Quilt Shows and Trade Shows · Rose Cards · Tips and Tricks · villa rosa designs

A Local Quilt Show (YAY!) and More Info About the Upcoming VRD Small Project Summer Challenge

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’m SO excited to say that spring has finally sprung here in northwestern PA. The weather has been sunny and comfortable for almost a week with – gasp! – no rain. I’ve even been able to get outside more – I’ve done some weeding and weed whacking and I’m about ready to plant my mini veggie garden on the back porch.

A decorative spring-themed graphic featuring text that reads 'Spring is in the Weeds' along with colorful flowers, a silver bucket filled with greenery, a trowel, and gardening gloves, against a garden backdrop.
image by moi with the help of AI

Sigh……I used to have a big garden in the middle of the yard but I got so frustrated with the critters eating everything before it had a chance to grow that I gave it up and have since moved to a small 2 foot x 4 foot raised garden box. Eventually I want to add another box, but right now I’m not quite sure where it would go on the porch. Right now, I just love to have something growing so I can watch it and enjoy a little bit of fresh produce. I also have 3 small flower gardens as well, 2 of them are weeded and in good shape while my third is only partly weed right now.

Right now I am planning to plant a yellow grape tomato, cucumbers, peppers, and beans in my little garden. Even though my garden is small, I’ve discovered a fantastic gardening book that makes so much sense to me. Have you ever heard of (or read) the gardening book, Square Foot Gardening? I just love it – it breaks a garden into 12″ square spaces so you can plant more in less space. For example, my 2×4 garden box gives me 8 square foot spaces to plant. And the book tells you what kind and how many seeds/plants you can put into a 12″ square plus so much more. Are you having a garden this year? What are you planting?

Cover of the 4th edition of 'Square Foot Gardening' featuring gardening plants and tools, highlighting its efficiency in growing food from limited space.
Square Foot Gardening book

After some time battling weeds that seemed determined to take over western Pennsylvania, I decided it was time for a change of scenery. So I brushed the dirt off my shoes, left Mount Cluttermore behind (my studio, formerly known as The Dungeon, has officially been renamed), and headed to a quilt show where the only things growing were creativity and inspiration.

Hands All Around Erie Quilt Guild Quilt Show

Of course, I couldn’t go to the quilt show alone. I had to share the fun! So I grabbed Robin and Mary Lee on the way. I felt like I hadn’t been to a quilt show in forever, so I was really excited. Not only were there lots of great quilts to see, there were vendors, too.

Yay quilts! Yay shopping!

Oops…I’m very easily distracted. LOL!

The first thing I saw when entering the show was an entire corner devoted to the Basket Raffle – oh goody! I rarely win anything, but I had to buy some tickets just in case. The baskets were wonderful and completely overstuffed with fabric, notions, precuts, gifty things, and even wine. One of the first baskets I saw looked even had a VRD quilt kit – my Slice of Summer table runner as a kit, another kit, a bundle of fat eighths…….plus a bottle of wine. Nice!

A wicker basket filled with summer picnic items, including fabric squares, a bottle of wine, and craft kits for a table runner and popsicles, topped with a red ribbon.

Slice of Summer digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE

Of course, I didn’t win anything. But that’s okay – those who did won gorgeous curated baskets. No, I’m not jealous – I have only to look around my humble studio, Mount Cluttermore, to find my own basket goodies. I could make my own baskets full of quilty stuff, but then I’d just have a mountain of baskets instead of a mountain of fabric. Oh well, at least I’ve got the goodies even if I don’t have the wine.

I tried to focus on the quilts first. Robin and Mary Lee went ahead of me and went back and forth between the quilts and the vendors as I took the time to photograph all the quilts that inspired me or caught my eye. I’ve often found that photographing quilts helps me to remember what inspired or surprised me at the show – whether it’s a block, the quilting, fabric choices, layout, or even the color palette.

The only thing that frustrates me is that quilt makers don’t always include enough information on the quilt information tag. Sigh…

If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone entering or displaying a quilt in a show, it would be this: please include the pattern name, book name, or indicate if the design is original. You can bet that at least one person viewing your quilt is going to fall in love with it and want to make their own version. That’s one of the highest compliments a quilt maker can receive, isn’t it?

As a quilt designer, I especially appreciate seeing examples of my patterns hanging in a quilt show. When the maker includes the pattern name and designer information, that’s pure gold. Not only does it give credit where credit is due, but it also helps other quilters find the pattern if they’re inspired by the quilt.

On the other hand, when I spot one of my designs on display without any attribution, I have to admit it makes me a little sad. So when you’re filling out that quilt information tag, please include as much information as possible. You never know…the pattern designer might be walking through the show admiring quilts right alongside you.

I did find several VRD pattern quilts on display, which made me very happy. Including my own Sisterhood! Woohoo! The top 3 VRD quilts were made by Mary Beth Cook and Sisterhood was made by Jean Malthaner. Panama City was made by Mary Beth Cook.

A quilt displayed on a hangar, featuring a pattern of alternating squares with floral designs and dark stripes, showcasing intricate stitching.
Fandango
A colorful quilt displayed on a wall, featuring a patchwork design with floral and geometric patterns in shades of pink, green, yellow, and white.
Variation of Gridwork or Wellington
A colorful quilt featuring horizontal stripes in various patterns and colors, displayed against a backdrop of light fabric.
Messages
Colorful quilt displayed on a gray backdrop, featuring a geometric pattern of triangles in various vibrant colors including red, blue, green, pink, and black.
Sisterhood
A colorful patchwork quilt displayed at an exhibition, featuring various rectangular fabric pieces in vibrant shades, surrounded by a dark border.
Panama City

Fandango – digital pattern or print pattern

Gridwork – digital pattern or print pattern

Wellington – digital pattern or print pattern

Messages – digital pattern or print pattern

Sisterhood – digital pattern or print pattern

Panama City – digital pattern or print pattern

Now here’s a slideshow for you of my favorite quilts in the quilt show (no, I didn’t photograph every quilt, just most of them). The photo with the maker’s name follows the photo of the quilt. Huh! Sorry but occasionally, you will find my fingers in the photo. Also, I apologize for the fuzzy maker images. I am clearly an amateur photographer.

Well, I hope you really enjoyed the slide show. Aren’t they really great quilts? It was a super show and hopefully the first of many this year. I will must have to find out where all the quilt shows are in my neck of the woods for the rest of the year.

I was hoping to talk about the vendors, too as well as information about the Small Project Summer Sew Along, but I had a family emergency while I was writing the blog and we are still in the ER 4+ hours later. I am sorry I won’t get to share more with you this week, but truly I am exhausted and I have no idea what time we will get home tonight. I’m actually wrapping up the blog on my iPad while sitting beside the bed in the ER cubicle next to my Dad.

So stay tuned next week for the second part of the Quilt Show along with the scoop on our upcoming Sew Along. And new VRD June Rose Card quilt patterns. Lots to come back for next week.

See you right here next week!

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Permission Granted to Sew/Quilt Small This Summer

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Surprisingly, I had a lovely holiday weekend myself. Normally holidays don’t always run very smoothly for me, but this one was relaxed, fun, and filled with quilting inspiration.

On Saturday, my parents, my dog, Bailly (yes, THAT cute little furry shih tzu featured on all my pillow patterns), and I headed to a really fun indoor flea market called Lisa’s General Store in Greenville PA, which is less than an hour’s drive away from home.

Bailly was good as gold (Lisa’s is a dog friendly place) and loved meeting anyone who wished to give her a little pat. Of course, she couldn’t understand why everyone who was there did not want to meet her because in Bailly’s world that’s why everyone was at Lisa’s in the first place. LOL! She loved riding around in the shopping cart and sometimes she would walk ahead of the cart like she was pulling it along behind her. I’m just sorry I didn’t take any photos of her little highness, but I definitely will next time.

Bailly has always had a personality larger than life (she weighs all of 12 pounds). One of her funniest quirks is that she absolutely loves green vegetables. I know, right? Completely adorable. Her love of green veggies actually inspired me to create a printable coloring book featuring Bailly and her beloved green beans. If you’d like to see Bailly’s coloring book, you can find it HERE.

Interior of a vibrant flea market with colorful signs, antique decor, and collectibles. Features items like vintage lamps, a rocking horse, and a cheerful atmosphere.
Image created by moi with AI tools

VRD Small Project Summer Sew Along

All weekend long, I found myself thinking about smaller projects for summer. It is now unofficially the summer of 2026 – yay – summer! Summer can make quilting time feel almost impossible sometimes! Who wants to have a big quilt lying across your lap when the temperature is in the 80s or 90s so you can hand stitch the binding? Whose studio isn’t even air conditioned (sadly, that would be mine)? Who has time to even sit down at their sewing machine between soccer games, swim lessons, family vacation, gardening, and a million other things all going on at the same time in the summer?

With these things in mind, I started thinking about our smaller VRD projects like tote bags, pillows, snack mats, table runners, place mats, etc. and how those would be great projects for a VRD Summer Sew Along. I’m tentatively thinking 1 small project per week for 6 weeks – do you think that’s too much in too short a time during summer? Then again, I know that participating in a sew along can be a big motivator for finding little pockets of time to sew. I’m thinking to start the sew along after the middle of June.

