand Theft Auto

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

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

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

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

The interior was black leather, and the windows were tinted dark. It felt safer inside, like nighttime.

Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the thick airport traffic—sliding through tiny spaces between the cars as I cringed and fumbled for my seat belt.

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

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

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

Alice's Porsche
Designed and pieced by Cat as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Cat
I designed this block previously for another Twilight Quilt and still love it so used it again for this one. I'm an engineer and asked a lot of my motor-head male colleagues what they thought of the design before going ahead with it. They all approved .

I found trying to get the right fabrics for this one was tricky enough, but trying to find the right buttons was also a challenge. In the end I used some buttons from my grandmother's old button tin for the wheels and I needed some help for the headlight buttons. And of course I had to use Fairy Frost somewhere in this block, because we all know that vampires sparkle!

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: The Meadow

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

The Meadow
Pattern designed by Cat and pieced by Jerri Lynn as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Jerri Lynn:
I was so happy to do this block, as it is one of my favorite scenes from all of the books combined! The beautiful design is Cat's, but I chose my own fabrics. I love the way that Cat has designed this scene, with Edward and Bella gazing at one another. This is the perfect image for the last movie, as it brings the focus of the books, the love between Edward and Bella, right to the surface.

From Cat:
I found that this scene in the book and also the movie to be quite calming. I have the characters off centre in the corner of the block to emphasize the vast openness of the meadow and to demonstrate the feeling that they could be alone with just the two of them there as if the rest of the world doesn't matter. That is the feeling I had when I read this scene in the book and I tried to capture that in the block pattern too.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: La Push First Beach

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

La Push: First Beach
Pattern designed by Cat and pieced by Jerri Lynn for our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Jerri Lynn:
What I love about this block is that it gives you an overall picture of what it might be like to stand on the beach of La Push, looking at the trees, the shore, and the mountains in the distance. I see this as a beautiful sunny day there, one of the rare ones where the vampires definitely need to stay inside!

From Cat:
This was the first Twilight themed block that I designed and I still love it. I wanted to capture the rugged coastline and cliffs that surround the bay and the forest that edges towards it. I also wanted a block that captured all of this without being overly complicated. I was happy with the result and with the use of the right fabrics you can really develop the features.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt: Vegetarian Vampire Eyes

I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day. –Bella Swan, Twilight, page 70

Vegetarian Vampire Eyes
Pattern designed by Cat & pieced by Nicole as part of our Give-to-Win Twilight Saga Charity Quilt.

From Nicole:
I love the vampire eyes, and Cat had created a paper piecing pattern for it, which I LOVE. So, I went with the “veggie” vamp eyes. It has a nice topaz-y color, and I used both the white glittery fabric for around the eye and the gold glittery fabric for the flesh of the vampire.

From Cat:
This pattern was done with the “vegetarian” vampire in mind and their topaz coloured eyes, but it works equally well in red. The pattern is a lot easier than it looks as it done without the need to join multiple pieces of paper, but it is still quite striking as the eye looks out at you.

For every $5 donation to George Mark Children's House, you get one chance to win this quilt. Visit the Twilight Saga Quilt Page for more details.

Make your donation

Stephenie Meyer Quilt: Bella's Bracelet

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

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

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

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

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

This block, called Charm Bracelet, was designed by Cat. I selected the blue for the background because it gave a nice contrast to the silver/gray of the bracelet. For anyone reading about all of the quilts, this is also the fabric of the ground on the New Moon quilt January block. I added the jump rings and embroidered by the heart.

Stephenie Meyer Quilt: La Push: First Beach

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

The First Beach pattern was designed by Cat and pieced by Jerri Lynn.

Stephenie Meyer Quilt: “My” Jacob

“. . . You started mumbling some nonsense about 'Jacob, my Jacob.'” I could hear the pain, even in the whisper. “Your Jacob enjoyed that quite a lot.”

I stretched my neck up, straining to reach my lips to the edge of his jaw. I couldn't see into his eyes. He was staring up at the ceiling of the tent.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “That's just the way I differentiate.”

“Differentiate?”

“Between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Between the Jacob I like and the one who annoys the hell out of me” I explained.
–Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 512

Cat designed the Paw Print pattern, for this block and it was pieced by former Twi-Quilter, Jean.