Hello Kitty!

It's the eve of the 5th birthday party.  My goodness it's been a long time coming.  Preparations have been under way for weeks.  No months.  Because about 6 months ago I had the crazy idea to turn a cross stitch pattern into a quilt.  Not just any quilt.  Oh no. It had to be a very special Hello Kitty quilt for my daughter's 5th birthday.  Which seemed like a good idea at the time, until this week when it was touch and go whether it was going to be finished in time for the Hello Kitty Party.  

It's been a crazy week of stitching.  I mean, non-stop stitching in between being a full time mum and part time teacher.  But I did it.  All 730 two inch squares of her.  Phew!!  And here she is.  

Can you see the horizontal quilting?  It took me a loooong time.  But I think it's worth it.  I wanted all that white space to have lots of lovely texture, and I think it has, what do you think?  

I also used this quilt as an opportunity to try out a new technique that I learnt in a workshop with award winning quilter Philippa Naylor.  

I just love the look of the piping next to the binding and it's definitely something I'll do again.  Sure, it's quite a bit of extra work, but I think it's worth it.  

I'm feeling pleased that a little vision of turning a cross stitch into a quilt actually worked.  This is how she started. 

And here she is as a quilt.  Kitty's favourite pastime is laying in sun.  

And I'm very envious because I can't remember the last time I laid in the sun for more than 5 minutes...I've got a party to organise!  

Quilt Stats:

Pattern:  Hello Kitty Cross Stitch Chart
Size: Approx 50" x 60"
Fabric: Kona Coal, White, Azalea, Carnation
Backing: Kate Spain
Thread: Aurifil
Quilting: 1/2 inch horizontal straight line quilting
Pieced and Quilted by: Me

Sarah x

Linking up with:

Crazy Mom Quilts 

Hello Kitty Quilt WIP

Last week I linked up with Lee at Freshly Pieced sharing progress on my Hello Kitty Quilt for my daughter's 5th Birthday.  (You can read about it here). I'm pleased to say there's been significant progress since then, and I'm almost half way with piecing the 2 1/2" squares.

The panel on the left isn't quite complete, hence looking a little too long.  It was nearly midnight and I just didn't have it in me to carry on till it was finished, my bed was calling!

But I'm thrilled to see Kitty taking shape.  This is what she will eventually look like...

And it may not be obvious in my late night, not good lighting photo above, but I've decided against going with black for the outline, and using a softer dark grey.  Kona Charcoal to be exact.  I think it makes Kitty much softer and more friendly somehow!

I'm hoping to get the third panel complete this week, which is easier said than done given that it's Half Term.  Ahhhh, only 6 weeks until the big day!

I'm also working on a small project that I'd love to share with you, but if the recipient sees even a sneak peek of it, she will know exactly what I'm doing.  So this one's going to have to stay under wraps till it's signed, sealed, delivered and opened.  You know who you are!

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Sarah

Linking up with:

WIP Wednesday - Hello Kitty Quilt

In just a few months it's my daughter's 5th birthday.  And discussions about the birthday party theme/guest list/venue have been under way for several months already - she's very excited about turning 5!  It's finally been decided that she wants a Hello Kitty birthday party.  Well guess what, she also wants a Hello Kitty Quilt!

I'd seen a few versions on the interweb over the years, and knew that I wanted to go down the pixel route rather than using fabrics with Hello Kitty on them.  As it happened, I already had a Hello Kitty Cross Stitch Pattern on my Pinterest board, and I knew it would be perfect.  Here's an A4 print out of the pattern.

Well that's quite a lot of squares!  So I decided the best way to tackle it would be to divide it into quarters and work one section at a time. 

Each piece of paper is A4 - a bit more manageable!

So here's the first section complete.  It actually wasn't as time consuming as I thought; once I got chain piecing there was no stopping me and it's wonderful to see it slowly take shape.

I've got exciting plans for the binding too - watch this space!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Sarah x

Linking up with: