Celebrating July 4th with Quilts, 2025 Sasha Doll Festival, & A Free Doll Quilt Pattern Just for You

July 3, 2025July 2, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Hard to believe it’s July already and the July 4th holiday is tomorrow. It’s not every year that the holiday falls on a Friday, so I see a 3 day weekend ahead for many of you. What are your plans for the holiday weekend? Me, I plan to take in some fireworks and maybe eat some fab picnic foods. Yum, yum, yummy!

Happy Independence Day!

A crowd of people holding American flags enjoy a fireworks display on July 4th, celebrating Independence Day.

July 4th with Quilts

In celebration of Independence Day, I have a few fun quilty things to share with you today! Woohoo!

So I wanted to feature our 12 Quilts of Valor Pattern Collection on the blog. A lot of you probably already have the 12 QOV collection among your VRD patterns, but for those of you who are new to VRD or haven’t added the collection yet, let me tell you about this great collection of patterns.

A collage of quilt patterns titled '12 Quilts of Valor' featuring various patriotic designs and colors, including red, white, and blue motifs. Each pattern is displayed with a unique title in a decorative layout.

Get your 12 QOV Collection HERE

A portion of each pattern collection sold is donated to the Quilts of Valor Foundation

The collection includes 12 patterns sized perfectly for your Quilts of Valor (QOV) projects – no more trying to figure out if a pattern is the right size for a QOV. You will find patterns that use yardage, fat quarters, 5″ squares, and panels (4 panel quilts in the collection and 1 of them uses horizontal panels). Finally, several of our talented VRD designers have patterns in the collection so you get a nice variety of styles in this collection. And of course, all of the patterns are fast, fun, and quickly done!

Almost forgot to mention – shipping is free on patterns on the VRD website, regardless of how many print patterns (or collections) you order!

At this time, the collection is only available in print format, but if you prefer our digital patterns or are an international friend, the patterns are also available as individual downloads. Please note that the download pattern covers will be different from the print pattern collection covers.

Celebration

Grand Prize – you would need to add a border around the outside to make it the correct size for a QOV

Last year on the blog for the 4th of July, I created a curated a Red, White and Blue Pattern list. You can find it HERE.

I hope your July 4th holiday is filled with new memories, American pride, picnic food, and quilts!

Dolls and Quilts

I realize this section of the blog isn’t really connected to the 4th of July at all, but I just had to tell you about my very first Sasha Doll Festival. Oh! I’m wrong – I just realized the theme for this year’s Festival was “Sasha Explores the USA” so it is kind of related to the 4th of July after all.

A promotional image for the Sasha Festival 2025, featuring two dolls playing on a map of the USA, with event details including dates and location. — Image from the **2025 Sasha Festival Facebook page**

This past weekend I had the absolute pleasure of attending my very first Sasha Doll Festival. It was held in Columbus, Ohio which made the drive doable for me. Let me tell you though, last Thursday when I was on my way to the hotel/conference center where the Festival was being held, I kept running in and out of severe weather. There were times when I couldn’t seen anything at all due to the deluge and the steam coming off the road (the temps were in the 90s). It was kind of scary as this was my first longer road trip alone, but I followed the big trucks in front of me and everything went okay.

I got to the hotel/conference center safely, although it did take me an extra couple hours. I must admit I missed one exit and had to drive back around to catch the exit again. Thank goodness for my GPS.

Maybe you’ve never heard of Sasha dolls. Sasha dolls were created by Swiss doll artist Sasha Morgenthaler. She created personally created dolls in her studio from the 1940’s to the 1970’s (these surviving dolls are called studio dolls). She also taught classes to others about her techniques and the dolls created during those classes are called course dolls today. In the mid 1960’s, Sasha worked with the German doll company Gotz to manufacture vinyl play dolls based on her studio dolls. She wanted children to have quality dolls at an affordable price. Gotz made Sasha Serie (series) dolls from 1965-1969. A company in England also began making Sasha dolls in 1966 and continued until 1986. Then, Gotz made Sasha dolls once again from 1995-2001.

For more information about Sasha the artist and her dolls, you can go HERE.

I am a relatively new collector and enthusiast, although I saw my first Sasha doll as a child at my local public library. The library had a very special toy collection and you could check out the toys just like books when I was a child. They had Sasha dolls in the collection and I was so in love with the blond girl doll in the blue gingham dress (she would have looked something like this, below). Over the years I saw Sasha dolls here and there in doll clothes books or on the Internet. A couple years ago, I wondered if I could find Sasha dolls for sale online. And I did. My modest collection now includes 11 girls, 10 babies, and 7 boys.

A realistic doll with blonde hair wearing a blue gingham dress, standing against a red background. — *Image from eBay*

Here are 3 of the 10 dolls I took with me to the Festival. All 3 dolls are from the English production. Eden (1968) is on the left, Penny (1975-1980) is in the middle, and Annabelle (1969) is on the right.

Three Sasha dolls dressed in colorful outfits sitting on a table next to cookies and a map.

I just love that the dolls are so realistic looking and no two are alike. They are lovely to pose and to dress (and make clothes for!), and each one seems to have their own personality.

It was an amazing Festival (of course being that it was my first one, I don’t have anything to compare it to). I met so many lovely people! I went to the Festival hoping to find some Sasha people in my own area, and I did! I even met Gina (Hi Gina!) and discovered not only did she live within 2 hours of me, but we actually know some of the same people. Crazy, isn’t it???

At this point, you might be wondering how Dolls and Quilts go hand in hand? Doll Quilts, of course!

As a gift to you, I am sharing a sweet and simple little doll quilt pattern. Make it for yourself, a child, or even another doll lover.

Sweet and Simple Doll Quilt

By Tricia Maloney

A quilt featuring a grid pattern made of 16 squares in various shades of pink, red, and burgundy, bordered with a decorative trim.

18″ x 23″

Fabric

20 – 5″ Charm Squares or 20 assorted scraps at least 5″ square

½ yd for backing

20″ x 25″ thin batting or flannel

¼ yd binding

Cut

20 – 5″ squares

20″ x 25″ for quilt back

3 – 2″ or 2 1/4″ width of fabric strips for binding

Sew

Sew 4 assorted 5″ squares together into a row. Make 5 rows.

A selection of four fabric swatches in varying shades of pink and red, showcasing different textures and patterns.

Sew the rows together.

A patchwork fabric display featuring a grid of pink and red shades in various textures.

Finish

Layer your quilt top, batting, and backing.
Quilt as desired.
Bind your quilt.
Don’t forget your label!

If you’d like to download and print my Sweet and Simple Doll Quilt pattern, you can find the PDF below:

Sweet and Simple Doll Quilt Download

Well, that’s it for me. Have a marvelous holiday!

Catch you next week right here!

