Hi friends!  Today I'm excited to share with you a quilt I finished up over the weekend.  

It's a new favorite and for sure one of the easiest quilts I've ever made!

From the moment I saw the line Urban Cottage by Urban Chiks for Moda, 

I knew I had to have some!  It goes with my sewing room perfectly!

I ordered a fat quarter bundle plus some yardage and now I have two projects made with this line.

[Click HERE to see the other project, my Urban Cottage Tied Blanket.]

Here's my Giant Star Quilt pre-border.

It only took 2-3 hours to cut, piece and press the whole thing.

I didn't use a pattern for this quilt but I had seen it floating around the internet several years ago 

and always thought it was cute.  Jeni Baker has a similar (and slightly scrappier pattern for it 

with multiple size options and no border).  Click HERE for the link to her pattern.

I  just made 17" (unfinished) half-square triangle blocks from 8 fat quarters

and added on 4 1/2" (unfinished) border strips once they were all sewn together.

Denae Hansen of Plain Jane Quilting in American Fork, Utah quilted it for me with a classic, 

cross-hatch design.  She always does a fantastic job!  Look at that texture!  I like that it's a simple 

design keeping the focus on the cute fabrics and the star.

My quilt finished at 74 1/2".  Luckily, there was some 108" wide fabric available in this line 

so I didn't have to piece my back!  Yay!  A seamless back is always a win!

Usually, I like to finish off my quilts with a dark binding.  I feel like that frames things nicely.  

But I liked the subtle stripe feeling of this Urban Ticking fabric in ivory.  

Again, it kept the focus on the center of the quilt while adding a playful touch to the edge.

I'm seriously so in love with this veeeery simple quilt, you guys!  Sometimes all you need 

are some cute fabrics and a really simple pattern and you'll have yourself a winner!

I think this one is going to get used a lot.  I'm going to wash it soon.  Can't wait to get it out of the dryer so it's all soft and crinkly.  I don't always wash my quilts first thing, but I think this quilt will be perfect with that worn look.  Do you wash your quilts right away or wait till they need it?

Well, if you made it through that very long post and all those photos, you get a gold star!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today friends!  If you have any questions or just want to 

let me know what you think of this super simple quilt, I'd love it if you left a comment below 

and I'll get back to you!  

Have a great day!

Urban Cottage Tied Blanket Kits!

I have some fun news for you guys!

Not sure if you saw my post yesterday about this fun, little, tied blanket I recently finished? 

If not, click HERE for all the details + a little tutorial. 

Well, I reached out to the owner of The Heart and Home Co on Etsy 

(where I purchased all my fabric from!) and she so generously agreed to make 

some kits up for you guys! 

The kits are normally $38 but today (January 31, 2019) they are on sale for 20% off

- making them just $30.40!  She only has a limited quantity available 

so run on over to her shop to get yours!

The sale ends today so you might want to take advantage of the 20% off and put a few other things in your cart too, while you're at it (I'm just sayin'!)  She had super fast shipping and all the pretty things!  Click HERE to visit her shop.

P.S.  I just spied that she also has some Urban Cottage Jelly Rolls too!  

I'm contemplating using one to make another version of my new pattern, Jelly Roll Rock.

I worked it up in EQ7 last night and think it's pretty fun with the dark background.

Can you tell I'm obsessed with this fabric line!?!

Visit my Etsy shop to purchase the Jelly Roll Rock pattern.

Happy shopping friends!

Urban Cottage Tied Blanket (With Surprise Details!)

The minute I laid eyes on the Urban Cottage line by Urban Chiks for Moda, I knew I had to have some!  A few weeks later I treated myself to a fat quarter bundle of the cottons, a handful of half yard cuts of some of the wovens, and a yard of the cheater panel.  

I bought all of it from a really great store on Etsy called The Heart and Home Co.  Everything in her shop has been 20% off for the last few weeks and the shipping was suuuper fast!   I'm highly recommending her shop because of the great prices, fast shipping, great customer service - on top of the beautiful fabrics and great photography (hey we all like pretty things right?!?).  Click HERE to visit The Heart and Home Co.  You won't be disappointed.

So I'm not sure what I'm going to make with the cotton fat quarters and the half yard cuts of the wovens, but I already whipped up a little blanket with the cheater panel and I'm in loooove!

Note: a cheater panel is yardage that has patchwork squares already pieced together!  It's perfect for beginners or for those that don't want to buy a lot of yardage just to get the variety they want!  Now, it's not perfectly pieced...but it's still so darn cute!

Let me give you the deets on this little project.

I used: 

1 yard of the cheater panel

1 1/8 yard of the small gingham woven fabric for the back

1/2 yard of the large striped woven fabric for the binding

40" x 50" piece of batting

Black pearl cotton

Cotton yarn for pom poms 

Chenille needle

8" Upholstery needle

A pom pom maker

I got the black pearl cotton, the white yarn and the upholstery needle from Hobby Lobby.  I used about 1 1/3 skeins of this White Cotton XXL yarn by Yarn Bee (3.5 oz, 50 yards each).  Your yarn may vary from my yarn so you may need more or less depending but that will hopefully give you an idea on how much to buy.

  

First, I just taped my backing fabric to my dining table with painters tape so that it was nice and smooth.  Then I layered my batting on top and smoothed it out.  Then I laid my cheater panel on top, smoothed it out and then basted it with a few basting pins.

Then I used Suzy Quilt's tutorial for tying a quilt with a modern twist

(click HERE for the link).  I used my pearl cotton and a chenille needle to make these sweet little "x's".  I just eye-balled the center of the blocks so it was super low key.

Then I squared up the blanket, trimming off all the excess batting and backing fabric.

I made an extra wide binding using (4) 3 1/2" x WOF strips and used a 1/4" seam allowance.  

I've never done a binding this wide before but I think it's fun.

Next, I used THIS pom pom maker from Amazon (the green one) to make 4 large pom poms that are approximately 3.4" in diameter.  Be sure to leave 2 tails that are about 15" long each to tie the pom poms to the corners of the blanket.

To tie the pom poms on: thread one of the tails through the eye of an 8" upholstery needle.  Insert your needle through the front side of the blanket (in one of the corners) pulling it all the way through to the back side.  About 1/4" away from where your needle came out, insert your needle through the back side, pulling it all the way through so your tail is on the front side again.  Repeat these steps with the second tail.  Then cinch the tails so the pom pom lays flat against the front side of your blanket.  Then tie two knots (I did right over left, left over right - twice).  Then trim the tails.

This whole project was really out of the box for me; with the cheater panel, the extra wide binding and the pom poms!  But it was really fun to mix it up a little and try a few new-to-me techniques.  

Plus, I'm so excited because this fun little blanket goes perfectly in my recently 

made over sewing room!

And now I just want to pom pom everything!!!

Have you made pom poms before and if so, what are some of your favorite pom pom projects?

I really think more pom poms are in my future!  They were so easy and fun to make!

Thanks for stopping by!