Princess Leia

I can finally show you! 
Our oldest started school last year and with that came Star Wars.  We started slowly with LEGO Star Wars video games to introduce the story.  Then we stepped him up to the movie.  Of course, his sister got caught up in all of it and not too long ago got her chance to watch the movie.
It was love.  Seriously, love. 
So I made her a Princess Leia doll for her birthday.

 It was love.  It went over as well as we could have hoped, which is always nice after having made something. None of us like having a homemade FAIL.

I used the Kit/Chloe/Louise pattern from Wee Wonderfuls as my starting point.  I tweaked the placement of the buns to be more Leia-like and the dress and belt I came up with on my own.  

 The pattern was fantastic!  It was so clear and easy to use; I super recommend it to anyone interested.  This was my first foray into doll making and I really enjoyed it.  Good thing too, the girly one has already requested a Luke Skywalker doll for her next birthday.

linking up tgiff, whoop whoop, and crazy mom

The Time Consuming Truth of Hand Quilting (and what I've been doing instead)

I've been slowly working away at the youngest's planet quilt, but truth be told I could have been more diligent. In the meantime-
 I've been working on my mending pile! I know right?  I decided to use it for more than just sewing room décor.  I fixed skirts, pants, and various other things.  And of course I still have a few more holes to patch, but the pile feels like its not judging me quite as much as it used to.
Next week I can show you my favorite thing I've been sewing lately.  I pawned off my two youngest for a morning and I finished Princess Leia.  She is awesome!! I can't show you 'til the girl is five and has been fully celebrated, but I then so will.
Hmm, I've been on a zip pouch kick.  I needed one for letterboxing before I followed my husband on a business trip.  It holds our stamp and ink and keeps my purse clean.
And since that went so well, I finally got around to making the puzzle pouches I've been meaning to for six years.  Yeah... But at least my kids still play with puzzles so it's not like I'm way too late.

 Pretty much I sewed a zip pouch with boxed corners and hot glued it to the back of our puzzles to hold the pieces.  Heaven!  The puzzles still lie flat with all the pieces out and there is no more frustration about a missing piece.  And I was pretty impressed to discover that considering all our puzzles have been in a heap in a basket, we are only missing one piece.  We are now all on the lookout for Indiana.

This took way too long to get to, but has turned out to be just as fantastic as I thought it would be.   
And this morning I managed to snag a ticket to sewing summit.  I'm way excited.  Crashing at my SIL's, here I come!