I'm jumping the gun and starting our "general discussion" thread, now that we settled on a name......We've been collaborating on our Quilt for Stephenie Meyer and most of us met working on the Twilight Mystery Quilt. Now it's time to get to know each other & plan other activities. Also, a couple of us have plans to start a webpage/blog for the Coven.....we'll update when that's set up!

So I'll start with 10 random things about me (great idea Elizabeth):

1. I’m allergic to cats. Growing up I only had a dog for two months before she died (ate poison gardeners put down in the townhouse complex we lived) The only pet we have right now is a tadpole.

2. I met my husband in college “online” before there was the internet.

3. For our 5th wedding anniversary we went on Alaskan cruise (recommend). I was 15 weeks pregnant (don’t recommend!). The most exciting thing we did was a helicopter ride up to the glaciers. (really recommend!!!!)

4. I’m from Puerto Rico, but only lived there from birth till 4yrs & when I was 9 - 10 yrs old. Otherwise I’ve lived in California.

5. When I was young I was so shy I cried every first day of school until I started high school. The only good side effect about getting older has been an increase in confidence.

6. I’m addicted to shopping, chocolate, ice-cream, and Twilight….it’s really a good thing I never tried smoking, drinking and drugs! (well I drink, but very little, maybe a dozen times a year I have a glass or two of something)

7. I have two girls, Claire Jocelyn age 6 & Maya Josette age 7. I'll have to tell you about picking their names sometime.

8. I’ve always had “my head in the clouds”. I joke that now I just have “my head in Forks”.

9. I went to the SF Twilight convention and already have my gold ticket for next year’s during Valentine’s day.

10. My hobbies are reading, quilting, & scrapbooking. I’m really good about starting projects…..not so good at completing them. But I generally get stumped at the design stage of my projects, then just end up escaping to the reading!

10 Random things about me (I hope I can come up with that many! I suggested 5 )

1. I have lived in Utah my whole life, except for 18 months, when I lived in Brasil. I speak fluent Portugues (spent the majority of my time with natives and it was "sink or swim" as far as learning the language was concerned). By the end of my time there, people would ask where I was from because I didn't look native (blonde, freckled, extremely fair skinned and blue eyes) but I sounded native.

2. My first and favorite job was at an amusement park called Lagoon. I worked there for five summers and two winters. The first two summers were as a ride operator, the next two summers and winters were as an office supervisor, and my last summer was as a ride area supervisor. It was my first taste of freedom and my first taste of popularity. I loved it.

3. I was 33 when I got braces. It was a treatment for TMJ, but I loved the "side effect" of beautiful, straight teeth.

4. I love gardening . I worry about my plants almost as much as I worry about my kids . "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order," (John Burroughs) pretty much sums it up for me.

5. I met my husband on a blind date. I worked with his brother's wife, who introduced us. 3 weeks and 10 dates later we got engaged and we got married 3 months after that.

6. My husband and I celebrated our 12th anniversary last November. We talked a little bit about going on a small trip, but our plans kind of stalled. Then, just a few days before our anniversary, we decided to just "go for it" and take a trip to Disney World in Orlando. This was a Tuesday. We were on a plane on Wednesday and had the best vacation ever. Part of the fun was the absolute spontaneity of it.

7. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is the same church as Stephenie Meyer. I go to church every Sunday and volunteer in the children's Sunday school organization, called Primary. I love it.

8. I have two children, Thomas who is 9 and Amy who is 7, both delievered by c-section (planned is preferrable to semi-emergency). I also had a "bonus" pregnancy followed by a very un-planned miscarriage. It still breaks my heart two-and-a-half years later.

9. I was a total nerd in High School. I was president of the FHA (Future Homemakers of America), lettered in Home Economics and got a serger as a graduation gift.

10. I worked at two different fabric stores in my winters off from the amusement park. I had my own cutting mat, rotary cutter and sewing machine by age 17 (I started sewing when I was 8 ).

I think that we should also add, by way of introduction, our favorite quilting tool or technique . My favorite tool is my June Taylor quilting ruler. It is 3 1/2" x 24", and has marking lines every 1/8" inch.

Yea!!!!! We get to chat! I'm at work, so I'll start, and if I get called away, I'll finish later.

1. I live in Lakewood, Ohio which is just outside Cleveland. I'm living in the house I was raised in. (Bought it from my dad.)

2. I met my husband at college and got married the day before I graduated which was May 22, 1982. This month will be our 27th anniversary. (Is that possible??????)

3. I have 5 children. Jared (male) is 22. He graduated from Ohio State and majored in landscaping. The rest are girls. Jordan is 19 and runs cross country for Cleveland State. She is majoring in physical therapy. Jennieglenn is 16, in high school and plays the bass. The youngest are twins - Joan and Joy - 13 years old and in 7th grade.