Promotional poster for Villa Rosa Designs' Small Project Summer Sew Along featuring colorful quilting projects and text encouraging participation from all skill levels.
Image created by moi with AI tools

Maybe we should simply make this a Small Project Summer so we can focus on creating without all the pressure and stress. And a sew along built around quick, fun projects would anchor that idea perfectly, don’t you think?

With all the go-go-go of summertime, do you get frustrated when you don’t have time to sew/quilt? I know I get kind of antsy and that’s not a nice feeling for me. I’ve discovered that sewing and quilting are a little like breathing and I need to do them regularly to feel my best. It’s not just a habit, it’s become part of my self-care routine. Sewing and quilting make me happy and it’s important to make time for happy in my life. Huh. I really think organizing and participating in a Small Project Sew Along would really rock my summer.

Speaking of smaller projects that finish quickly, did you know Villa Rosa Designs has a growing collection of smaller projects??? We have patterns for table runners, place mats, pillows, snack mats, tote bags, scarves, wall quilts, and other cute fun small accessories. You can find our VRD table runner patterns HERE and our VRD accessory patterns HERE. And of course, we have oodles of larger projects – baby quilts, throw quilts, and even big quilts that are fun to make and go together fast. With over 700 patterns, we have a lot of different options for fun summer sewing.

Progress counts too! Maybe it takes longer to finish a project in the summer, but you are still working towards that goal. And once you complete one project, then it’s time to pick another one to work on. Of course, if you are like me, you usually have multiple projects going at the same time in different stages from piecing to layering to machine quilting to binding. But the plan is always the same – keep working on a project until it’s finally finished. Finishing might take longer in the summer, but time spent working on a project is valuable, too. Don’t forget that.

Creativity doesn’t really disappear just because life gets busy – sometimes it simply changes pace. And we simply need to change pace with it. That’s perfectly okay.

A cozy sewing room featuring a BERNINA B 335 sewing machine, a patchwork quilt on the table, quilting supplies, and decorated shelves with fabric rolls. Natural light floods in through a window.
Image created by moi with AI tools

When things get super busy and you are longing for your sewing machine, just remember a little sewing is still sewing.

You stitched one seam? Yay you!

You made one block? Awesome applesauce!

You sketched a quilt you want to make…someday? Great!

You had a sew day with friends? Fantastic!

You sat outside and read a quilt magazine? Wonderful!

All these activities are part of our quilting process. So maybe you don’t make any big quilts this summer. That’s okay. Maybe you started but haven’t finished yet. Perfectly understandable. Perhaps all you had time to do was listen to a quilting podcast in the car on your way to a work conference. Way to go!

Quilting isn’t just one thing. Quilting is pretty much a way of life with many many different parts. So take a little time this summer and enjoy some of those parts of quilting. At the end of summer, you might just surprise yourself with what you created in those little pockets of time.

So this summer, let’s challenge ourselves to do fun (and small) sewing. Go ahead and pick easy patterns. Use your favorite fabrics. Stop worrying about perfection and simply enjoy the process. Let’s have sew much fun!

Permission officially granted – sew small, sew simple, and sew joyful.

Would anyone be interested in participating in a VRD Small Project Summer Sew Along? Please leave a comment on this blog post or you can email me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Wrapping Up our Spring Edition of the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

This week we’re all about wrapping up our totally AWESOME Spring Edition 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. If you missed the Challenge or the timing wasn’t right for you to participate this time, never fear – I am planning to do it again this Fall. We all need motivation to get stuff done, don’t we? And I can’t think of any better motivation than doing it together.

Let’s take a look at Challenge stats.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Final Stats

By the end of the Challenge, I had 70 people signed up to participate in the Challenge. WOWZER!

Of the 70 folks who signed up, 37 people participated in at least 1 week of the Challenge making at least 1 finished quilt. That’s a 53% participation rate, which is totally fantastic! What a great turn out for our Challenge.

And I know you’re all wondering how many quilts we completed in 6 weeks, right?!? Well, keep wondering for a minute because I want to build a little suspense for that answer yet. (Tehehe.)

Next let’s congratulate our Week 6 Winner!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 6 Winner

It’s time to announce our Week 6 winner!

Norma K from WI

HOORAY!

Way to go, Norma!

Congratulations!

Here is Norma’s Week 6 finish – Silver Star. Isn’t it super? Just perfect for the upcoming 250th birthday celebration in the US this summer.

A handcrafted quilt featuring a star pattern in red, white, and blue fabrics, framed by a patchwork border.

As you can see, Norma carried the pieced square border the whole way around the center star instead of only at the top and bottom. Great finish, Norma!

Colorful quilt pattern titled 'Silver Star' by Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a star shape surrounded by a vibrant border and an orange background.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Next up is the winner of our Best Guess Contest. Whose best guess was the closest to the actual number of quilts finished in 6 weeks?

Total Number of Quilts Completed and Our Best Guess Winner

Guesses were all over the place, but at the end of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge, only one guess came close to the actual number. Very close actually.

First, the total number of quilts completed for the 6 in 6 Challenge was an astonishing

162 FINISHED QUILTS!

Wow! Isn’t that amazing? I’ll say it again –

162 FINISHED QUILTS!

Our closest guess was 157.

Congratulations!

Cyndi S in FL

YIPPEE!

And we have 1 more winner to wrap up our Challenge.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Finishers’ Circle

I want to congratulate ALL of the folks who completed the entire Challenge – there were 14 (15 with me, but I don’t count. LOL!). Which ends up being 20% of all the sign ups who actually finished a quilt every week for 6 weeks. Whoa!

I added one more drawing for these 14 finishers because completing a quilt a week for 6 weeks is a real commitment and I want to celebrate that. Actually I want to shout it from the rooftops, but I’m thinking that might not be so safe…….

Some folks completed UFOs while others created brand new from start to finish quilts. Remember, to be eligible for the weekly drawings projects had to be completely finished – quilting, binding and all.

Drum Roll please…………..

Our Finishers’ Circle winner is

Regina S in MO

Yay you!

Congrats!

Now it’s time to celebrate all the wonderful quilts that were completed during the challenge. Some were made for loved ones, some were made just because, while others will find their way to charitable organizations.

162 quilts in 6 weeks.

I really enjoyed seeing the VRD Facebook page (and my email) light up with so many quilts every week. And it was exciting to see other folks getting inspired to complete their own projects even though they might not have actually signed up for the Challenge. I also saw participants fueled by the momentum and continuing to finish UFOs after the Challenge ended.

162 quilts in 6 weeks.

All I can say now at the end of the Challenge is THANK YOU. Thank you for quilting along with me. Thank you for your encouragement and your support. And thank you for all the amazing inspiration. I have now added oodles of new VRD patterns to my Make List. I bet you did too. It’s a good thing we’re going to do the Challenge again in the Fall.

KEEP THOSE QUILTS COMING!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Sponsors

I want to do a special SHOUT OUT to Hoffman Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs who are sponsoring the prizes for the Challenge. Thanks SEW much for partnering with us for this awesome Challenge!

Logo of Hoffman California-International Fabrics featuring the brand name 'Hoffman' in a stylish cursive font.
Logo of Riley Blake Designs featuring a stylized blue bird above the text.

What’s Next???

I’m thinking it’s going to be hard to come up with a new idea to follow our very successful Challenge. So I thought I’d ask you – what would you like to see on the blog this summer?

I was possibly thinking perhaps a Fun Summer Sew Along, but then I wasn’t sure what exactly to make for the sew along. What do you think?

A woman with curly hair and glasses excitedly expressing her enthusiasm for quilting projects, surrounded by colorful speech bubbles featuring various quilting themes like 'smaller projects', 'runners?', 'patriotic projects?', and 'jelly rolls'.
Yeah…..this is me. Every day! LOL!

Smaller projects? Runners? Accessory patterns? Patriotic projects? Fat quarter projects? Charm Squares? Jelly Rolls? Whew! Do we want to do a project a week or a project a month? Sigh…….too many choices.

So I thought I’d ask for your help. I am open to your thoughts and ideas, so please leave a comment and tell me what you’d like to do this summer on the blog.

See you next week!

Sew. Laugh. Keep finishing. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 6 and NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for May

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 6!

I must admit I’m a little sad that this is our final week of the Challenge, but at the same time I know all good things must come to a close. And this was certainly a GOOD THING! 6 more quilts completed! Done and done! And I wasn’t the only person who finished a quilt each week for 6 weeks, so that it totally incredible. For those of you who missed the Challenge or were unable to participate, I hope to repeat the Challenge in the fall, so stay tuned for the Fall edition 6 in 6 Challenge later this year.

YAY ME!!! With 6 quilts finished, now I can get back to the business of creating new tutorials for the blog as well as tackling some new fun projects I have on my list and I won’t feel that little bit of guilt for not finishing stuff first. Woohoo! It’s really amazing how completing 6 projects can really give you a burst of energy and inspiration. I really love that.

Of course, my week long vacation at Myrtle Beach has certainly filled up my creative bucket and I imagine I’ll be creating beach-inspired quilts for a while. Just thought I’d warn you. LOL!

How about I show off my Week 6 finish now?

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 6

Before I left on vacay, I did a little prep work so I could finish my Week 5 and Week 6 quilts while at the Beach. Last week I completed my mini version of Eclipses on the long ride to Myrtle Beach and on the way home back to good ol’ PA, I actually finished the binding on 2 table runners (including my Week 6 project) as well as hand stitched a set of Drunkard’s Path blocks. I was thrilled to be able to get so much sewing done on the way home.

