Friday, July 26, 2013

The Ultimate Villian

A day or two ago I suddenly had an urgent need to paper piece.  Even though it's been ages between visits, I figured I wouldn't need to start off small with some Tippencanoe blocks, oh no, I wanted to dive straight in with the baddiest of all baddies, Darth Vader.

Fabric pulled for Darth Vader quilt block

When I first saw this pattern, by Kristy of Quiet Play, I knew I had to make it for my cousin's Star Wars obsessed son.  At just 3.5 years old he's already a full bottle on all the characters and says of Darth Vader, his absolute favourite, "He's not all that bad".  Too cute!

As Mr 3.5 can be a fussy eater at times, I thought a special placemat may encourage him to sit at the table and at least try to have a few mouthfuls of dinner.  Well, anything is worth a shot, right?

QUILTED PLACEMAT - Darth Vader

I was super excited when I finished the binding on this baby - the whole thing looked pretty much like I had imagined.  That and I was just so glad it was finished because it was not a fun project for me.

Those following me on IG know I had at least one episode with the unpicker but, in all honesty, it was closer to 10.  Talk about frustrating!  I pieced the wrong pieces, I sewed over folds, I didn't have right sides together and I tried to use pieces that were too small.  I was just not feeling the paper piecing love, let me tell you!  At one point I even snipped my finger with the scissors.  Ok, ok, I did that twice.

THEN... I had a few issues lining the seams up (totally my stupidity, nothing to do with the pattern!) so Darth Vader has ended up with a few wrinkles between his eyes.  I figure that with the life he leads that was inevitable anyway.  ;)

QUILTED PLACEMAT - Darth Vader has wrinkles

For the quilting I decided on a random grid pattern, using some of the seams to start with and then going from there.  I've done this style before, on this quilt, and really like the look.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I also stitched around Darth himself, which you can see a bit better on the back.

QUILTED PLACEMAT - Darth Vader (back)

A spotty binding finished him off at 13.5" x 9.5".

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Well... I thought he was finished but after pulling this out of the washing machine I noticed a small hole where the seam had pulled out.  ARGH!!!

QUILTED PLACEMAT - Darth Vader (hole)

Yes, I cursed.  Loudly.  More than once.  He is truly a bad, bad, bad man.  :(

So, dear readers, what do I do now?  How do I fix this?  Plan A is to scream, stomp on it and throw it in the bin.  Plan B is to glam Darth up with a pretty flower - but I have a feeling Mr 3.5 may object.  Any ideas for a Plan C?  Anyone?

HELP!  Please.  With a cherry on top.

E.
Paper Piecing Party

Linking up with the Paper Piecing Party over at Kristy's house.

13 comments:

  1. Oh no!!! I hate when that happens! The only suggestion I have is to try to carefully hand sewn that bit of the seam. You might end up with a little puckering though - but better than unpicking the whole thing!

    Despite the torment he put you through, I think Darth turned out fabulously! Perfect colour scheme for him too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its brilliant!! Great idea to make a placemat and I agree with Kristy just hand sew it, you won't notice a dark thread. XX

    ReplyDelete
  3. He looks truly villanous! And I agree with Kristy and Lucy that you should be able to hand sew the culprit seam.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If it were me I would use fabric glue then a ladder stitch to try and hold it in place. I'm sure then little guy will be so excited that he won't even notice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ladder stitch it with a very fine needle and thread.

    ReplyDelete
  6. He is brilliant and I am sure will have the required effect! Sewing down the seam will not detract from the overall effect!

    ReplyDelete
  7. He is such a bad, bad, man! Sorry about all the trouble with him. Ditto everyone else with the hand sewing. Your nephew will love it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I know how you feel I had a bad paper piecing week myself. One block went well the other frustrating as heck. So glad it worked out well in the end - I think Darth looks like he'd make you eat your broccoli and finish your carrots too. He's going to love it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a fabulous idea to turn him into a fussy eaters placemat Erin. I too have trouble paper piecing when I have had a break from it. It's like learning all over again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh I feel your pain! There are days when my quick unpick is never out of my hand when I'm paper piecing. That said, I still love the results that you get so I stick at it!
    Love the way you quilted this. Good luck fixing it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great idea! Shame about the naughty seam - I'd put some fray check on it and then try to hand stitch it. If that failed I'd hand appliqué another other piece of fabric (matching!) over the top - I did that for mam after Alfie chewed a hole in a table runner (he has a thing for new, unwashed fabric!) and you have to look closely to see the patch...hope you find something that works!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great idea! I should really check out those patterns for my nephews for Christmas.

    ReplyDelete