I’ve had this quilt in my head for a long, long time. Feels SO good to finally get a chance to make it.

I saw a sewing swap on Instagram that I just couldn’t say no to: May The 4th Be With You Mini Quilt Swap. And wouldn’t you know, my assigned partner collects Darth Vader.

Using a photograph as inspiration, I got to work on making a line drawing, using Adobe Illustrator. It forced me to hone my Illustrator skillz. “Forced” me! See what I did there?!

I designed it knowing that I would use Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) to sew it together. It’s all straight lines, folks. Easy peasy. I designed paper piecing patterns for each square, gathered my gray and black fabric scraps, and giddily began to sew. The fabrics are 5 colors of Kona Cotton by Robert Kaufman Fabrics: black, pepper, charcoal, medium gray, and ash, I believe.

The first three rows were pretty quick. I threw them on the design wall, wondering if they would look any good. Yep, I thought it looked pretty cool!

I tackled the rest of the squares the following day, in a sewing frenzy that’s hard to stop. Oooooh, yep, I likey.

I sewed all the squares together and then it was paper removal time. A bit fussy, but so worth the effort to get such a precise design.

You know when you design something, and you’re not quite sure how it will actually turn out, and then it surpasses your expectation? Yeah, that! And in case you were wondering, I pressed most of the seams to the dark side.

I decided to use a diagonal cross-hatch for the quilting. I marked straight crease lines with my trusty Hera marker.

Some glow-in-the dark Vader backing fabric and a label completes it. I sent it off to live with a Vader-loving girl in New Orleans. It’ll likely be the only time I make this quilt design. I contacted Lucasfilm asking if I could make the pattern available for free, and they said no. Disappointing, but it is what it is.

Wondering what quilt I received in the swap? Well, I love BB8 and Star Wars girl power…

… and here’s what Hilary of Young Texan Mama made for me! A BB8!