4. I am the Director of Christian Education and Youth ministry at a Methodist church - and I pray for people like Elizabeth who are willing to teach on Sundays!

5. I like to make memory quilts.

6. I have been on a tour/cruise of Alaska and loved it! (I didn't go to the glacier, but my aunt did.) I have a friend in Fairbanks and got a personalized tour from her which was great!

7. I love Disney World. Honestly, it is just magical to me.

8. This summer, I am going to Michigan and Colorado on mission trips with my youth groups.

9. We have a menagerie of pets at home: 4 dogs-Ranger, Bailey, Lola, and Brutus
1 hamster - Cocoa 1 turtle - Tanner

10. I blew out my knee and had arthroscopic (sp?) surgery last month which is what gave me time to read the Twilight books.

My favorite quilting tool is my rotary cutter. Don't know what I'd do without it.

Can't wait to here from the rest of you!

10 things about me

1. I'm a civil/traffic engineer and work for our state road authority

2. I'm an Australian and currently live in South Australia

3. I'm married but do not have any kids as yet. I met my husband through work. We're having our 4th anniversary this month :)

4. I have 1 dog, 1 cat and 6 pet chickens. I'm a bit obsessive with chickens too and love doing chicken related crafts

5. I recently just went to a small Twilight convention and got to sit next to Kellen Lutz and Edi Gathegi for breakfast!!! I had previously been to one last year where I got to sit close to Edi, Nikki Reed and Taylor Lautner!!

6. I love to read when I somehow manage to get a piece of spare time

7. My favourite quilting style is paper piecing. I also design PP blocks. My favourite themes for designs are Twilight, Harry Potter & chickens

8. I used to do a lot of knitting but have almost exclusively switched to quilting when a shoulder injury meant I could do very little knitting, but I could still sew. I still have difficulty with excessive hand sewing, but I manage.

9. I have loads of fruit trees in my yard and like to preserve fruit and make jams. I have won several prizes at some of the country shows for my home made sauces and my preserved fruit

10. I collect old English china tea cups and when I do manage to find some spare time I like to bake. I recently did a formal high tea/afternoon tea with a group of friends. It was a great way to enjoy my old china wear and a good excuse to make a load of tiny dainty cakes and savouries to share with friends

my favourite quilting tool is my measuring square. All the patterns are in inches, but i live in a world of metric measurements. It's a lifesaver!

Shannon Marie

10 Things About Me

1. I was born on February 17, 1970 in Great Falls, MT to a single mom. In 1975, my mom married and we immediately moved to England for a 3-year tour of duty. We lived off-base for two years. I wish I remembered more!

2. My dad retired from the Air Force and we moved to Colorado in 1985. I now live in Englewood which is just about 15 mins south of Denver. My house was built in the early 1900s and we've lived in it for 14 years.

3. I met my husband in college. We will celebrate 15 years of bliss on 9/10.
(We wanted to elope and take a cruise, but my mother stepped in.)

4. I have four children: Caroline Rose, 13; Zachary Ryan, 11; Sarah Elizabeth, 8; and Alexander Michael, 6. Zach and Sarah were born on 4/19. Caroline on 5/1. Alex on 5/2. Yes, I get a lot of strange looks.

5. I didn't finish college, but I would like to. I studied history and criminal justice. I would like to be a librarian when I grow up.

6. I love to read and there is nothing like escaping into a good book. I discovered Twilight about a year ago. I've read a ton of Y/A fiction since then. I'm a teenager again.

7. We have 6 dogs and 1 cat. (I love them all, but they are an issue. My dh is NOT allowed anywhere near a pet store, kennel, or shelter! I would only consider one of the dogs mine--Zoe, the Silkie Terrier. The cat's human is Caroline and she only likes me when she hasn't been fed or when I'm quilting and she can lie on my fabric.)

8. I've taken two Twilight trips. I was at Comic Con last summer for the craziness. (The trip has it's own story--ask me sometime.) My dh took me to the L.A. Breaking Dawn concert. (I call it my "I-went-all-the-way-to-L.A.-to-see-the- Dark-Knight-Trip")

9. I'm addicted to McDonald's Vanilla Iced Coffees. My other favorite drinks are Sonic Cherry Limeades, but only during Happy Hour. I also like margaritas.

10. I got into quilting because I loved the fabric, but now I have too much and I secretly fantasize about a quilt fabric robber breaking into my house and relieving me of my burden.

**My favorite quilt tool is my Add-a-1/4" ruler. I love fabric way too much. I love to buy quilt books and magazines. I dream more about quilting than I'm ever able to actually accomplish.