Until then —

Sew. Laugh. Celebrate. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tips and Tricks · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Augustina Quilt Tutorial – Perfect Summer Project

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

WHEW! If you’re like me, you are having a heatwave right now. 90’s every day. It even hit 100 on the thermometer on Monday! YIKES! I’m sooooo not ready for these temps. It’s like we went straight from 50’s to 90’s in a couple weeks.

90’s are definitely not normal for this time of year here in northwestern Pennsylvania. AND we have high humidity to go with the heat which makes me want to just melt into a puddle on the ground every time I have to step outside. I literally had to scramble on Sunday to get the window AC units in, but we’re all good now. I just don’t want to go outside anymore.

A woman in a floral dress appears distressed while crawling on a sunlit street, with water droplets visually distorting around her, creating an impression of melting. — **I’m melting into a puddle………!!!!**

Luckily my dungeon studio is still cool enough (sadly, it is not air conditioned) to work in comfortably. I have several fans on to keep the air moving, but when the heat finally infiltrates my space, it’ll get quite uncomfortable. That usually isn’t until August and September, though, but we’ll see what summer brings this year. Northwestern Pennsylvania is an interesting place to live – record amounts of snow and cold in the winter, a wet and cold spring, then – POOF! – record high temps in June. Only the strong survive……..

I finally got a little quality time with my sewing machine this week so I decided to put together a new tutorial for you. Augustina is a such great project for summer!

Of course Augustina is fast and fun – it’s a VRD pattern, but it’s also not so big that you feel like you’re wrestling an alligator while your body is dripping with sweat. I promise you, this quilt really is quick – I made the top in a couple hours and that included both cutting and photographing my step-outs for the tutorial. It’s a very satisfying afternoon project.

VRD Augustina Quilt Tutorial

Augustina is a great sized quilt for a small throw or a juvenile quilt. And this is a pattern you are going to turn to over and over again for a beautiful quilt with little effort, yet it looks like a million bucks (sorry, it’s late and I couldn’t think of another phrase to use). So don’t forget to get your own Augustina pattern if you don’t have it yet.

A vibrant quilt pattern titled 'Augustina' featuring colorful fabric blocks in shades of purple, yellow, and orange, with floral and geometric designs. The quilt is displayed on a warm orange background, showcasing its cheerful and lively aesthetic.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Let’s get started!

The first thing we need to do, of course, is round up our fabrics. Augustina is a fat quarter project, so you can march right over to your stash and find some coordinating fat quarters or you can use this project as an excuse to visit your local quilt shop to buy new fabric. Yeah, I know, we quilters really don’t need an excuse, but it is handy to have one anyway, isn’t it?

For this tutorial, I am using Flower Shoppe fabrics from our quilty friends over at Hoffman Fabrics. The flower fabrics are all amazing Hoffman digital prints – have you seen these in person yet? The colors are so bright and clear – I feel like I could pick these flowers right off the fabric. We’ve paired a few Hoffman batiks to balance out the gorgeous flower prints.

Please remember when using digital prints, that they do not react exactly the same as regular quilting cottons. Always start with a new needle in your machine so you are not pulling threads when sewing as well as a new rotary cutting blade so you are cutting cleanly through the fabric instead of sawing at it, which can damage the fibers.

A collection of fabric pieces featuring floral patterns, including sunflowers and roses, stacked with an Augustina quilt pattern booklet on a cutting mat.

Next up…..cutting.

SHHHHH! The secret of this quilt is that the pieces are big. Big pieces mean you don’t have to spend loads of time cutting little squares, rectangles, or triangles. Big pieces are a huge time saver! Big pieces also mean you can use bigger prints (when you use big prints in small pieces, the design gets all chopped up and you tend to lose what you loved about the print to begin with). Yay! Let’s GO BIG!

In the photos, below, we’re cutting our accent fabric into strips and then into rectangles.

A rotary cutter, a cutting mat, and a ruler placed on top of a blue marbled fabric in preparation for cutting.

A rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler placed on a green cutting mat with yellow grid lines, with a strip of fabric in the background.

Below, we’re cutting our FQs into strips and then into 2 different sized rectangles.

A rotary cutter and ruler placed on a floral fabric with orange poppies, laid on a green cutting mat, ready for cutting.

A rotary cutter rests on a floral fabric featuring orange poppies, positioned on a green cutting mat marked with measurements.

VIOLA! Cutting done. Easy peasy. Here’s all the pieces we need to make Augustina.

A selection of colorful quilting fabrics featuring vibrant floral patterns, including poppies and roses, arranged on a green cutting mat with a ruler and rotary cutter nearby.

Before we can sew Augustina together, we have to lay out our fabrics. I’m going to put them up on my handy dandy flannel board which consists of a flannel-backed table cloth clamped to the tops of my fabric storage unit doors. As I’ve mentioned before, this idea came from my pal, Mary Lee. Kudos to you, Mary Lee! It’s a great option if you don’t have a spare wall to put up a more permanent quilt wall solution. I can simply take it down when I need access to my yardage stash. I’ve actually had this tablecloth for years now, so it’s even an economical option.

A colorful quilt top featuring sunflower and poppy floral patterns, laid out for sewing with a light blue background and various fabric strips.

A layout of quilt fabric pieces showcasing bright floral patterns including sunflowers, poppies, and abstract designs, arranged in vertical strips with a green cutting mat below.

Hmmm……I think I need to move some fabrics around.

A colorful quilt top layout featuring floral fabrics in various patterns and colors, arranged in vertical stripes.

A vibrant patchwork layout of floral fabric squares and rectangles arranged in vertical rows, showcasing bright colors like red, yellow, and green against a light background.

After several switcharoos, I think I’m happy with the layout now.

Let’s sew!

This quilt is sewn together in vertical rows. I took my time, only taking one vertical row off of my board at a time. I worked from the top down to sew the pieces together. It doesn’t matter whether you sew your strips top down or bottom up, just be consistent with all of your rows or else you might get your fabrics out of kilter.

A sewing machine with colorful fabric pieces, including floral and orange prints, laid out for stitching.

A partially assembled quilt top featuring colorful floral fabrics in various patterns and colors, arranged in vertical strips against a crafting workspace.

Okay, all the fabrics are now sewn into vertical rows.

Vertical strips of colorful floral and solid fabrics are laid out for a quilt project, with a cutting mat visible below.

Now I’m going to sew the vertical rows together into pairs. As this quilt has an odd number of rows, the last row will have to hang out all by itself for a while.

Vertical strips of colorful floral fabrics arranged on a flannel board in preparation for quilting.

Next, I’m going to sew the first 2 pairs together into a foursome. Then I’ll sew the third pair and the last row together into a trio.

Two vertical quilt sections showcasing a colorful patchwork of floral and solid fabrics on a cutting mat.

One last seam to sew the 2 sections together and the Augustina top will be finished. Fast as can be! There isn’t a lot of matching seams, but you do want to make sure your accent pieces are relatively even-looking across the quilt.

And here it is! Our completed Augustina quilt top.

Colorful quilt top featuring floral and solid fabric blocks arranged in a vertical pattern.