All I needed to do for my Week 6 finish was to hand-stitch the binding on a second version of Molly’s Amen table runner pattern. I completed the first Amen runner for Week 4 and now this one for Week 6.

A colorful patchwork table runner featuring various fabric squares with text and designs, titled 'Amen' by Molly Cook for Villa Rosa Designs, set against a brick background.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

I modified this version of Amen by eliminating the narrow border around the rectangles. Instead, I used a large bold floral. I also made a few extra blocks to make the runner longer. I quilted it simply with an allover meander in red cotton thread. My backing was a blue floral fabric left over from another quilt. And the binding is a blue texture. All in all, I think it turned out well and I really love it. Although it’s floral, I could definitely use this in July to celebrate the 250th birthday of America.

My BEFORE photo: Here’s the runner quilted but not bound in 2024. It only took 2 years and a road trip to get ‘er done. LOL!

A colorful patchwork table runner featuring floral and geometric patterns, displayed on a blue wooden rocking chair.

My AFTER photos:

A colorful patchwork table runner featuring floral and geometric patterns, laid out on a grassy surface.
A colorful patchwork quilt featuring floral and geometric patterns, laid out on a grassy surface.

You know, I haven’t had much time to hand-stitch binding lately and I actually really enjoyed doing the hand sewing. I always have a few go projects ready to grab if I’m going to have time to stitch, but binding hasn’t been at the top of my list for a while. I’m hoping that I’ll put a little more effort into finishing those bindings, whether by hand or machine, going forward. Fingers crossed….

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 5 Winner

It’s time to announce our Week 5 winner!

Fiona M. from Ontario, Canada

HOORAY!

Way to go, Fiona!

Congratulations!

Here is Fiona’s version of Pocket Change. Isn’t it delightful? I just love the pink background. And the red coins really add a fun pop of color. The diagonal striped binding – perfect finish!

A colorful quilt featuring a patchwork design with various patterned blocks in red, green, blue, yellow, and pink on a light pink background.

Pocket Change is a fun and fast to make wall or baby quilt using 5″ squares. If you’ve never tried it before, now’s your chance. I’m thinking to raid some red, white, and blue 5″ square stacks to whip one of these up for July. Stay tuned….it’ll probably be a new tutorial soon.

Cover of 'Pocket Change' by Kate Griffin for Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a colorful quilt design with rectangular fabric pieces in various shades of purple, green, and blue.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Now let’s take a peak at the newest VRD Rose Card patterns!

NEW VRD Rose Card Patterns for May

Usually I show off our new patterns the Thursday after the first Friday of each month – which would have been last week’s post, but instead last week I wanted to share my trip to the beach with you. So, here are this month’s newest patterns, a week late, but always right on time!

Collage of five quilt patterns for May 2026, featuring titles: BoBevlynn, LaRue, Main Street, Hors d'oeuvres, and Nautical. Each pattern is displayed with colorful designs and includes a price of $8.95 for the set.

Get all 5 print patterns HERE

Bobevalynn is Catherine of Running Doe’s latest mod star design. The quilt finishes at 48″ x 72″ and uses fat quarters plus yardage. You can find the kit HERE.

Hors d’oeuvres is Heidi’s new foodie quilt pattern. It is fat quarter friendly and finishes at a generous 65″ x 72″. You can find the kit HERE.

LaRue is Rachelle’s brand new mod quilt. It finishes at 52″ x 65″ and uses 5″ squares or fat quarters. (no kit available at this time)

Main Street is Pat’s latest delightful pattern. It finishes 45″ x 54″ and uses fat quarters. (kit sold out)

Nautical is Molly’s very timely newest design. It uses yardage and finishes at 48″ x 57″. You can find the kit HERE.

There is no table runner pattern for May. (Awwww, don’t cry….) Instead, there’s a brand new fun and flirty place mat pattern called Petal Pop. This is a fun mix and match fat quarter pattern, made in multiples of 2.

A colorful display of two quilted place mats featuring floral patterns and geometric designs, titled 'Petal Pop Place Mats', designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE

This month’s Seasonal pillow pattern is called Dot to Dot and it’s cuter than a little bug, that’s for sure! As you can see, little Miss Bailly is looking quite pleased with herself! She seems to really enjoy being the “star” of the pillow pattern photos! LOL! SHHH! Don’t tell her it’s really about the pillows, I don’t want her to be disappointed.

A decorative pillow featuring a red and black hexagonal design is displayed on a brown couch, accompanied by a small, fluffy dog resting beside it.

Get the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE

That’s 7 brand new patterns for you in May – place mats, an 18″ pillow, and throws. Which one will you make first?

Well, that’s it for me today. We’ll have one more challenge winner for Week 6 next time and we’ll also find out how many quilts were completed in 6 weeks. The anticipation is killing me and I can’t wait to find out the answer. Someone is going to win a prize for guessing the closest number to the total.

See you next week!

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 5…The Beach Edition

rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 5!

Wow! Hard to believe we are already at Week 5. How’d that happen???

Week 5 is coming live to you from Myrtle Beach, SC. I came, I saw the ocean, and I’m toting home every blessed seashell I can find. LOL! And I’m wondering if I can tie a hot tub on the roof of the car on the way home…. I’m thinking probably not, but I can dream, right?

Yes, so far I’ve been spending more than my share of time in the hot tub, which is literally steps outside our condo patio door as we are on the pool level. Hot tubs make me very happy. Especially before and after a hard day of vacation. WHEW! If you know me at all, you’ll probably giggle when I tell you that I even did absolutely nothing for exactly ten minutes today. Whoah! That was such hard work for me. Not sure if I’ll be up to doing that again tomorrow.

Here are a few of my favorite photos so far:

A sandy beach with a clear blue sky, featuring beachgoers in the distance, grass dunes in the foreground, and a trash bin near a post.
Seeing the ocean for the first time.
Shadow of hands forming a camera shape on a rocky surface
A photo of me taking a photo of me.
A balcony view overlooking the beach with two white chairs and a railing, featuring a clear sky and ocean in the background.
The view from our condo patio.
Illuminated Ferris wheel at night with purple lights, surrounded by palm trees and a street view.
The Sky Wheel at Night
A serene view of a beach at sunset, with gentle waves lapping at the shore and a clear blue sky.
I was mesmerized by the foam.
A group of small birds walking along the shoreline, interacting with the gentle waves of the ocean.
Pipers.
A collection of various seashells scattered on a sandy beach.
Shells on the beach
A colorful sunset view with shades of orange and pink in the sky, partially obscured by a building.
Sunset
Four women posing in front of a large Hard Rock Cafe guitar sign on a sunny day.
The 4 of Us at Hard Rock
A woman standing on a surfboard in front of a large wave sculpture at Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, smiling and posing with her arms outstretched.
Yep, this is me!

I am having such a great time at Myrtle Beach and we’ve only been here for a couple days. We’ve been to Broadway at the Beach and down on the boardwalk. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe. I just love searching for shells on the beach! And I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the hot tub.

I’ve also done a little sewing, too. Today I sat outside on the patio and stitched some Drunkard’s Path quilt blocks by hand. I really enjoyed that. Really. And that surprised me because stitching by hand is slower than stitching by machine. Huh. Maybe, just maybe I am relaxing a teeny tiny bit, which is exactly what I needed to do.

Of course, I brought my laptop and my iPad along as well as some different projects I’ve been working on. But this kind of work isn’t really work, if you know what I mean. I love what I do for VRD as well as being a quilt designer. I just know I’ll be taking home a lot more than photos and seashells – I am recharging my creative batteries so I can keep on creating. And I’ve needed that for a while now.

And now……..quilt shopping!

WOOHOO! I had the opportunity to stop and shop at Quilting on the Beach, located here in Myrtle Beach, SC. What a delightful shop! And the ladies were really great!

Interior view of a craft and fabric store, showcasing various colorful craft supplies, fabrics, and sewing materials displayed on shelves and racks.
Interior of a craft studio with tables and chairs, featuring colorful wall hangings and quilt displays.
A display rack filled with various colorful fabrics and quilting supplies, showcasing organized stacks of patterned fabric, rolls, and packaged quilt kits in a craft store.
Shelves displaying various blue and purple fabric rolls in a craft store.
Interior of a fabric store featuring colorful fabric rolls on shelves, a central table with fabric bundles, and a variety of sewing supplies in the background.
Interior view of a fabric store featuring numerous colorful fabric bolts, a cutting table, and sewing machines. Shelves display various quilting patterns and designs.

And of course they had Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns – of course they did!

Display of various quilt patterns and designs shown in a retail setting, featuring colorful covers with titles such as 'Coffee Break,' 'Tradewinds,' and 'Silver Star' arranged in clear holders.

We really enjoyed searching for treasures in the shop! Oh my goodness – their selection of beachy and ocean fabrics was amazing. Here’s a selection of beachy fabrics I just had to get! Not quite sure what I’m going to create with them yet, but you’ll see it eventually. LOL!

A collection of colorful fabric bolts stacked horizontally, featuring various ocean-themed patterns including coral, fish, and starfish. The background shows more fabric bolts arranged neatly.

You can check them out on Facebook HERE – tell ’em Tricia @ VRD sent you!

