Last Minute Quilter's Gift, Plus Star Wars Review

There are four days left in 2015! Is that enough time to make emergency last-second quilted gifts? Why yes, it is! You can even make a Star Wars-inspired quilted gift! But you must spring into action soon - no later than 10 pm on Thursday, December 31 - and set your standards low, like mine.

INTERMISSION: But wait! Before you spring, speaking of emergencies, let me say that the new Star Wars movie was like watching sugar-amped kindergarteners in a ballpit with low-flying missiles!

(Spoiler alert: Skip the next photo and two paragraphs if you don't want to know anything else about the new SW movie)

All I could think about was the huge cardiovascular benefit to the actors whose main job was to run, Run, RUN: Over the planets, through the woods, into the spaceships, under the spaceships, through tunnels, tents, caves, corridors, past glorious Hogwarts-y and Rivendell-esque scenery, past Targets and ToysRUs selling little jointed plastic replicas of themselves, all the way to a metaphorical grandmother's house, while dodging massive explosions! No wonder those actors are so svelte! Making that movie must have been a totally aerobic experience!

Unlike us, the movie-going audience, who want nothing more than to sit still for 2+ hours, moving only one hand between our box of Jujubees and our mouth, staring at buff people in stylish costumes getting heart-healthy exercise.

So what is the fastest possible gift you can assemble by zipping around your sewing room, and still finish in time for the last of holiday season 2015, hopefully without explosions?

A Star Wars collage hot pad. Assuming you already own some Star Wars fabric, and maybe another bit of fabric with planets or spaceships on it. (if you don't, independent quilt shops and chains are carrying the SW options). I made this a couple of hours before going to the SW movie with friends, to give them as a remembrance of our expedition. It has two layers of cotton batting, and an inside-out pillowcase finish. I topstitched around the edges. The planet is zig-zagged on with invisible monofilament thread. From start to finish it took around 30 minutes. I wrote "2015" on Saturn's rings, just to prove I'd finished it in time to be trendy.

I didn't have any other SW fabrics for the back, so I just used space fabric. 

This is the perfect host/hostess gift for your upcoming New Year's Eve party.  May the force be with you through all your creations! May you endure excellent cardio workouts in the New Year, in stylish clothing, with no explosions! Earlier projects with Star Wars fabric are here.