Although it was hot, I decided to take Augustina outside for a glamour photo. Sigh…….it was a little breezy out and I couldn’t get a photo with it hanging nicely for you. Bummer. But I do love how it looks surrounded by all the green – the flowers look like they are about to burst right off the quilt! That’s digital fabric for you – the number of colors that can be printed on fabric is phenomenal and creates stunning designs.

A colorful quilt featuring floral patterns and various fabrics, hanging on a clothesline outdoors with green grass and trees in the background.

And that’s it! Finito! Next I need to layer, quilt, and bind it…….someday, anyway.

If you’re looking for another great summer quilt pattern, check out the Jubilee tutorial from a few weeks ago. It’s also a super go-to project.

That’s it for me today, gotta go have me some summer……..in the air conditioning. LOL!

See you next week, same time same place —

Sew. Laugh. Stay Cool. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

NEW June VRD Rose Card Patterns and an Impromptu Road Trip

June 12, 2025June 11, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Guess what day it is, folks!?! It’s the Thursday after the first Friday in June, and you know what that means ………. NEW PATTERNS! Yippee!

Check these beauties out!

Here is the set of 5 monthly patterns for June. Definitely a little something for everyone, don’t you think?

A set of five monthly quilt patterns for June 2025, featuring the names Escalate, Sunita, Limerick, Tomah, and Well Seasoned, with a price of $8.95.

Get all 5 print patterns HERE

Aren’t they lots of fun? Tomah is spot-on for your upcoming July 4th celebration. Escalate makes a BIG bed quilt and uses 1/2 yards. Sunita uses just 3 fabrics! Limerick and Well Seasoned are both fat quarter friendly and make nice throw-sized quilts. Although we offer them as a set of 5, you can get them as individual patterns, both as digital or as print.

Digital patterns HERE

Print patterns HERE

And in case I haven’t said this for a while, there is zero shipping on print patterns in the US (we only offer the digital format internationally). Yep, that’s right – ZERO shipping on print patterns regardless if you purchase 1 or 100!

But wait……there’s more!

I can’t forget this month’s table runner, can I? It’s called Stars & Ribbons and will make a wonderful statement on your July 4th table next month.

A table runner titled 'Stars & Ribbons', featuring a red, white, and blue quilt design, displayed against a backdrop of colorful flowers.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Which pattern are you going to make first???

I was planning to do another tutorial for this week, but life got in the way. Ho hum….. Hopefully I’ll have a new tutorial for you next week.

Instead, let me tell you about my impromptu road trip!

Road Trip

So today I’m on an acquisition road trip with pal Robin and her brother Dan in Robin’s big blue truck. We are heading to Apollo PA, which is in the Pittsburgh area, to pick up a new desk solution for me for my studio/office space.

Currently, my desk is an old sewing table with a wooden top and metal legs. Good and sturdy, but not very ergonomic because it’s a bit too high for short little ol’ me. I’ve been on the lookout for a new desk for a while now, hoping to maybe find an L-shaped desk with at least one file drawer and as much storage as one can possibly cram into a desk to help keep me organized – most of the time my desk looks like an office and quilt store collided. LOL!

Sigh……I have found that if I don’t have a specific place to put something, then I just end up with piles on my horizontal surfaces. My defense – I think paper and fabric multiply like rabbits…….. So because of my tendency towards clutter, I am totally a storage junkie. Can you relate?

I’ve been watching Facebook Marketplace for a gently used desk and the other morning, an intriguing possibility popped up. I’d seen it before, but I didn’t take a closer look then. This time, I stopped and took that closer look and I liked what I saw – a group of Ikea (YAY! LOVE Ikea!) office pieces that could be arranged in lots of different configurations. A tall shelf, 2 desktops, a small desk (which had one of the desk tops on top), 3 drawer units, and a chair. Exactly what I have been looking for, but I didn’t know that I was looking for it until I saw it! Does that make any sense? I really really like the flexibility of the pieces.

A garage space showing a dark brown office desk setup, including a desk, shelving unit, and a chair, with tiles on the floor and natural light coming through a window. — Here are all the desk components.

The pieces looked to be in decent condition; however, there were a few hesitations before I messaged the owner. First, the pieces were dark brown instead of my usual white. I thought about that for a quick second and decided I could accept it because the flexibility made up for the color. Second, and it was a biggie – the pieces would definitely not fit in my cute little red Jeep Compass.

I needed a truck!

I messaged the seller and asked a few questions. She was quick to reply. OK, now what???? I still needed a truck. So, I sent an SOS to my quilty pal, Robin, who just so happens to have a really big blue truck. Yay! Problem solved. ROAD TRIP!

Interior view of a truck while driving on a highway, showing the dashboard, a driver steering, and a passenger on the right. — On the road in Robin’s big blue truck to pick up my new desk and storage! Dan is driving and Robin is navigating. Lucky me! I get to chill in the backseat.

It was around 2 hours to drive to get to the seller’s home in the Apollo area, which turned out to be a lovely farm with horses running in a fenced field right beside the driveway to the house. What a pretty setting it was! I wanted to get a photo of the horses for the blog, but by the time we were all loaded (which seemed to take only minutes with the owner’s husband and Dan teaming up), the horses had all headed to get water further down in the field and I couldn’t see them anymore. Dang it!

A man loading furniture into the back of a blue truck, with a sunny sky and greenery in the background. — Dan took on the important task of arranging the desk pieces in the truck. What a pro – he fit them together just like puzzle pieces and we had room to spare.

Two women smiling for a selfie outdoors with a sunny sky in the background. — Robin and I were the supervisors while Dan and the owner’s husband loaded the truck. Tehehe!

A blue pickup truck loaded with black furniture pieces secured in the bed, parked on a gravel driveway under a sunny sky. — Here’s Robin’s big blue truck all loaded up and ready to head home.

It took longer to come home than it did to get to Apollo because we stopped off for dinner at Eat n’ Park and then to get fuel. Once we made it to my home, we unloaded all the pieces and Dan helped me get them into the space I had carved out in the back of the garage.

A cluttered workspace filled with dark brown Ikea office furniture pieces, including desktops, drawer units, and a chair, ready to be assembled in a studio. — Here’s my desk and storage – I can’t wait until I have space for them in my studio/office.

Of course, before I can set up my new workspace, I have to do a HUGE clean/sort/purge in my studio/office to make room. Not only is it my work area, it’s also the pantry and storage (most of the crates are mine, but not all of them). Luckily, I’ve been cleaning the garage and I have some space to store the pieces until I’m ready for them. Now that the pieces are stashed in the garage, I think that will really motivate me to get the clean up in my space done ASAP so I can arrange my lovely Ikea pieces into a configuration that will work for me.

I am thrilled there are lots of storage drawers with multiple file drawers! That means I will have no excuse for a messy desktop anymore. There is also a wonderful cube storage shelf as part of the desk system. Finally! A place for my books. Piles of books – begone!