Speaking of quilting, I also finished my Week 5 quilt right here in Myrtle Beach, out on the condo patio. I could get used to this vacation vibe thing.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 5

This week for Week 5 I finished my half size Eclipses quilt. I made this quilt top back in 2024 for the Eclipse (you can find the tutorial HERE) but of course, it got folded and added to my to-be-finished pile and now 2 years later, it is finally time for Eclipses to shine.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that I seem to have about a 2 year lag in completing my quilt tutorial tops. Hmm. I’m going to need to work on that, I guess.

A colorful quilt titled 'Eclipses' featuring an intricate pattern of octagonal shapes in black, gray, orange, and blue. The quilt is framed against an orange background with decorative design elements. The design is attributed to Creative Sewlutions for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Wanna see my Week 5 Finish???

Here’s my BEFORE image:

A colorful quilt featuring geometric patterns with yellow, orange, gray, and navy blue fabrics arranged in vertical strips.

And here’s my AFTER image:

A colorful quilt draped over a blue lounge chair by a pool with ocean views and a no smoking sign in the background.

You knew I was going to take it with the ocean in the background, didn’t you? Tehehe……

Here’s a close up:

A vibrant quilt displaying geometric patterns in shades of orange, yellow, gray, and blue, folded on a blue lounger.

I used a selection of Hoffman Batiks for my half-size version of Eclipses for the front and binding. I chose a fun blue industrial-looking fabric for the backing and I machine quilted with blue cotton thread in a whimsical loop and zigzag design, which I think add a nice texture to the quilt, or it will once I launder it and the quilt puckers. This week I hand-stitched the binding down in the car on the way to Myrtle Beach and I finished sewing the hanging sleeve down out on the patio, overlooking the ocean.

And while I’m here at Myrtle Beach, Pat, Leann, and Catherine of Running Doe are in Chicago at the H&H Show. I can’t wait to hear all about the show and all new exciting things going on or coming soon in our quilt universe. You can check in with Catherine on Facebook HERE to see what’s happening at the H&H show.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 4 Winner

Well, I guess it’s time to announce our Week 4 winner!

Deedee F. from Colorado

Wowee!

Way to go, Deedee!

Congratulations!

Here is Deedee’s fun version of Star Spangled, just in time for the big 250th birthday celebration on July 4th this year:

A colorful quilt titled 'Star Spangled', featuring red and blue stripes with white stars and polka dots, designed by Running Doe Quilts for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’m going to go back to my vacation now. See you next week from back home in good ol’ Pennsylvania.

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Quilt Challenge Week 4, Guess How Many Quilts Extended, and a Much Needed Vacation

rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 4!

I’m getting kind of excited to see how many quilts we finish together at the end of Week 6. Aren’t you???

Last week people had the opportunity to make a guess at the number of quilts we will finish. And the closest guess (or actual guess) will get a surprise something something in the mail after the challenge. I’m going to extend the quilt guess contest into this week because I just didn’t get a chance to post the blog on Facebook last week so others could join the fun.

So if you were thinking about jumping in with your best guess last week, you have one more week to leave a comment.

Guess How Many Quilts Will Be Finished?

How many quilts do YOU think will be finished by the end of the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge?

Leave your best guess in the comments on this blog post for a chance to win a little prize at the end of the challenge!

Here’s how it works:

  • Anyone can participate, not just the Challenge participants
  • One guess per person, please
  • Leave your best guess in the blog comments (not Facebook)
  • Entries close before next week’s post goes live
  • International friends are absolutely welcome to join in the fun 🙂

You’ll find the comment link just below the blog post title (location may vary a bit depending on your device, so you might need to do a tiny bit of exploring).

If you have trouble finding the comments, you can email your guess to tricia@villarosadesigns.com and I’ll add yours to the list.

Just be sure I have a way to contact you in case you win!

So… what’s your prediction?

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Quilt Challenge Week 4

Wanna see my finish for Week 4?

I just didn’t get the quilt that I wanted to finish done this week, so I substituted a little table runner instead that only needed binding. I’m not entirely sure why I never quite finished this runner, but now it’s done. And done.

After last week’s catastrophe with the marching band (tehehe) – we’re just going to need a simple drum roll today.

Drum roll please……………

For Week 4, I completed my little Christmas Amen table runner. I had already machine quilted it a few years ago when I had a mini quilt retreat with my friends Leslie and Cathey at Cathey’s lovely cottage in Maryland. Wanna read my post about my Maryland trip? You can find it HERE. But for some strange reason I don’t even know, I never actually finished it with binding.

The poor little thing has sat there dejected all this time, waiting and hoping. Well, those sad days are over, because my version of Amen is finally completed. YAY!

A decorative quilted table runner featuring various colorful patchwork pieces and printed fabrics with text, titled 'Amen', designed by Molly Cook for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Amen is a really cute little runner. If you want it longer, it’s very simple to make more blocks, you’ll just need more fabric (and sadly, none of us ever has enough fabric, do we??? LOL!). It’s a great runner to feature small printed panel rectangles or your favorite novelty print.

My BEFORE photo:

A patchwork table runner featuring red and green Christmas-themed fabrics, including vintage trucks, trees, and festive patterns, laid out on a wooden surface.

I have a thing for vintage red trucks. I think they remind of my Dad, who was a self-employed auto mechanic for over 50 years. He’s retired now, but I think he really misses the connection with both the cars and his customers. So red truck Christmas fabric – I’m there. You don’t even have to call me twice.

I machine quilted Amen with an allover loop design (one of my favs!) using red 100% cotton thread. I actually machine quilt my quilts with the same thread I piece with. I have an entire rainbow collection of quilting thread, all tucked into a little Ikea cart with drawers on wheels. I think I’ve talked about my thread collection before, so I won’t bore you with the details. I chose a textured green fabric for the binding and machine stitched the binding down. Of course, I added a label, too.

My AFTER photo (with a little AI magic because it rained all day and I can’t get outside to take my photo):

A colorful quilt displayed as part of a quilt challenge, featuring festive patterns in red, green, and white. The quilt is hung on a clothesline against a neutral background, with stacked quilts and decorative elements nearby.

I think it turned out pretty cute, don’t you? Have you ever made Amen? If not, maybe now’s the time to try this little runner pattern.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 3 Winner

Lucia L. from Ohio

Wahoo!

Way to go, Lucia!

Congratulations!

Here’s Lucia’s quilt finish for Week 3, Sky Diamonds. Just love those yummy sherbet-y fabrics!

A quilt titled 'Sky Diamonds' featuring a geometric pattern of diamonds in blue, orange, and yellow fabrics, displayed outdoors against a snowy backdrop.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Great finish, Lucia! Keep going – don’t stop now, you are on a roll!

SHHH! I can’t tell you how many quilt finishers we had for Week 3, but I will say it was more than the week before. Just a little hint……..

A Much Needed Vacation

I have to admit I’ve been a bit preoccupied (and maybe a bit scatter-brained) this week because I’m leaving on vacation on Saturday, as in 2 days from now.

YIKES! I’m not even packed yet!

I’m headed to Myrtle Beach with my quilty pal/cousin Kim (Hey Kim!) and her 2 friends. I am so incredibly excited – I can barely contain myself. This will be my very first time seeing an ocean. Yes, seriously. I’ve seen lakes and rivers and even the St. Lawrence Seaway, but I’ve never been to the ocean. I will finally get to mark this one off my bucket list. We’ll be there for about a week, staying in a condo right there on the beach. Our condo is on the pool and hot tub deck. Nice…..So if you’re looking for me any day next week at say 10 PM, you’ll find me in the hot tub. AHHHHHH!

A beach-themed image featuring the text 'Going to the Beach!' with a sign that reads 'sunshine saltwater and sew much fun!' surrounded by a straw hat, beach towel, flip-flops, and seashells on the sand.

It’s funny what you worry about when you’re getting ready to leave on vacation – a much need and long anticipated vacation. The thing that’s been on my mind the most is swimwear. I know that sounds funny, but really – how many swimsuits does one take to the beach??? With lots of advice, I’ve settled on 3. I think. Sigh……I guess we’ll see. I’ve order so many things from Amazon recently, I’m not even sure anymore.

Tuesday night at our April quilt guild meeting, I started my packing list for my trip. Clothes……snacks……tech stuff…….sewing projects……meds, etc. I think it’s like 4 pages. Robin and Mary Lee were rolling their eyes and laughing at me while I made my lists. What’s wrong with lists??? I’m always afraid that I’ll forget something vital, so having a list to refer to and to – GASP! – check off is a real lifesaver for me. If that makes me weird, well, that’s okay. At least I won’t be forgetting my swimsuits, not a single one.

Keep getting those VRD quilt finished, folks! You have until the end of Friday May 1st to finish your Week 4 quilt. I know you can do it – let’s get even more quilts finished this week

If you haven’t been able to complete a quilt yet for the Challenge, maybe Weeks 4, 5, and 6 will be your weeks. It’s such an awesome feeling to complete a project that’s been waiting or even to begin and finish that project in a week – we want everyone who signed up to participate to experience that feeling with us. Sew……..go sew!

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’ll see you right here next time from the beach. Maybe even from the hot tub. We’ll see.

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Just Quilty Stuff · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Quilt Challenge Week 3, Guess How Many Quilts Contest, and Shopping Local

rosecards13 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 3!

