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.

Big Day

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give your beloved, how could you not give it? –Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 2

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt: The Wolf Packs

There was a good reason for the Alpha's authority. Even a pack as strong as ours wasn't much of a force without a leader. We had to move together, to think together, in order to be effective. And that required the body to have a head.

So what if Sam was wrong now? There was nothing anyone could do. No one could dispute his decision.

Except.

And there it was—a thought I'd never, never wanted to have. But now, with my legs all tied up in strings, I recognized the exception with relief—more than relief, with a fierce joy.

No one could dispute the Alpha's decision—except for me.

I hadn't earned anything. But there were things that had been born in me, things that I'd left unclaimed.

I'd never wanted to lead the pack. I didn't want to do it now. I didn't want the responsibility for all our fates resting on my shoulders. Sam was better at that than I would ever be. Be he was wrong tonight.

And I had not been born to kneel to him.

The bonds fell off my body the second that I embraced my birthright.

I could feel it gathering in me, both a freedom and also a strange, hollow power. Hollow because an Alpha's power came from his pack, and I had no pack.

–Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn, p. 208-209

Pattern by Cat, layout and piecing by Elizabeth

This block is a representation of the two wolf packs. I used Cat's wolf pattern because it was perfect for this block. I scaled the size down so that I could fit two into the block and I did Jacob a tiny bit bigger than Sam. This isn't really meant to represent one specific moment in the book. It is more of a combination of several scenes that popped to mind; the quote from above, the fact that Jacob had grown bigger than Sam, the trail that Jacob, Seth and Leah cut as they ran guard around the Cullen's house, the delegation Sam sent to try to convince Jacob's pack to return to La Push, and the peace the two packs finally arrived at after everything was over.

We've had a lot of fun planning and working on the Breaking Dawn quilt. Watch for more blocks coming soon.

Eclipse Charity Quilt: Newborn Combat Training

Newborn Combat Training by Kate


"When will our guests arrive?" Carlisle asked Edward.

Edward concentrated for a moment and then sighed. "A minute and a half. But I'm going to have to translate. They don't trust us enough to use their human forms."

Carlisle nodded. "This is hard for them. I'm grateful they're coming at all."
-Edward and Carlisle Cullen, Eclipse, page 390-391

Original block design by Kate.

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...

New Moon Quilt: Dangerous Meadow

The Dangerous Meadow by Joyce


here is the top of the meadow block. I used Susan C. Druding's Fall Scene free applique block, a picture, and the nordic pine at forestquilting.com as inspiration.

I had originally planned to have the block kind of drab and dreary 'just coming into spring' beiges, but, like I said on the calendar post, Forks is GREEN. (I know the books say that all the time, but it really seems to be true the whole year.)

In Twilight, the meadow is a magical place where Edward and Bella end up declaring their love for each other. In New Moon, Bella is searching for the meadow to recapture that magic, but finds the opposite. Not only is the magic gone, but danger has arrived. I wanted the feel to be somewhat cold and stark. The trees are bare, and there is not a clear way out. (Actually, I thought I was done, but there was a clear path of escape, so I added more trees! )

The bare trees were cut out and appliqued. I did use a bonding like Steam a Seam, but I've had it so long, it is no longer in a package, so I don't know the name. It was really easy, though - just cut to size, place, and iron.

The Pine Trees were based on the Nordic pine. Instead of using their pattern directly, I just drew and cut out the trees in the sizes needed, then made the trees by paper piecing the triangles and trimming. I folded the edges under and sewed onto the block. I made the trunks separately. I actually ended up with more trees of both kinds than I could use.

Take a look at it with the bottom attached. I think it looks amazing!

New Moon Quilt: The Wolf Pack

The Wolf Pack by Elizabeth
Jacob (russet), Paul (dark silver), Sam (black), Embry (gray w/spots), Jared (medium brown)


This block is part of a larger block, The Dangerous Meadow. Originally we had planned to put most of the wolves in the sashing around the meadow. But when we drew up the new layout, we decided to keep all the elements inside the blocks. Joyce and I combined efforts to put this block together and you'll get to see her part of the block soon. I used Cat's Paw Print pattern reduced to 43%. Each paw is roughly 1-5/8" x 1-3/4". The claws are hand-done with a satin stitch and embroidery floss. I spent about 16 or 17 hours putting them together. I love the way the subtle, end-of-winter yellow-green background sets off the colors of the wolf paws. I put the wolves in an off-set V formation, as described in the book. As I read the part where they enter the meadow, I wrote it down as I pictured it in my head. Jacob is kind of hanging back, looking at Bella. I also did left and right pawed wolves, depending on which side of the formation they were in. My family says I'm a little obsessed.