I’ve been trying to visualize different configurations, but I know I’ll have to wait until my space is cleared out so I can create my dream office space in my dungeon studio. It will be some time yet before I will be able to get everything just the way I want in my studio/office, so there won’t be any before/after photos right now. Of course, I’ll show it off when I’m all done, so you’ll just have to stay tuned.

A BIG thank you goes out to Dan, Robin, and her big blue truck!

That’s it for me this week. I think I’ll head outside to enjoy a little sunshine now because I think summer has come before spring even had the chance to hang out.

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Jubilee Quilt Tutorial

June 5, 2025June 4, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Warm temps are here……..finally! Maybe a bit too much too fast, but I’ll take it! The sun is shining, the sky is blue, it’s actually warm in the upper 80s, but there’s a nice breeze to make the heat tolerable. Believe it or not, I’m sitting here in shorts and a t shirt as I write this blog post. Last week, I was wearing a fleece jacket and long pants. Oh, the difference a week can make. I hope you are having some nice weather wherever you are, too.

I thought we’d kick off the gorgeous weather here in my little corner of the world with a fun quilt tutorial.

VRD Jubilee Quilt Tutorial

Let’s make Jubilee today. It’s a super fast and fun fat quarter quilt and it’s a great option when you need a quilt in a hurry. Looks great in just about any fabric. Perfect for summer quilting. Make it in the afternoon and still have time for dinner and s’mores around the campfire in the evening.

A vibrant quilt titled 'Jubilee' featuring an assortment of patterned batik fabrics in earthy tones of brown, turquoise, and black, designed by Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital Jubilee pattern HERE or your print Jubilee pattern HERE

The first thing we need is fabric! YAY FABRIC!

Today I’m using batiks from the Sweet Shoppe collection by our friends at Hoffman Fabrics. Aren’t these fabrics yummy? I can’t wait to see how the quilt turns out!

A collection of colorful batik fabrics arranged around a Jubilee quilt pattern, showcasing vibrant colors and intricate designs.

Of course, we need to do some cutting before we can sew. Let’s get to it.

In the left photo, below, you can see how many layers I’m cutting at once. I find batiks to be great for layering for cutting as the fabric is finer. When I’m cutting thick or slippery fabrics, I only cut one layer at a time.

A rotary cutter and acrylic ruler placed on a colorful batik fabric, with quilt pieces arranged beside them.

Close-up of fabric and quilting tools on a cutting mat, featuring a rotary cutter and a clear ruler positioned on colorful batik fabric.

Let’s get the rest of the fabrics cut. For Jubilee, we only need 2 different shapes, which is one thing that makes this quilt go together so quickly. Wow! That was fast!

A cutting mat with a ruler and rotary cutter positioned over a fabric strip featuring colorful floral patterns.

Colorful batik fabric pieces laid out on a cutting mat with a grid pattern.

Time to start sewing the strips together so we can make strips sets and then we’ll cut the strip sets down into the block size we need.

I like to set all my strips to the left of my machine while I sew. Then I select strips randomly to sew together, making sure I don’t grab 2 of the same strip. We want these strip sets to be as scrappy as possible.

A colorful assortment of batik fabric strips in various shades and patterns, arranged on a work surface.

Close-up of a sewing machine sewing colorful batik fabric strips.

Once I’ve sewed 2 strips together for the required sets, I then go back and add the third strip to all of the sets. I find it more efficient to complete each step for all the pieces at once before moving onto the next step.

Sewing colorful fabric strips together at a sewing machine for a quilt project, with scissors nearby.

Once our strip sets are sewn together, it’s a good idea to press them before we begin cutting out the blocks.

Do you struggle with which way to press your seams on the back of your blocks? Me too. More often than not I end up flipping the seams in the other directions when I go to assemble blocks. Oy vey!

The good news with Jubilee is that it doesn’t matter which way you press your seams because the blocks do not line up and the seam do not cross – another reason why Jubilee is quick as a wink.

An iron placed on top of several colorful fabric strips, with a light blue, turquoise, and pink batik design visible.

An iron rests on top of several colorful batik fabric strips arranged in a row on a cutting mat.

Next we need to cut our strippy blocks from our strip sets. I’m layering 3 strip sets on top of each other for cutting. To do this, I line then up on the left edge (or the right edge if you cut from that side), but I stagger them a bit top to bottom so the seams are not sitting right on top of each other because stacked seams make a big lump. It’s not a good idea to attempt to cut through lumpy seams or you might accidentally miscut something.

Cutting fabric squares with a rotary cutter and ruler on a cutting mat.

Awesome applesauce! All of the blocks are pressed, cut, and ready to go. Time to head to my flannel wall to lay them out.

A collection of colorful batik fabric pieces organized on a work surface, showcasing various floral and abstract patterns.

I’m going to put the blocks up, alternating the squares with the pieced blocks. I’m just going to slap the blocks up randomly and then I’ll shuffle them around to distribute both colors and fabrics until I find a layout that pleases me. When you are putting blocks together, what is your process?

Below are 3 photos showing shuffled blocks. Sometimes this step takes longer than actually making the whole quilt top (eye roll here).

A bright and colorful quilt top featuring a variety of batik fabrics arranged in a pieced layout, showcasing vibrant colors and patterns.

A vibrant quilt top featuring an arrangement of colorful batik fabrics in various shades of purple, blue, and green, organized in a patchwork pattern.

Here is my final layout.

A colorful quilt layout featuring various batik fabrics arranged in a vibrant pattern, showcasing different shapes and sizes of fabric pieces on a design wall.

Because the blocks don’t line up horizontally, we’re going to sew the blocks into columns and then sew the columns together.

A layout of colorful batik fabric strips arranged on a flannel wall, showcasing various patterns and textures in shades of blue, purple, and pink.

Two sections of a colorful, batik quilt featuring various shades of blue, purple, and colorful patterns, displayed on a design wall.

And done! Here is the finished quilt top. Isn’t it pretty? I love that the blocks are large so one can enjoy the beauty of the batik fabrics. It turns into a nice throw at 45″ x 60″, but it would be easy to make the quilt larger by adding a border or additional blocks.

A colorful quilt made with batik fabrics, hanging on a clothesline outdoors against a backdrop of green grass and trees.

Now I just have to layer, quilt, and bind it.

Looking for info on finishing your quilts? Check out these posts in our Basic Quilting Skills blog series:

Batting, Backing, and Preparing Your Quilt for Quilting

Quilt As Desired

Squaring Up Your Quilt

Binding 101

Label Your Quilt

Now I’m off to my sewing machine to work on more quilts. Hope you are too!

See you next week, same time same place —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Curated Rose Card Pattern Lists · Just Quilty Stuff · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

What Can You Do with 2.5″ Mini Charm Packs?