I hope you’ve been spending some time over on our VRD Facebook page, where the inspiration is absolutely overflowing! Every time I pop in, I get completely sidetracked by all the wonderful quilt finishes made from our 700+ VRD Rose Card patterns. My “MAKE” list just keeps growing… and growing… and growing! Keep those beautiful quilts coming—I love seeing every single one.

I want to do a great big SHOUT OUT to everyone who has finished a quilt during the Challenge so far! Out of everyone who joined, nearly half are crossing the finish line—and that’s amazing for a challenge like this!

If you’ve got a quilt that’s this close to done, this is your week—let’s see how many more we can push across the finish line for Week 3!

As I mentioned above, we are now in Week 3 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. And wow… you all have been busy!

  • Week 1: 28 quilts finished
  • Week 2: 26 quilts finished

We’ve completed a grand total of 54 quilts in just 2 weeks! 🎉 TOGETHER! Yay Us!

Isn’t that amazing?? And the best part… we still have Week 3 wrapping up tomorrow, plus three more weeks to go. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see where we land by the end!

Guess How Many Quilts Will Be Finished?

So here’s a little fun idea to celebrate all this amazing progress…

How many quilts do YOU think will be finished by the end of the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge?

Leave your best guess in the comments on this blog post for a chance to win a little prize at the end of the challenge!

Here’s how it works:

  • One guess per person
  • Leave your guess in the blog comments (not Facebook)
  • Entries close before next week’s post goes live

👉 You’ll find the comment link just below the blog post title (location may vary a bit depending on your device, so you might need to do a tiny bit of exploring).

If you have trouble finding the comments, you can email your guess to tricia@villarosadesigns.com and I’ll add yours to the list. Just be sure I have a way to contact you in case you win!

The person with the closest guess (or exact guess… you never know!) will win a fun little prize at the end of the challenge. 🎁

And yes—our international friends are absolutely welcome to join in, too!

So… what’s your prediction?
Are we headed for 75? 100? Even more? I can’t wait to see what you think!

Remember…..you only have 7 days to get your guesses in the comments (or emailed to me) so put on your thinking caps and leave your best guesses in the comments!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 3

Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but I just finished the binding right before I sat down to write today’s blog post. But you know what????? When I did it doesn’t matter, though, as much as the fact that I have another finished quilt! WOOHOO!

Please cue the entire marching band – wait where is percussion? And what are the Color Guard doing? And is that the drum major having a meltdown? Oh my, what a catastrophe……

Sigh……I guess we’ll just continue without the band.

For Week 3, I finished my version of Angel Face. Angel Face is another one of my 2024 blog tutorial projects that just never got finished. Hmmm. This seems like a real pattern with me, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what quilt finishing challenges are for, huh? You can find a tutorial for Angel Face HERE.

A quilt design featuring a grid of stylized illustrations of women's faces, accented with pink and black fabric. The title 'Angel Face' and 'Villa Rosa Designs' are displayed prominently.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here is my Angel Face BEFORE photo:

A colorful quilt draped over a chair, featuring floral patterns and a mix of green and pastel colors, resting on a wooden deck.

You may have noticed I made some changes when I made my Angle Face version. Instead of a single fabric for the large squares, I alternated 2 different fabrics (I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I used them both. Easy peasy.). And I added an outer border using one of the frame fabrics because my quilt needed just a little bit more something. I think it turned out really pretty with the lovely Hoffman digital fabrics paired with a really cool colorful batik.

PSST! You’ve probably noticed I use a lot of Hoffman fabrics here on the blog. In a nutshell, VRD partners with other companies out there in the quilt o’sphere. I work with Hoffman a lot (Hi Sandy!), so I very happily use their fabrics for many of the tutorials for the blog.

My quilty pal, Mary Lee, literally rolls her eyes at me these days (I see you, Mary Lee!) when I make yet another quilt using Hoffman fabrics – particularly their batiks – because in the past I was always very “take it or leave it” about batiks in general while a lot of my friends were totally wild about batiks (including Ms. Mary Lee). Now I get it, Mary Lee.

Anyway, here is my Angel Face AFTER photo:

A colorful quilt with floral patterns draped over a rustic wooden bench. The quilt features squares of various floral designs and is bordered with a gray patterned fabric.

What do you think of the purple striped binding? I’m not sure. Is it too much? I had a really tough time finding something I liked with the soft colors of the quilt so I decided to just go a little bold for the finish. It does pull out the purple in the quilt, that’s for sure.

I free motion quilted my quilt on my domestic machine (Janome 8900) with an allover big meander in a soft aqua cotton thread. I used a fun grey print fleece on the back, no batting. And finished it off with the maybe-too-bold purple stripe for the binding. And yes, I added my label, too, because a quilt isn’t finished until there’s a label on the back. I know a lot of quilters do not add labels to their quilts for a variety of reasons, but I know personally from collecting antique quilts that 100 years from now someone will want to know who the maker was, especially if it’s a family quilt. So add a label and make a little history, too.

Here’s a close up of the quilting and my purple striped binding. Meandering is totally one of favorite machine quilting patterns!

Close-up of a quilt featuring a textured gray fabric with a swirling pattern, edged with a pink and white striped binding, alongside a patchwork design of floral and textured fabrics.

How about a winner now?

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 2 Winner

Kat S. in Indiana

YIPPEE!

Drop the balloons from the ceiling now!

Congratulations, Kat!

Here’s Kat’s Week 2 Quilt Finish:

A colorful quilt featuring various shades of blue, green, and purple fabrics arranged in a patchwork design, with floral and geometric patterns.

Kat’s awesome quilt is the Honey Bouquet pattern. (Did anyone notice that it’s blue??? Anyone??? Blue and white is one of my absolute favorite color combinations in case you didn’t already know that.) Really, I use a random number generator to pick the Weekly winner, I promise you. It was just kismet that it was blue.

As you take a look at Kat’s quilt, you might notice that she used a different layout than the sample quilt on the front of the pattern. And it’s really fun – I love the movement in her quilt. Way to go, Kat!

Colorful quilt design titled 'Honey Bouquet' by Villa Rosa Designs featuring various floral and geometric patterned fabric squares.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

So what quilt are you finishing for Week 3 of our Challenge??? You have until Friday, 4/24 midnight EST to post your before/after photos on our VRD Facebook page or email them to me at tricia@villarosaquilts.com. Can’t wait to see them!

You know…..if you signed up but life’s gotten in the way of completing quilts so far for the Challenge, maybe this will be your week! We’re in this together!

Shopping Local

Last Friday, I had an errand to run to one of our local quilt shops, Sew Frannetastic. SewFran is a very unique quilt shop located outside Woodcock Township (near Saegertown) in good ol’ Pennsylvania. It’s unique because it is a quilting and sewing consignment shop – YES! You read correctly – it’s a sewing and quilting consignment shop!

When Franne and James opened a few years ago in a different location, I’d never heard of such a thing, but was of course intrigued. Who wouldn’t be? Now I’m a regular customer and every time I go, I find some wonderful treasures I would have never found anywhere else.

A display of neatly arranged fabric bolts on wooden shelves, showcasing a variety of colors and patterns, including greens, blues, and neutral tones, in a fabric store.
Image from Sew Frannetastic on FB

The exciting thing is that the shop is currently expanding because they are simply bursting at the seams with merch. And it’s not just sewing and quilting – you can find yarn along with crochet and knitting patterns and supplies as well as paper crafting and I hear that painting will be coming soon, too. When our local Jo-Ann’s closed last year, our community was left in the lurch for crafting supplies. And several of our local quilt shops have closed, too. So it’s really exciting that SewFran is creatively filling the quilting/craft store void. And we quilters and crafters couldn’t be more thrilled!

A colorful illustration of three cheerful women sitting in a red Jeep, promoting quilting with signs. The background features a quilt shop with a vibrant outdoor setting and directional signs for various quilting-related activities.
A little AI magic……..

I mentioned I had an errand to run out to SewFran and of course it was a great opportunity for a little quilty road trip – a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). All of a sudden, I had Robin riding shotgun and Mary Lee was ensconced in the back seat of my li’l red Jeep and we were on our way. The 3 of us did some serious damage to the banking industry while we were there, then of course, we just had to grab some lunch because shopping makes us ravenous.

We went to lunch at a small locally owned restaurant in Cochranton, PA called Parkside. The food was good and the company was even better.

A plate featuring a sandwich filled with beef, melted cheese, and sautéed onions, accompanied by a side of golden French fries.
Image from Parkside’s FB page

After lunch, we rounded out our local shopping event by heading to an adorable little gem of a shop in Cochranton called HennyPenny’s that had a little bit of everything tucked into cute little nooks and crannies. I grabbed a few new-fangled tea bag holders that perched on the edge of your tea cup for my Mom as well as some books and a quilt magazine. The shop featured new handmade items, gift ideas, clothing, housewares, cookbooks, collectibles, books, and more. Oh, by the way, it has a super fun chicken theme!

Interior of a quaint retail shop featuring vintage and decorative items. A round table with a pink checkered tablecloth is in the center, surrounded by shelves filled with various goods. Chandelier lights hang from the ceiling, and 'LOCAL' is displayed on the wall.
Image from HennyPenny’s FB page

If you’re ever in my neck of the woods here in Northwestern PA, you should check out these super friendly and fun locally owned businesses.

What local gems do you have in your community?

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’m off to do some quilting for Week 4.

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · Tips and Tricks · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Quilt Challenge Week 2 and 10 Tips for Fast Finishing

rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 2!

