Hello Quilty Friends!
Hope you are all having a wonderful week filled with lots of quilting and sunshine! Recently here in NW PA, we finally had some warm temperatures and lots of sunshine. It’s like we went from winter to summer in a matter of days. Everything is turning green and there is an explosion of color — it almost hurts your eyes, but in a good way!
Did you know Villa Rosa Designs has an ap?
Yes, we do!
It is available through your ap store. It’s a free ap and after you download it, you will be able to view all the Rose Cards, listed alphabetically. It even updates when new cards are added each month, so you will always have the most up-to-date list of Rose Cards.
In addition to the complete Rose Card list, you can create your own lists such as What I Own or What I Want or even Fat Quarter Quilts — whatever lists you can think of.
Another useful thing is that when you click on a Rose Card, another screen pops up with the quilt dimensions and its fabric requirements.
It’s not a shopping ap, but it’s fun to be able to search Rose Cards on the go.
For example:
Like when you’re at a quilt show or shop and you can’t remember if you have a specific Card — use the ap to find out.
Or maybe you’re shopping and find the perfect fabrics for a Rose Card project but you forgot the Card at home and you don’t know how much fabric you need — use the ap and look up the Rose Card to see the fabric requirements.
What a great resource to have at your fingertips wherever you go!
Bear Hugs: A Sweet Story
As a quilter, I just love hearing the story behind the quilt, don’t you?
You might remember the Bear Hugs Rose Card as one of the new Rose Cards for this month. Here’s the story behind the quilt.
I was invited to a baby shower for my cousin’s daughter — KK’s first baby. Of course I was going to make a baby quilt. I’m sure KK was expecting one, too, as she and her 2 siblings all received baby quilts when they were born.
I asked KK’s mom (my cousin) what the nursery theme was. She sent me a video which showed the crib and unfinished nursery in the background and told me “buffalo plaid, bears, fox, [and] deer.”
Now I had a starting point and it was time to head to my local quilt shop. I was sew lucky because there was a great display of the exact fabrics I was looking for! I grabbed a yard of a black and white buffalo plaid as well as 8 coordinating fat quarters of woodsy bears, deer, checks, and dots in black, white, red, and grey. I didn’t know what design I was doing yet, but I had the fabric — I was halfway there.
The next thing I did was fire up my computer and my Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) software. Interested in learning more about EQ8? Go HERE.
I decided to use some type of a Log Cabin block because of the woodsy theme. I played around with different Log Cabin-type blocks for a while and this block is what I came up with:
It’s a modern take on the old classic Log Cabin block.
This is one of the things I find the most fun about being a quilt designer — starting with a traditional block and re-imagining it. I really love doing that. It’s such a great way to create an entirely new quilt block to build a quilt around.
Happily, I finished the quilt a few days before KK’s baby shower. It was a beautiful baby shower –the theme of the shower matched the baby quilt perfectly, right down to the colors! I couldn’t wait for her to open it.
Surprise! A few days later, KK had baby J — a few weeks early, but he was perfect. And he had a full head of hair, too!
Here are a couple photos of Baby J on his Bear Hugs quilt — his quilt is the original quilt used for the front of the Bear Hugs pattern.
VRD Invites You…
Want to share your VRD Rose Card story? We’d love to hear it!
Please email your quilt story and original photo along with the Rose Card pattern you used to make the quilt to tricia@villarosadesigns.com. Stories and accompanying photos will be selected randomly to share on our blog and Facebook. This project will be ongoing. If your story is selected, we’ll send you a little thank you surprise to you in the mail! Can’t wait to hear your quilt stories!
Until next Thursday —
Sew. Laugh. Repeat.
Always,
Tricia @VRD
Villa Rosa Quilts 