May 29, 2025May 28, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Here we are at the end of May following Memorial Day and the “unofficial” beginning of summer and I’m still waiting for spring to stick around for more than a couple of days in row here in NW PA. We actually did have 2 nice dry days in the 60s/70s but now we’re back to cold and rain again. It’s been a real challenge to get the lawn mowed and keep it that way, not too mention getting my small gardens shipshape all while dodging rainstorms and cold temps. Most likely, at the rate we’re going, summer will just land suddenly with hot weather out of nowhere. Sometime in December. 2035. I personally prefer a gradual build up to summers and winters, however; Mother Nature sure has her own agenda these days.

I thought it would be fun to talk about magical 2.5″ squares today. If you read last week’s post about my shop hop around Chicago with Pat following the H&H Show, you may have noticed I bought quite a few 2.5″ Mini Charm Packs (see my photo below). And you might have wondered what the heck I was going to do with all of that eye candy besides tucking them away or dropping them into a canning jar on a shelf to look sew adorable.

A collection of colorful fabric squares and charm packs arranged on a surface, showcasing various floral and geometric patterns. — Here’s a recap from last week’s post showing my goodies from our Chicago shop hop. Note the pile of Mini Charm packs.

A Little Background

I suspect you know all about 5″ Charm packs and how much fun they are (whether you actually use them or you just collect them), so let’s start there and backtrack our way back to 2.5″ Mini Charm Packs.

Three mini charm packs displayed on a light gray background, featuring colorful fabric designs and packaging.

Moda Fabrics is responsible for gifting us with the 5″ Charm Pack, which contains on average 40-42 5″ squares of fabric from a single collection. Thank you Moda! Of course, many fabric companies also offer 5″ square packs and each company calls their 5″ pack by a different name because “charm packs” are synonymous with Moda, even though as quilters, we use the term “charm packs” to describe pretty much any 5″ pack manufactured by any fabric company. Yep, it’s all a little’s a bit confusing.

Hey! Here’s a fun little tidbit perfect for Jeopardy – Moda coined the phrase “Charm Pack” as a nod to Charm Quilts of the past. A true Charm Quilt was said to contain no duplicate fabrics and quilters often exchanged squares of fabric with other quilters to have enough unique pieces to make their quilts. You can find an interesting historical article by Barbara Brackman HERE about Charm Quilts.

Are you wondering why I started out with 5″ square packs? It’s quite simple really, and includes a bit of math! Yay! MATH!

What is a 2.5″ square, but exactly 1/4 of a 5″ square. That means if you cut a 5″ square through the middle both vertically and horizontally, you get 4 – 2.5″ squares. There, I said it – math! (If you know much about me, you probably already know how much I love quilt math.)

It’s not completely clear who actually came up with the 2.5″ square pack idea, as several companies have been producing them for a long time, but Moda certainly comes to mind. I think all of the 2.5″ Mini Charm Packs I bought recently were from Moda. If Moda didn’t invent the whole 2.5″ idea, they are certainly the most well-known manufacturer of the 2.5″ Mini Charm Pack. Moda really was on the forefront of the development of precuts way back when with their Charm Packs, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Turnovers, Dessert Rolls, and more exploded onto the quilt scene.

Now that you know a little bit of background, let’s sashay our way back to those delightful 2.5″ squares.

2.5″ Mini Charm Pack Fun

So, you might be wondering what I do with with my 2.5″ Mini Charm Packs besides hoard them.

Here are some of my favorites:

EPP Hexies – of course! 2.5″ squares are perfect for using the English Paper Piecing technique to make hexies which I then use to make a variety of small projects (I make small projects because I just don’t think I have enough patience to make a classic
Pin cushions
Doll quilts
Table runners
Snack mats
Bags

As you can see, I do lots of different things with them. Maybe you do, too. If you love 2.5″ squares, please share what you like to use yours for in the comments. 🙂

If you haven’t tried EPP and you are interested in learning more, please check out the class offerings at your local quilt shop or look up some tutorials online.

But Wait – there’s MORE!

VRD even has some Rose Card patterns featuring 2.5″ squares! Did you ever doubt that for a second??? LOL!

VRD 2.5″ Square Rose Card Quilt Patterns

A quilted table runner featuring colorful fabric squares and a prominent design with the word 'Amen,' created by Molly Cook for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital or Print pattern

A rolled quilt titled 'Blueberry Cobbler' featuring a patchwork design in blue and cream colors, displayed on a wooden surface.

Digital or Print pattern

A colorful quilt titled 'Color Box' featuring various patchwork squares on a dark background, displayed outdoors. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

A vibrant pink snack mat featuring a heart design, displayed on a wooden surface, with the title 'Dear Heart Snack Mat' prominently displayed at the top. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

A quilted table runner featuring a modern design with various colored squares, set against a natural backdrop of grass and trees, with a prominent orange border and leaf motif.

Digital or Print pattern

A colorful quilt titled 'Lollipop' featuring a playful geometric design, displayed against a natural background. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

A quilted wall hanging titled 'Nana's Aprons' featuring three colorful apron designs made from various fabric squares, displayed against a blue background. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

A colorful quilt design titled 'Piccadilly' by Tamara Cook for Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a pattern of black, white, and pink squares in a checkerboard layout. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

A vibrant quilted table runner titled 'Sugarplum,' featuring a mix of red, green, and pink 2.5" squares adorned with holiday-themed patterns, placed on a snowy background. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

Cover of a quilt pattern titled 'Turkish Delight' by Heidi Cook for Villa Rosa Designs, featuring colorful 2.5 inch squares arranged in rows, surrounded by floral accents. — **Digital** or **Print** pattern

I hope you enjoyed this list of fun 2.5″ square Rose Card patterns. Remember, VRD doesn’t charge shipping for patterns, so anytime is a good time to add a few more patterns to your collection. And don’t forget to join our Facebook Group and show off your VRD quilts and be inspired by the projects of others. Hope to see you there!

Have a great week.

Until next Thursday –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Quilt Shows and Trade Shows · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

H&H Americas Show in Chicago

May 15, 2025May 14, 2025 rosecards3 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’m now back home after the H&H Americas Show last week in Chicago and I’m trying to get everything caught up, which to be honest, I probably never will completely, but I’m sure going to try.

H&H was a really busy show. The show vibe was very vibrant and youthful with a unique blend of quilting, wool, fiber arts, and cosplay. I found it really interesting to see one area spill into another such as quilted garments in cosplay.

One of my favorite parts of the show was the opportunity to work with our VRD owner and Rose Queen, Pat. As I live in Pennsylvania while Pat and the VRD shop are in California, we usually only get to work together in person in Houston for Quilt Market. So, some extra time this year being face to face was amazing!

A booth display at the H&H Americas Show featuring colorful quilts and fabric designs by Villa Rose Designs, with a table showcasing various quilting products.

The VRD booth was insanely busy during the show and I want to thank everyone who stopped by. We LOVE our shops! Here’s a big thank you hug to all of you who came by the VRD booth to chat, share stories, and show quilts. Your energy is what keeps us going!