I’m super excited to be hosting (and participating in!) our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. It’s been such a great motivator for me to start moving some quilt tops out of my to-be-finished pile and into my DONE pile… and that’s a big win in my book.

One thing I’m noticing already is how much easier it feels to focus on one quilt at a time instead of staring at my whole teetering stack of UFOs. (Because let’s be honest… those unfinished projects have a way of quietly judging us from across the room. Yours do that too, right? )

I’ve been having sew much fun seeing all the amazing finished quilts popping up on Facebook and in my inbox. Keep them coming! One of my favorite parts of this challenge is seeing what everyone else is working on. It’s so inspiring to watch these quilts come together… and it’s definitely keeping me motivated too.

Ready to see my Week 2 finish???

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 2

Drum roll please…………………

Pacific Grove is my Week 2 finish. I made the Pacific Grove top for a tutorial here on the blog a while back (yeah……just found it on the blog and it was from 2024, sheesh!). You can find the Pacific Grove tutorial HERE.

A colorful quilt design featuring butterfly patterns, titled 'Pacific Grove', created by Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here is my BEFORE photo:

A colorful floral quilt featuring a variety of flower patterns framed with purple fabric.

My version of Pacific Grove, featuring gorgeous digital floral prints from our friends over at Hoffman, is like looking through a pretty framed window at a gorgeous flower garden. I just really love it. I wish I had finished it sooner, but…………..Life always gets in the way, doesn’t it?

And here’s my FINISHED Pacific Grove quilt!

A colorful quilt with floral patterns in various shades, bordered by a purple frame, hung outdoors against a natural background of trees and grass.

Love how it turned out! I machine quilted it using a medium purple 100% cotton thread in a big open meander allover design which looks good on anything and is quick to quilt, too. I used a marbled purple fleece for the back, no batting. And I machine-stitched my binding again. I think I’m getting a little better at the corners. I figured out that if I folded the fabric the opposite way I normally do for hand-binding, it doesn’t get caught while I’m machine stitching the corners. Huh. Live and learn.

Just have to share another photo of my quilt. I wanted you to be able to see the pretty purple fleece on the back. And the great texture the big open meandering makes on the fleece. Have you ever tried using fleece on the back of a throw quilt instead of batting and backing?

A colorful floral quilt draped over a black chair in a garden setting.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 1 Winner

Our Week 1 winner for the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge is…

Kim C. in Washington

Woohoo!

Throw the confetti! 🎉

Congratulations, Kim!

Here’s Kim’s Week 1 finished quilt:

A colorful quilt displayed against a wall featuring a zigzag pattern with various shades of blue, green, yellow, and brown.

Kim’s quilt is the Rail Fence pattern.

A colorful quilt design featuring a 'Rail Fence' pattern, incorporating various shades of blue, green, brown, and beige fabrics. The quilt is framed with a light green background and includes the designer's name, Melissa Milligan, and the brand Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

So what quilt are you finishing for Week 2 of our Challenge??? You have until Friday, 4/17 midnight EST to post your before/after photos on our VRD Facebook page or email them to me at tricia@villarosaquilts.com. Can’t wait to see them!

10 Tips for Fast Finishing Quilts

After Week 1, I know a lot of you are already feeling that little spark of momentum… and maybe also realizing that finishing quilts can sometimes take longer than we’d like. We start with the best intentions, and then life, perfectionism, or just plain overwhelm sneaks in.

So for Week 2, I wanted to share some of my favorite tried-and-true tips to help you get your quilts across the finish line a little faster. These aren’t about cutting corners… they’re about quilting smarter, keeping things manageable, and actually enjoying the process from start to finish.

Let’s do this! Together.

1. Machine stitch your binding

Yep, we’re skipping the hand stitching. It’s faster, it’s sturdy, and honestly… most people will never flip your quilt over to check. I’m one of those people who sews it to the front and then flips it to the back, but some of my pals prefer sewing the binding to the back and flipping it to the front. There is no wrong or right way to machine stitch your binding. Do what feels the most natural to you.

2. Learn to machine quilt your own quilts

Straight lines, wavy lines, loops… it all works. The goal here is finished, not heirloom show judging. It sure beats waiting your turn at the long arm quilter’s to get your quilt quilted.

If your new to machine quilting, take a class or pair up with a friend who is already doing it. Start out with smaller projects until you feel comfortable and then move on to bigger projects.

For myself, I still send my really big quilts off to the machine quilter while I do my own machine quilting for my throws and smaller projects.

Trust me, if I can machine quilt, so can you. Just remember 3 little words – practice, practice, practice. (Check out our 2025 Beginner Free Motion Quilting Series over on the right side of the blog.)

3. Keep your quilting simple

This is not the time for feathers and custom everything. Save that for another quilt. Today, we finish. My favorite 2 go-to allover quilting designs are meandering and loopy loops. These designs go with everything and they quilt quickly.

Check out our Basic Quilting Skills for Beginners: Quilt as Desired HERE.

4. Press as you go (yes, really)

I know, I know… but skipping this step will come back to haunt you later. A quick press now saves a lot of “why won’t this line up?!” later. And it’s a lot easier to quilt individual blocks and make them behave than saving all the quilting to the end and then trying to get all the blocks to behave. Trust me…..blocks can get very unruly at times (I should know…….I am guilty of saving my pressing to the end now and then).

You can find some help with pressing HERE.

5. Square it up before adding your binding

Crooked quilt tops lead to cranky bindings. A quick trim makes everything behave so much better. I never skip this step, ever because who wants quilts that ripple when there isn’t any breeze? I use a big square ruler on each corner to square up my corners first, then I use a long ruler to straighten the sides so everything is nice and square. I even double check by folding my quilts either on the diagonal (square quilts) or into fours (rectangular quilts) to make sure my corners and sides are even.

Squaring up questions? Get help HERE.

6. Use spray baste, fusible batting, or less pins if you pin baste your quilts

Less pinning, less wrestling, more quilting. Your back (and your patience) will thank you later. I prefer pin basting, but I do not over pin. I take the time to make sure my quilt backing/batting (or fleece) is taped down to my table/flat surface so it’s flat and taunt before I place my quilt top on the batting/backing. Then I use pins sparingly to keep everything together, maybe a pin every 10-12 inches. I first pin diagonally, then horizontal and vertical and finally I add any extra pins if needed to keep things nice and square.

Find out more info on layering quilts HERE.

7. Don’t over-quilt it

Dense quilting is lovely… and slow. Looser quilting still looks great and gets you to the finish line faster. If you’re not sure how loose you can make your quilting design – take a look at the batting you are using. The package will tell you how far apart you can quilt that particular batting.

Quilting bigger takes less time and actually uses less thread is an important lesson I shared with my students when I taught Free Motion Quilting.

8. Batch your boring tasks

Cut all your binding strips at once. Wind extra bobbins. Prep your label ahead of time. Future you will be delighted. Listening to some music or your favorite audio book also makes those boring tasks move a little bit faster.

9. Go with a slightly wider binding for machine stitched bindings

A 2½” strip is more forgiving and easier to catch when stitching down by machine. When I hand-stitch my binding, I cut my strips at 2 1/4″ wide, but I’ve found that the little extra in a 2 1/2″ binding for machine stitching makes a huge difference. With the 2 1/2″ cut binding, I find I have just what I need to wrap my binding to the other side and to catch it with my machine stitching.

10. Work in short, focused bursts

Set a timer, sit down, and just start. Even 30 minutes moves you forward… and forward is the whole point. Not perfect. Forward. I’ve found this technique to be really helpful when I am feeling overwhelmed with everything I have to do. So set the timer and quilt. You will be amazed at how much you can get done.

And a bonus tip or two-

Instead of a zig zag stitch or straight stitch for machine stitching your binding, try using a Triple Zig Zag stitch (also sometimes called a multi-step zigzag or 3-step zigzag). It’s stitch #11 on my Janome Memory Craft 8900QCP. Molly Cook (Big shout out to Molly!) shared this tip with me a couple years ago, and this is the stitch I use for machine binding. I also match my thread color to my binding, too.

    Finally……………………A Little Reminder

    Finished quilts don’t come from perfection… they come from momentum. Done is cozy. Done is usable. Done is something you can actually enjoy.

    Well, that’s it for me this week. I’m off to do some quilting for Week 3.

    PSST! What VRD quilt will you finish for Week 3???

    Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

    Always,

    Tricia @ VRD

    2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

    6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 1 and NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

    rosecards4 Comments

    Hello Quilty Friends!

    Happy Thursday to you!

    I’m really excited to kick off the first week of our Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. I decided not to attempt to do both a new tutorial and finish my Week 1 quilt this week. I know my limitations and there just wasn’t going to be enough time to do both. But, never fear we’ll get back to some wonderful new tutorials after we complete our 6 in 6 Challenge. Besides, this week I get to share with you our New April patterns. Yay!

    I’m also thrilled to say that over 50 brave quilters are joining me for our 6 in 6 Challenge. Just imagine – if 50 people completed 1 quilt each week during the 6 week Challenge that would be a total of 300 quilts finished! WOWEE! Wouldn’t it be really amazing if that happened??? I’ll keep track of everyone’s finishes and give you a total number of quilts completed at the end of the Challenge.