I'm sorry you had to experience that too. It took me two years to conceive my first daughter, that was a really dark time in my life. I thought I would never have children and had many tests done. Then it finally happened and I was overjoyed the whole pregnancy & first year. Just as Claire was 11 months, I had an unexpected pregnancy, and I was actually not ready to have another, I kept thinking I didn't want anymore kids, but then I miscarried at 10 weeks and was really sad. About a year later, we were actually "trying" and then I found out I was pregnant I was so happy, then at 6 weeks I fell off a stool and sure enough the next day....well, that was devastating. It took about 4 more months before it finally happened again, and I had a rough, miserable pregnancy, lots of worries & problems, delivery was awful, and finally Maya was born. She was a REALLY high demand baby (collicy, sick, many, many problems feeding, didn't sleep....) and I called it quits.




I was a bookworm.....my 3 best friends and I used to hang out at the library after school!



I started "crafting" when I was 8, my aunt showed me how to crochet. But I didn't really actually start crafting seriously till I started college. I got an engineering degree and guess where I went to work right after graduating from college? JoAnn's! I knew halfway through college I didn't want to do what I was studying, but couldn't think of what else to do and didn't even want to think about the years wasted & changing majors so I stuck it out....but I really should have majored in Home Ec!

I got to see/meet/get autographs/photos with Peter, Billy, Rachelle, Jackson & Ashely. Taylor was supposed to be at the convention but had to pull out last minute for NM prep :( I missed the day Kellan and Michael were there. :( Next year if they are still doing it, I'm going to pay an ungodly amount of money for private dinner with Peter (he is such a great guy and such a comedian), unless by some strange miracle the earth starts turning backwards and Robert attended a convention, in which case I'll pay an even larger ungodly amount of money to have dinner with him!!!!



That's rapidly becoming my favorite quilting style as well, largely due to your wonderful patterns, and I'm wishing I knew someone who was into Harry Potter so I could do those fantastic patterns too!!! But I do know my nephew loves superheros and star wars, so guess what I'll be making him for Christmas!!!!

Love those too !


I enjoyed reading your post!

My girls' birthdays are only 6 weeks apart, and should have been only 4 weeks apart but Maya came a little early. (thank goodness too, because I was miserable!) I actually know many families where the children all have birthdays the same month, or at least same season....it's like there's only a specific time of year they can have children. But yours definitely takes the cake!



Ok, I'll bite, tell us all about it!



Just so you have the room to buy more, right?!

Hey Elizabeth, what are you doing on so late?!

I agree with you guys on your favorite quilting tools (especially the add a quarter ruler - truly the best invention since the sewing machine, when it comes to paper piecing)

Now I wouldn't call this my favorite tool because I really hate having to use it to "reverse sew", but the bestest seam ripper is the "Bet A Seam Ripper" from Shirley's Sewing Stuff. It's a claw shaped razor blade that cuts through thread like butter!

Migraine .


Ohh! I'm going to have to check into that!



I'm sorry you had more than one. I believe that everything happens for a reason. It is hard for me to understand why I would get pregnant without trying and then have a mis-carriage. As soon as I found out I already loved that baby (OK, maybe it took me like 30 minutes ). My miscarriage was at 10 weeks too, starting on December the 23 and ending on December the 26. Bed-rest for Christmas .

Now that's really awful! Must be hard at Christmas. Mine was April 6th (funny how I hadn't really thought about it but as soon as I did, I still remember the date) Two days after mine, when I finally got out of bed, I went to the salon and chopped off my hair (had been to bra strap all my life) and got an A line bob....it was sorta cathartic....never did grow my hair out again!

Here I was running around trying to get Christmas finished up and I start spotting. I was so busy that December that I didn't even notice I was late. Of course, we weren't trying to get pregnant, so it was the farthest thing from my mind. I didn't find out that I was pregnant until I was already at 8 weeks. I was only officially pregnant for 2 weeks. I feel a little guilty about it. If I hadn't been so busy, working so hard to do so many Christmas things maybe I wouldn't have lost the baby . . .

Like I said, this is a hard thing for me to figure out. Thanks for letting me work on it a little.

What I really meant to say is that we need a little (or not-so-little) signature banner. Is anyone good with the graphics? If there are a couple of graphics-talented girls in the bunch, maybe we could have a few people make signature banners and then vote on them in a poll. OK, so I'm really liking the democratic process of voting at the polls.

BTW, I have loved reading everyone's posts about themselves! Keep them coming, the Quilt Coven lurkers (not mentioning names!)

Oh, and has anyone heard anything from ArizonaLiz? Did she have her baby yet? Her due date is Thursday.

We moms are pretty special!

When I hear stories like this and think of my own miscarriage just days after confirming a pregnancy between C and Z, it's hard to understand the opposing viewpoint. It only took a line on a test for me to immediately think of my little nudger as real. (Breaking Dawn hit me hard and I could totally understand Bella as written.)

I have four beautiful and healthy children. Being pregnant was easy, but my deliveries weren't. It's fun to share with women who understand!

Shannon