About H&H

H&H Americas is a relatively new trade show in the US for handmade industry businesses and professionals. The Americas show stemmed from the H&H Cologne (Germany) show. Let me share some of the numbers from this year’s show:

Over 550 booths
5000+ professionals attended
48 countries, 50 US states, and 2 US territories

Awesome applesauce!

Good news! In 2026, H&H is adding a Fiber+Fabric Craft Festival for consumers from April 30-May 3 in Chicago. So that’s something new to look forward to next year.

Upcoming Shows

Of course, in October 2025, Fall International Quilt Market will be in Houston, TX. It will be followed by Quilt Festival October 9-12, also in Houston. If you’ve never had the chance to attend a Festival, I highly recommend it. It’s the perfect place to see hundreds (or more) quilts on display along with tons of great vendors. It is overwhelming and wonderful at the same time!

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Road to California show? Well, to make everything even more exciting in 2026, Road to California is debuting their Road to California Quilter’s Conference & Showcase event in January.

Spring International Quilt Market will return in April 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri. So far, I haven’t heard anything about Spring Quilt Festival for 2026, but if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.

Wowzer! Sew much is happening in the world of quilting!

Cool Stuff

Whenever I attend a show, I always like to share cool stuff I find, booths I visit, folks I see, and any trends I notice with you. Please enjoy!

Here are the booths of a few of our quilting partners. I apologize, but I didn’t get a lot of time to snap photos of our quilting partners.

A vibrant quilt display featuring colorful fabric and quilted items at a trade show booth, showcasing various patterns and designs. — **Hoffman Fabrics**

A booth at the H&H Americas Show featuring colorful quilt displays, with a woman sitting at the table and attendees browsing nearby. — **Hoffman Fabrics**

Display of various quilt blocks featuring colorful designs and patterns at the Banyan Batiks booth. — **Banyan Batiks**

The fun thing about the Banyan display is that it includes a quilt block from our VRD pattern, Waverly (top left block). Also in the display are 2 blocks from my friend, Cathey Laird of Cathey Marie Designs (the Bumblebee on the left of the sign and the House block to the right of the sign). What fun!

I stopped by to see my pals at Best Press and get some of their new Lemon Mist scent. I cannot find it anywhere around here, not even on Amazon so I bought the rest of the Lemon Mist bottles they had and also grabbed a refill bottle of Peaches and Cream. I should be set with Best Press for a while.

A booth display for Mary Ellen's Best Press at a quilting show, featuring colorful quilted decorations, various sizes of spray bottles, and a floral tablecloth.

I even caught up with a few quilty pals –

Here I am with Swan of Swam Amity Studios, who is the designer of my favorite machine quilting gloves. Swan also designs patterns and teaches classes. She kindly took the time to show me the Designers Showcase section at the show which featured 18 different designers.

Two smiling women posing for a selfie in front of a colorful quilt display at a quilting show.

Here is Swan’s mini booth at the Designer Showcase.

A colorful quilting booth featuring designs by Swan Amity and Larkspur Lane Designs, showcasing various quilted items, including wall hangings and pillows, with a vibrant display of fabrics and patterns.

I also got some time to chat with Christa Watson of Christa Quilts. Christa is an amazing machine quilter, teacher, pattern designer, fabric designer, and author. We are standing in front of Christa’s booth in the Designer Showcase area. She has a fun modern aesthetic and is definitely NOT afraid of color. LOL!

Two women smiling together at a quilting show, standing in front of colorful quilts and quilt patterns displayed on a wall.

I found this really fun designer booth, Whole Circle Studio, in the showcase section, too, and I just had to snap a few photos to share with you. Sherri, the owner, created an amazing miniature quilt shop featuring teeny tiny patterns and quilts (all her designs, of course). What a showstopper!

Display of Whole Circle Studio showcasing colorful quilt patterns, embroidery kits, and a miniature quilt shop setup.

A colorful quilt display featuring various mini quilts and quilting supplies on wooden shelves, showcasing vibrant patterns and designs geared towards quilting enthusiasts.

I stopped by the Purple Moose Designs booth in the Designer Showcase and I discovered a cool new quilting card game called Quilter’s Block Party. It’s kind of like Pictionary for quilters. Can’t wait to try it out with my Friday gals.

Cover of the Quilter's Block Party card game, featuring colorful quilt block designs and a playful typography that states 'Quilter's Block Party!'

I must admit that the show layout was a lot different than I am used to and I got lost frequently, trying to find specific booths or simply the ladies room – LOL! On one of my meanders, I found a fabulous Kaffe Fasset display with his quilts and knitted items. I couldn’t tell you where I found it – by that time I had no idea where I was. Kaffe and Brandon Mobly were there at the show, but I never really got a chance to say hi. Please enjoy.

A colorful quilt display by Kaffe Fassett featuring various patterns and fabrics, beside a poster for the Kaffe Fassett Glorious Colour & Design Exhibit.

A vibrant display of quilts featuring colorful patterns, including a wall quilt with floral designs and a garment hanging among the fabric backdrop at a quilting show.

During the show, there was a cosplay contest as well as a cool cosplay display. Check out these awesome costumes. Which one is your favorite?

Two colorful costumes displayed at a cosplay event, featuring a glamorous pink gown adorned with stars and a rich red dress with intricate details.

Two mannequins dressed in elaborate cosplay outfits, one in a pink traditional-inspired costume with a decorative headpiece and holding a large umbrella, and the other in a Victorian-style dress with ruffles, showcasing intricate design details.

What’s Trending

Whenever I am at a show, I try to see what’s new and upcoming and what’s trending. Here is a list of the things I noticed at the show:

Mini, Mini, Mini — mini quilts, mini animals, everything is getting smaller
Quilted jackets and wearables
Combining different crafts such as cosplay and quilting or wool and quilting
Small handwork projects and kits everywhere — handwork is hot!
Animals — stuffed, patchwork, knitted, quilted, etc., etc.

One thing I was quite fascinated with was the use of puffy batting in machine quilted quilts on display at the Art Glass Fabric booth. Not sure if this is going to be trending or if it was just to catch attention (which it did). Have you seen or heard anything about puffy batts making a comeback?

Well, I guess that’s it for me this week. My final photo is an aerial view of Chicago and Lake Michigan as I was headed back to Pennsylvania.

Aerial view of Chicago featuring a mix of buildings, green spaces, and Lake Michigan in the background.

Take care and make time this week for some quilting. With all the inspiration from the show, I hope to get some quality time with my sewing machine, too.

Until next week –

Sew. Laugh. Be inspired. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

H&H Americas and NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for May

May 7, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope you are getting a bit of nice spring weather where you live. Everything is greening up nicely now in Pennsylvania and a lot of the spring flowers are finally blooming. I just love ALL the colors – it’s sew inspiring after a long grey and white winter.