    If you are posting your before/after photos on Facebook, please say they are for the 6 in 6 Challenge and include the week number. Also, if your FB name is different from the name you provided when you signed up, please let me know or I won’t know who you are. This will help me tremendously as I want to make sure that everyone who is completing their quilts on time gets in the weekly drawings.

    One of our participants emailed and asked if it was okay to change the size of VRD quilts for the Challenge. Absolutely! As long as the pattern you are using is a VRD Rose Card.

    So, everyone who signed up to participate – let’s do this! Together.

    6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 1

    Whew! Just finished the binding on my Week 1 quilt. Seriously, I kid you not. Right before I sat down to write this post. The good news is – it’s done!

    I chose Dusk Delight as my Week 1 quilt. It was from a blog tutorial a while back, you can find the tutorial HERE. Gulp……the tutorial was actually from June 2024. Sheesh! About time this quilt got finished.

    A quilt design titled 'Dusk Delight' featuring a grid of colorful squares and rectangles in various shades, set against a light pink background. The design is attributed to Villa Rosa Designs and includes a decorative floral border.

    Get your digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE

    Dusk Delight is a really fun pattern using 2 1/2″ strips and a coordinating fabric. It would be a really cool design featuring a favorite novelty fabric, too. One important thing you would need to consider, though, is that the fabric for the long sashing strips is cut horizontally and pieced together. That means if your fabric design runs vertically, you would need additional fabric so you could cut your strips vertically.

    Okay, here’s my BEFORE photo showing my Dusk Delight quilt top featuring a Bali Pop and a batik companion from Hoffman Fabrics.

    A colorful patchwork quilt hanging outdoors, displaying various shades of blue, green, and white fabrics arranged in a grid pattern.

    Now here is my AFTER photo showing my finished Dusk Delight. Woohoo! The weather was nice enough to take my After photos outside today, which was great. Our spring weather has been a bit weird so far. We had 86 degrees a couple days ago, then the temps dropped to the 30s (with snow showers) with a low of 14 degrees last night. BRRR! Today is in the 50s and tomorrow will be back up in the 70s. It’s like Mother Nature just can’t make up her mind which season to throw at us.

    A colorful quilt hanging outside, displaying a pattern of squares in shades of blue, teal, and gray.

    I used a royal blue solid fleece on the back, no batting. I machine quilted with a large meander allover to keep things simple. Besides, when I quilt on fleece I do prefer keeping things simple as the fleece has a lot more stretch than the quilt top does. I used a bright turquoise 100% cotton thread on the top and bottom. And a really dark blue batik for the binding, which I attached with machine. I’m getting better with machine binding the more I do, but I still struggle to make my corners neat, though.

    I had to go digging for a binding fabric because I couldn’t remember what fabric I had originally set aside for the binding way back in 2024. LOL! Usually I try to keep the binding fabric tucked inside the quilt top, but somehow along the way the quilt and binding parted ways. That’s okay, though, because I utilized my stash to find a suitable replacement. What’s a stash for anyway???

    Here’s a close up of the back of my Dusk Delight, showing my machine quilting. Please ignore the lint…..

    Close-up of a dark blue fabric with a quilted texture featuring a pattern of wavy lines.

    So, what VRD quilt did you finish/make for Week 1? You have until Friday 4/10 midnight EST to complete your quilt and either post a before/after photo to our VRD Facebook page or you can email photos to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.

    Speaking of VRD patterns……….

    NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

    I know, I know – I don’t have to say it, but somehow I just have to. I LOVE the Thursday after the first Friday of every month because that’s when I get to show off all the new monthly patterns. Yippee!

    It does seem a little ironic, though, doesn’t it that this is Week 1 for our 6 in 6 Challenge with the intent to finish VRD UFOs and here I am enticing you with the NEW April patterns. Ho hum…….that’s my job – to help you complete quilts so you can make new ones without feeling guilty.

    Without any more teasing, let’s check out the new patterns!

    Collage of five quilt pattern cards for April 2026 featuring Allspice, Melrose, LaValle, Crackled, and Turnkey designs, available for $8.95.

    Get all 5 April quilt print patterns HERE

    Allspice is Heidi’s latest pattern! I really like the big and little stars and would love to make it in patriotic fabrics. You can find a kit with the same fabrics as the pattern HERE.

    LaValle is Rachelle’s newest mod quilt design. Love the cool colors against the white background, it feels really beachy to me.

    Melrose is Pat’s latest offering. I really like how the fabrics are arranged from light to dark, accentuating the V shape. Imagine this one in shades of blue and white (my fav)……. You can find a kit featuring Yellow Sky fabrics HERE.

    Crackled is Molly’s new pattern. I love how the light blue strips really pop against the darker fabrics, don’t you? You can find a Crackled kit featuring Kaffe fabrics HERE (and it’s amazing!).

    Turnkey is Catherine at Running Doe’s latest mod quilt design. I think this one looks super fun to make. It could be totally scrappy or more controlled. You can find a kit for Turnkey featuring the same fabrics as the pattern cover HERE or a kit with Sun Moments fabrics HERE.

    YES, there is more!

    Our latest table runner is called Serenity and I know you’ll be incredibly surprised to see that it’s blue and white (you know how much I LOVE blue and white). I used fabric from Moda’s Larking collection for this runner. Truly, the fabric inspired the pattern name because it really is serene. And the fun thing about this runner pattern is that you can use panel squares in place of the big center square and/or the smaller squares. I love patterns that give you options.

    A wall-hanging quilt titled 'Serenity' featuring various blue and white fabric patterns, displayed against a wooden backdrop, accompanied by a vase of flowers and neatly folded quilts in a basket.

    Get your digital pattern HERE or your Print pattern HERE

    You can find a kit for Serenity featuring Daydreams fabrics HERE.

    Now for our April Pillow Pattern – Garden Wishes. Isn’t it adorable? I mean the pillow, not the dog. Yes, Bailly my 3 year old Shih Tzu is adorable, too (and she knows it!). Bailly enjoys posing for photos. As you can see her fur is long and pretty wild right now but next month she’ll be sporting a shorter ‘do.

    Are you following along each month with the seasonal pillows? Just think – if you are, then in January 2027, you’ll have 12 months of fun seasonal pillows! How awesome is that??? If you haven’t started (or finished) your pillows for January-March, there’s still plenty of time to get caught up. I’d love to see your pillows on our VRD Facebook page.

    A small dog sitting on a couch next to a decorative pillow featuring a colorful flower pot design, with the text 'Garden Wishes Pillow' above it.

    Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

    You might remember that Heidi and Molly (3 Aunts Quilt Shop, the former VRD quilt shop in CA) are featuring each month’s seasonal pillow pattern as a block of the month project. So, if you missed any of the earlier months, you can find available kits HERE.

    Each kit includes the pattern and the fabric for the 18″ pillow front. And the kits are only $10! Better grab yours before they’re gone.

    This month’s Garden Wishes kits are:

    Kaffe

    Tonals

    Tula

    What fun we have here at VRD……patterns, fabrics, cute little dogs, and more.

    Well, that’s it for me this week. I have to get started on my Week 2 quilt for next week.

    I’m looking forward to checking out all the great finishes on Facebook, too. So get your Week 1 quilt finished by Friday midnight to get your name in the Week 1 drawing.

    Until next week —

    Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

    Always,

    Tricia @VRD

    2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

    6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Begins and a NEW Spring into Spring Quilt Tutorial Series: Charlie

    rosecardsLeave a comment

    Hello Quilty Friends!

    Happy Thursday to you!

    Woohoo! Today begins our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge, are you ready??? There’s still time to join the fun. Let me tell you all about it.

    Promotional image for the '6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge' by Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a stack of colorful quilts against a blue sky background with text detailing the challenge.

    The Challenge Dates:

    Week 1 Quilt due by Friday 4/10 midnight EST

    Week 2 Quilt due by Friday 4/17 midnight EST

    Week 3 Quilt due by Friday 4/24 midnight EST

    Week 4 Quilt due by Friday 5/1 midnight EST

    Week 5 Quilt due by Friday 5/8 midnight EST

    Week 6 Quilt due by Friday 5/15 midnight EST

    The Rules and All the Details of the Challenge:

    Each week for 6 weeks, participants will post before/after photos of weekly UFOs to our VRD Facebook page or if you prefer, you can email the photos to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.

    I will post my before/after photos on the blog, villarosaquilts.com, each week and I will try to post them on the VRD Facebook page as well.

    All quilt tops/projects must be VRD patterns – this is the VRD blog, after all. Quilts must be quilted and bound to be eligible for prize drawings. No size requirements (I have UFOs from snack mats up to large throw quilts). It doesn’t even have to be a quilt – we have some great accessories, table runners, place mats, and snack mats. Projects can be in any stage of UFO from a stack of fabric and a pattern to a pile of blocks to quilt tops to projects needing quilt or even just binding and a label. The idea is to simply finish VRD projects so we can feel great about starting new ones.

    Each week, I’ll draw a name randomly from those participants who posted before/after photos by each weekly deadline. The winners will get a surprise quilty good in the mail after the Challenge ends. Goodies might be from me or from one of our lovely quilting partners.

    This Challenge is open to all, but please note that International winners will receive a selection of VRD digital patterns.

    PSST! You can even use the next six weeks to make a NEW VRD quilt each week (or any of the 6 weeks) if you want – hey, maybe you don’t have any unfinished VRD tops just sitting around. So go ahead – pick your favorite VRD pattern and get moving. Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to get some of your holiday sewing done early??? I am not quite that organized, I’m afraid, but maybe you are.

