Last Christmas I confessed my absolute disinterest in Star Wars and shared the Darth Vader cushion I made for a young man who does not share that disinterest! That same young man turned seven a month ago. This time I picked Yoda.
The pattern is by Quiet Play and is available free on Craftsy. It's foundation pieced, and despite appearances, it's a straightforward block to make - it took just a few hours start to finish, including "help" from a certain small person: "Can I do the scissors, Mummy?" There are many advantages to having a scissor function on a machine. Your two-year-old learning what the button does is not one of them! But it involves her and interests her in sewing in a safe manner, so I try and let her when she asks. She set up her own sewing area yesterday complete with sewing machine, iron and fabric scraps!
The pattern doesn't include the eyes, but I felt I needed to add them - the black is machine raw-edge appliqued and the outline is hand embroidered. I did try and add more facial features but each time I tried, Yoda just turned into Shrek! Not the look I was going for. I gave it to his Mum on Tuesday (also a bit of a Star Wars fan) and she declared it perfect! I'll take that!
The finished block is 10" and I added borders to bring the size up to 14". I quilted it by stitching round the shae of Yoda. Those eye outlines are also through the wadding which adds some depth. I added a zipper back using my go to tutorial from Adrianne @Onthewindyside.
There are definitely more Star Wars cushions in my future: I think R2D2 may be making an appearance at Christmas to go with Darth and Yoda, and my nephew saw the Yoda block yesterday and has also requested Darth Vader!
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