I’m sorry, but this week’s post is going to be a short one. Pat and I are at the H&H Americas show in Chicago, IL right now. I was planning to walk around the show and scope out new and interesting things to show you on today’s blog post but that simply isn’t going to happen.

The VRD booth was completely swamped all day today with excited quilt shop owners and other industry professionals. I want to thank each of you who stopped by and shared your VRD stories and quilt photos with us. b Connecting with you really makes us happy.

This very lonely photo is the only one I managed to snap last night after Pat and I were finished setting up.

A booth display at the H&H Americas show features a variety of colorful quilts hung on walls and draped over tables, showcasing designs from Villa Rosa Designs.

I hope that I’ll get the chance to see some of the new and interesting things and show you my cool finds on next week’s blog. No promises, though – if the rest of the show is as crazy busy as today was, I probably won’t get to wander and take photos.

It’s the first Thursday after the first Friday of the month and we all know what that means – new VRD Rose Card patterns. YAY! Let’s take a look.

NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for May

Here is the May set of 5 patterns:

Promotional image showcasing the May 2025 quilt patterns including 'Charlie', 'Mint Julep', 'Heritage', 'Shear', and 'Triple It' with price information.

Get the set of 5 patterns HERE

Aren’t they fun? Another great panel pattern, several fat quarter patterns, and a really neat mod pattern. Can you guess which is which?

Of course, a new monthly pattern set would not be complete without a new table runner, would it? This month, we have a new runner pattern by Molly:

A quilt titled 'Tea for 2' designed by Molly Cook, displayed on a vibrant background of blooming flowers, showcasing its intricate patterns and colors.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

I just adore the fabrics Molly used in her cute runner from the Let’s Partea collection (isn’t that just too clever???).

Guess what???? We still have some Tea for 2 kits which include the fabrics for the top and binding along with a pattern. You can find Tea for 2 kits HERE.

Here are some of the other kits we still have in stock for the May patterns. Get ’em before they’re gone.

Heritage featuring Tim Holtz Palette Neutral

Mint Julep in Moda’s Botany collection

Triple It in Winged Garden

Charlie in Fur Friends (see below)

A quilt featuring a colorful cat pattern with playful cat illustrations framed by vibrant borders in various prints.

If you love kits as much as we do, you can find all of our quilt kit offerings HERE.

Well, I must admit that I’m fading fast after the busy day Pat and I had, so I’m going to wrap up here. Have a wonderful week and take a little time to admire the flowers and maybe, just maybe, do a spot of quilting while you are at it.

Until next week –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Stepped Quilt Tutorial

April 17, 2025April 16, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’ve got a fun and happy quilt tutorial for you today – Stepped by Running Doe Quilts for Villa Rosa Designs.

But before we get into the tutorial – I have an AMAZING announcement for you!

Drum roll, please!

Cue the confetti! Or how about a balloon drop from the ceiling this time?

Our Rose Queen and owner, Pat Fryer, has done it again!

She has a new batik fabric collection with Riley Blake Designs coming this October!

It’s called Kalinda.

WOOHOO!

Here’s a sneak peak –

Kalinda is simply perfect for all your autumn projects! You can download the collection PDF with all the fabrics and skus below.

Kalinda Download

Guess what????? There will be another collectible pattern storage tin for the Kalinda collection, too! I can’t wait! I love love love my tin from Pat’s first collection, Bedazzled. I can’t wait to collect them all as she designs new collections in the future!

Mark your calendars for October – when Kalinda makes its debut. Don’t forget to ask your local quilt shop to order the collection if they haven’t already.

Now I’ve spilled the beans about Pat’s new collection, it’s time to jump into our tutorial.

VRD Stepped Quilt Tutorial

Stepped is a fun modern Rose Card pattern designed by Running Doe Quilts for Villa Rosa Designs. It is a large quilt, finishing at 66″ x 78″ and is fat quarter friendly – yay!

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

For this tutorial I chose a wonderful warm and sunny collection from our friends, Hoffman Fabrics, called Sunset Hour. I chose the bright blue as the frame and binding for a wonderful pop of color against the warm sunset tones.

As usual, the first thing I’m going to do is cut the pieces for the blocks. Since this quilt doesn’t have a border (which is common for modern quilts, by the way), we don’t have to worry about that.

I’m wondering – do you cut your borders when you cut the fabric for the blocks or do you wait until after the center of the quilt is assembled? For me, I usually cut the border strips when I cut the block fabrics, but I don’t piece and cut the borders to size until after I finish the blocks.

Oops, let me get back to the cutting. LOL!

Here are all the pieces I need to make the whole quilt top. Isn’t that blue striking?

Now we’re ready to rock and roll at the sewing machine! The Stepped block goes together really quick (of course, it’s a VRD Rose Card pattern!). I like to put the large rectangle to my left and the blue frame strip to my right so I can grab a rectangle, place a frame strip on top, and zip it through the sewing machine. Then I repeat this same step for all the blocks, using chain piecing (meaning I’m not cutting the thread between blocks as I sew).

Working with batiks is lots of fun – you don’t usually have to worry about right or wrong sides because they are dyed the whole way through.

I could just flip the frame strip over, give it a finger press, and add the 2nd frame strip on, but I want my blocks to be nice and crisp, so I’m going to head to my ironing board to press the blocks before adding the 2nd frame strip.

Now I’m ready to sew the 2nd frame strip on the side of each block. Easy piezy – just the way I like ’em!

Then it’s back to the iron to press the blocks one more time. I warn you – there are a lot of blocks! Seriously!

Next I’m heading to my flannel board, which is actually behind my pressing station, to lay out my blocks. SHHH! My flannel board is really a flannel backed tablecloth hung in front of my fabric storage wall. To hang it, I clip the tablecloth to the tops of my storage doors with big binder clips. That way, I can take it down whenever I need access to the fabric cubbies (these particular cubbies hold my yardage and fat quarters by color).

Now the fun begins. As I lay out the blocks, I’m moving them around to spread the colors and fabrics out over the whole quilt. Laying out your blocks is an important step in making a quilt because you don’t want all the same fabrics or colors clumped together in the same area by accident.

Yikes! I’m actually running out of flannel board for this quilt because it’s big, so I think I need to sew this section together before I can add the final 4 rows. Off to the sewing machine I go…..

All right, here’s the section sewn together. Sorry, just noticed in this photo, I have it turned upside down from the previous photos. Mea culpa.

Finally, I can lay out the final 4 rows and add them to the quilt top. Ugh, you can’t see the bottom section I just added because my ironing station is in the way. Did I mention this is a BIG quilt???

I know! Let’s go outside so I can show you the completed quilt top!

I LOVE the warm and sunny colors of the sunset and the blue plays nicely. I reminds me of photos of the sun setting over the ocean. I say photos as I’ve yet to actually see an ocean. Someday…….

OH! Rats!

Take a look at the bottom of the quilt, I ended up with too much light colored fabrics bunched together. This happened because I couldn’t lay out the entire quilt on my flannel board all at once before I stitched the blocks together. ARGH!