    You might be wondering what happens if you don’t post a before/after photo for a weekly Challenge or you miss the deadline. It’s pretty simple – your name won’t go into that week’s prize drawing – that’s okay because life gets busy. I’m not kicking you out of the Challenge, though – feel free to participate in any or all weeks. Your name will go into each weekly drawing that you complete a project and post your before/after photos before the weekly deadline.

    Seriously, I want to encourage all of you as well as myself to finish projects, not to stress about them. LOL!

    I think that’s all the important info. I hope I’ve answered any questions you had. If not, feel free to email me.

    Wanna join me in this Challenge?

    Send your name and email address to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com to officially join the challenge and be eligible for weekly prizes. Your name and email will only be used for this Challenge, I promise you.

    So, the Challenge begins….now. Your Week 1 Finished Project before/after photos are due by Friday, April 10th midnight EST. Post them on our VRD Facebook group or you can email them directly to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com if you prefer.

    Time to get quilting and slash your stash of VRD UFOs! And don’t forget to have some fun, too.

    HEY! maybe you can challenge your quilty pals to do the Challenge with you? A few of mine are participating, so why not ask yours? Just sayin’……..

    All right, let’s check out this week’s Spring into Spring tutorial, Charlie.

    Spring into Spring VRD Quilt Tutorial Series: Charlie

    Today’s tutorial is Charlie, a quick fun panel pattern. It finishes at 44″ x 64″. But of course, you could always add another border to make it larger if you want to. A 6″ border (strips cut at 6 1/2″) would finish at 56″ x 76″.

    A colorful quilt featuring a pirate ship, playful sea creatures, and various patchwork patterns, designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney for Villa Rosa Designs.

    Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

    Let’s get going on this cute quilt!

    1. The first thing we always start with is our fabric. Today we’re using a super cool digital fabric collection from Hoffman called Crafty Cats. It’s fun and bright with some great rainbow 24/7 Solids and Linen coordinates.

    An assortment of colorful fabric pieces laid out on a cutting mat, featuring a vibrant patterned fabric with cat illustrations in the background.

    Don’t you just love love love the cat print? Guess what?!? It’s running yardage, NOT a panel.

    Have you ever thought about using a favorite novelty fabric instead of a printed panel? As long as you cut the fabric to the right size, novelty prints work beautifully in panel quilt patterns. Just a great tip from little ol’ me.

    2. I must admit I’m a little nervous to cut the running yardage to the correct size the pattern calls for because it is just too easy to make a mistake. So wish me luck as I measure and measure again before cutting.

    A colorful fabric featuring cat designs laid on a cutting mat, accompanied by a rotary cutter and a clear ruler for measuring.
    A rotary cutter and scissors on a cutting mat with colorful cat-themed fabric being cut with a ruler.

    Whew! Got it! I didn’t think I could love this fabric any more, but I totally do now it’s cut and up on the design wall so I can see it properly.

    A vibrant and colorful fabric featuring a repeating pattern of stylized cat faces in various colors and expressions.

    3. Now I’m going to cut the yellow border strips. I’ll need to cut 2 different widths for the 2 yellow borders – the inner border and the outer border. I’ll piece strips/cut them to the right size when I’m ready to actually sew them onto the quilt. So I’m going to set them aside for right now.

    Two pieces of yellow fabric with a transparent ruler and a rotary cutter on a cutting mat.

    4. Time to cut out the bright and happy squares for the middle border now. I like to layer a couple fabrics when I cut strips and then cut my strips into squares. If you’re comfortable doing that, go right ahead, but if you prefer cutting a single fabric at a time, that works great too.

    A cutting mat featuring a green fabric square, a transparent ruler, and a rotary cutter, arranged for quilting or sewing projects.
    A rotary cutter and clear ruler are placed on a cutting mat with a piece of green fabric laid out for cutting.
    A rotary cutter lies on a cutting mat with two green squares of fabric, one partially cut.

    Okay, here are all my squares, cut and ready to sew.

    A stack of colorful cloth squares in various shades including pink, red, green, and blue, arranged on a cutting mat with a grid pattern.

    5. Everything is cut out and ready to sew now. I need to measure my cat fabric center in order to cut my side yellow borders to the right length. Then I’ll pin it to the center fabric edge, matching up the centers and the ends to keep everything nice and square. And off to the sewing machine to stitch the yellow border strips to the sides.

    A colorful fabric with a pattern of cats in various artistic styles, bordered by a yellow fabric strip. Pins are used to secure the pieces on a cutting mat.
    A sewing machine stitching a vibrant fabric featuring colorful cat motifs alongside a plain yellow fabric.

    6. Next I need to head to the iron to press my seams. Today I’m sewing at my quilty pal, Robin’s house. Our friend Mary Lee, and my big sis, Tracy came to hang out too. It was a fun little impromptu get together. With snacks. You have to have snacks.

    You’ve got to love the pink cowhide print ironing board cover, right?

    An iron resting on a colorful, patterned ironing board with a strip of yellow fabric.

    7. Here’s the cat center with the side borders in place.

    A colorful fabric panel featuring a repeating pattern of cats in various colors and styles, bordered with a yellow edge.

    8. Now to measure, cut, sew, and press the top and bottom borders. So far, so good. Yay!

    A colorful fabric panel featuring a repeated pattern of cartoon animals, framed with a yellow border.

    8. The next border is made up of all those fun bright squares. I want the squares to be totally random – not in a specific arrangement – so I’m going to lay out the squares. I’m excited because those bright squares are really going to bring out the colors in the cat fabric!

    I’m only going to work on the side squares first. A funny thing happened – I was laying out and wouldn’t you know it but somehow unconsciously I began to lay out the right side to match the same sequence as the left side. Thanks, Mary Lee, for pointing that out to me. I didn’t even notice what I was doing! So after much shuffling and rearranging, the layout finally looks random. Which is quite amusing, since it wasn’t really random at all. LOL!

    A colorful quilt with a patchwork of vibrant fabric strips surrounding a central collage of various patterns and images.
    A colorful quilt hanging on a wall, featuring a central panel with vibrant, patterned fabric surrounded by a bright yellow border and accented with squares of various colors along the sides.

    9. I’m going to sew the left row of squares together, press the row, and then sew it to the left side of quilt. Then I’ll sew the right square row together and add it to the right side of the quilt before I head back to the iron to press all the seams.

    Oh dang! When I sewed the square rows to the sides I discovered that I made a mistake when I cut the length of the cat fabric way back at the beginning. Apparently I cut the length about an inch short so my square rows were slightly longer than the framed center. (Here I smack my forehead…..)

    No reason to panic, though. I matched the centers of the square rows to the center of the side yellow borders and I simply trimmed off the excess half inch or so at the top and bottom. Maybe not the most elegant solution, but it was quick and worked well and you probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t told on myself.

    An ironing board covered in a pink cow print fabric, with several fabric swatches in pastel colors including pink, green, blue, and purple laid out on top.
    A cutting mat with colorful fabric pieces and a rotary cutter on top. The fabric features vibrant prints, including animals, and various solid colored fabric strips laid out in a patchwork pattern.
    A colorful quilt hanging on a wall, featuring a vibrant pattern of mixed floral and artistic designs surrounded by a bright yellow border and pieced colorful stripes.
    An ironing board with a colorful fabric patchwork spread across it, next to a steam iron. The fabric features various patterns in vibrant colors, and the ironing board cover has a pink and white design.

    10. Easy Peasy. Time to lay out the top and bottom square rows and sew the rows to the quilt. It’s coming together now. Those bright squares really compliment the center cat fabric. This quilt is going to make me smile.

    A colorful quilt or fabric panel displayed against a neutral backdrop, featuring a vibrant inner pattern surrounded by a multicolored border.

    11. Next I’ll add the outside yellow borders. I had to piece these strips together before measuring and cutting them to the right length. Then I sewed them to the sides and pressed them.

    WHEW! Finally I added the top and bottom borders. I had to add a little bit to the ends of these border strips, as well, to make them fit the width of the quilt.

    A flat lay of a quilting project featuring a yellow fabric piece being pinned to colorful patchwork fabric on a cutting mat.

    12. And done! Here it is. My finished Charlie quilt top. Yay! What a fun pattern that will showcase pretty much any fabric from panels to novelty fabrics. It turned out really fun!

    A colorful quilt hanging on a wall, featuring a bright green border with multiple colored squares. The center displays a vibrant pattern with various colorful designs, surrounded by a cozy room setup including a shelf with fabric and a cup on a table.

    I hope you’ll give Charlie a try. It was a really fun pattern to make. Maybe I’ll finish this one during the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge…. We shall see, though, I have sew many VRD UFOs to complete and it will be hard to decide which ones to finish first.

    I hope you will join me and the other 25 quilters who are participating in the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. Together, we can get to the finish line with some of our VRD UFOs. 6 isn’t a scary number. Each of us can make a commitment to finish 6 quilts. Even if we have stacks of UFOs. 6 is doable. If each of the 26 of us completed 6 UFOs, that would be a total of 156 completed quilts. In 6 weeks. WOWZER!

    We CAN do this together.

    Stay tuned next week to see which VRD UFO I am going to finish first. See you then!

    Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

    Always,

    Tricia @ VRD