Totoro Pixel Quilt (#47)

As a long time fan of Hayao Miyazaki, imagine my delight when I found a pixel/graph of Chu Totoro - the medium blue spirit from the anime classic My Neighbor Totoro.

After all the fun I had making a pixel Darth Vader quilt - I knew I could adapt this great bead pattern from the We + Me = Made (it) together blog.

 Left is the bead pattern, right is my little blue Totoro from 1993 ... a perfect match. Like all pixel quilts adapted from cross stitch, knitting or bead patterns - simple and small is best - too complex and the quilt is too large and the image gets lost.

My secret weapon this time was getting an Accuquilt 2.5" square die. Yes, a few threads get caught in the die - that happens in all their dies. Starch and multiple layers of fabric worked best. Time saved, accurate squares and overall fun outweighed snipping a few threads after each pass.

My on-line fabric source for this quilt top was the The Loopy Ewe. They have a great selection of fabrics but their option to buy a linear cut or fat quarter sealed the deal. Being able to have just a FQ instead of a half yard or larger makes quilts like this very affordable. 

I used Riley Blake's Basic Shades because of the subtle distressed look, and a black dimple dot minky on the back to compliment the dark cartoon outline.

 All piecing and quilting was done with the versatile Aurifil 50wt. Dove #2600 in a 3" diagonal diamond pattern, using a wavy stitch. To give the quilt a more pixel 'feel' I used 2.5" squares throughout instead of areas where larger pieces could be substituted.

(My Dad was a great supporter of my sewing & crafty pursuits. Luckily, I finished this quilt top a few days before he passed away at age 92 and was able to share this one with him as well ... I am going to keep this quilt for me.)

Materials:
We + Me = Made (it) together blog
2.5" squares: Blue: 226  White: 96  Black: 200  Background: 587  Brown: 17  Orange: 61  Grey: 19
Riley Blake Basic Shades: Granite, Cobalt, Peach,Tan
Aged Solids in black / 3 Sisters for Moda
Kona: White
Architextures Crosshatch in Shadow / Robert Kaufman
Aurifil 50wt. Dove #2600
Warm & White batting
Dimple Dot minky: black
Size: 59" x 76"
January 2016