Looks like I will be doing some un-sewing with my trusty seam ripper sidekick, Jack. Then I can relocate some of those light blocks from the bottom towards the center. Sigh……definitely a project for another day. Sorry about that.

Have you ever made the Stepped quilt? If so, I’d love to see your quilts on our VRD Facebook group.

Well, that’s it for me. Have a great week! Find some time to do a little sewing this week. Or maybe some un-sewing……

Until next time –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

NEW VRD April Rose Card Quilt Patterns and A Fabulous Catalog by our Quilting Partner, QT Fabrics

April 10, 2025April 9, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Guess what today is??? It’s the Thursday after the first Friday in April, which means………..NEW PATTERNS!

If you are a new blog follower, you might not know that at Villa Rosa Designs, we add 5-7 NEW Rose Card patterns each and every month, all year long. New monthly patterns are usually launched the first Friday of the month on VRD’s Fry-Day Live event online. You can find Fry-Day Live events HERE most Fridays at 4:00 PM Pacific Time (7 PM Eastern time).

With 5-7 new patterns every month, that adds up to between 60-84 NEW patterns every year – WOW! Then add those to our over 700 patterns already in print! It’s almost mind-boggling. We really do have something for everyone!

I know you’re anxious to see this month’s patterns, so here they are –

Collage of five new quilting pattern cards for April 2025, including Butterfield, Dakota, Havenwood, Cadott, and Turtle Soup, featuring colorful quilt designs.

Get the set of 5 print cards HERE

As usual, our talented VRD designers do not disappoint!

Butterfield is by our own Rose Queen, Pat, uses a collection of fat quarters and goes together really fast. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. We also have Butterfield kits (includes the pattern) featuring Tim Holtz Palette Yellow fabrics.

Dakota is also by Pat and is a quick to make fat quarter quilt. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. And we have Dakota kits (includes the pattern) featuring Victory Garden fabrics.

Havenwood, designed by Rachelle, is Jelly Roll or scrap friendly. It works up fast with your favorite quick piecing techniques. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. We have Havenwood kits (includes the pattern) featuring the Sweet Melodies collection (below).

A colorful quilt featuring a patchwork design with various patterns and fabrics, arranged in blocks of different colors including red, blue, yellow, green, and floral prints.

Havenwood in Sweet Melodies

Cadott is also by Rachelle and is a fun modern quilt with A LOT of visual appeal. It uses yardage or your stash. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. Sorry, no kits for this one.

Turtle Soup by Heidi features a theme fabric or border stripe – and what a fun name! You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. Sorry, the kits are already sold out.

But Wait………there’s more! (Tehehe, you know how much I love writing this.)

Our NEW April Table Runner (by moi) is called Window Boxes. You can use panel squares or fat quarters for this pretty runner pattern.

Cover of the quilt pattern 'Window Boxes' featuring a quilt with hexagonal shapes in yellow, turquoise, and pink fabrics, surrounded by floral prints, set against a peach background.

Get the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE.

That’s it for the new patterns this month. Which one are you going to make first??? I can’t wait to see your April projects on our VRD Facebook Group.

Now let me tell you about QT Fabrics and VRD.

Quilting Partner – QT Fabrics

As many of you already know, Villa Rosa Designs has made lots of connections with other companies in the quilting industry in recent years. We call them our Quilting Partners. You can find our Quilting Partners over on the right side of the blog towards the top.

Are you familiar with our pals over at QT Fabrics? They are an employee-owned and operated company and have been in business for a long time. You can find QT fabrics at your local quilt shop AND you can check out VRD’s QT Fabric offerings on our website HERE.

We’ve been partnering with QT Fabrics for a while now and I’m really excited to share with you their recent publication featuring our Rose Card patterns and QT’s newest fabric collections, which will be out in quilt shops this Fall. Aren’t you the lucky ones to get a sneak peak???

Here’s the PDF version of the wonderful catalog that QT put together featuring ALL VRD Rose Card patterns paired with their new 2025 Summer Collection, which will available this fall.

I definitely have some of these on my to-do and look forward to sharing new tutorials here on the blog featuring some of these fun designs and fabrics. Woohoo!

VillaRosa_Friends_QTINK_Summer25Flip-1 Download

If you’d rather check out the really cool digital Flipbook version, you can find it HERE.

I hope you found a lot of inspiration in this catalog – maybe some new-to-you patterns and/or great upcoming fabric collections. If you see a collection you love, ask for it at your local quilt shop – the fabrics will be available this fall. All of the featured patterns in the catalog are available on our website, villarosadesigns.com.

Well, that’s it for me. Take care and do something fun this week.

Until next time –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Curated Rose Card Pattern Lists · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

A Super Fun Spring Bingo Download and a Curated List of VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

April 2, 2025April 2, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Well, I’m happy that spring is finally here in NW PA. I think it’s here, anyway. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

Tulips, Daffodils, and Crocuses are blooming which is a welcome burst of color against our still dreary winter landscape. The trees are just staring to wake up a little bit, but we won’t have full leafy coverage until the end of April into May. Spring weather here is also quite unpredictable — we’ve already had a few days in the 70’s, but we’ve still gotten a bit of snow. And rain. And hail. Even with its craziness, spring is definitely one of my favorite seasons.

Spring also gets me re-energized for quilting with spring colors, Easter, flowers, birds, blue skies with fluffy clouds, baby animals…I could keep going but you get the idea. Spring is all about renewal, so go ahead and welcome the season in your quilting world, too.

YAY! Lucky you! I created a fun Spring Fling Bingo download to help you enjoy the season. Please download the PDF below and have fun completing the 20 spring ideas!

Spring Fling Bingo Download

Now let’s have a pattern shower for April! Because a collection of Spring quilts will surely brighten your day and give you some Spring inspiration. It certainly inspired me as I put it together.

A Curated List of VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

If you’re a blog follower, you might have seen my Curated Spring List from last year, so instead of repeating that lovely collection of patterns, I thought I’d create a new collection of patterns just for April. And April means showers, rainbows, Easter, gardening, babies, and….

You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Get ready to garden with a nifty new apron.

Print Pattern only

Baby animals everywhere!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

April Showers bring May Flowers.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Babies, babies, and more babies!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Baby birdies, too.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

More and more babies – it must be spring!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Even more babies.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Spring birds are returning.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Spring means Easter.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Planning some new garden paths?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Who’s got big floppy ears?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Hopping down the Bunny trail….

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Baskets overflowing with goodies on Easter morning.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Easter services.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Dressed in one’s Easter best.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Eagles hatching their eaglets.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Spring tulips make me think of the Netherlands.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

So many new animal babies on the farm.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Those new babies on the farm sure make things interesting.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Rain, rain, go away….

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Tulips springing up everywhere!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

New babies are playing hide and seek in the forest, too.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Easter dinner at your grandparents’ house.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

It’s handy to have a lantern when the electricity goes out during a spring storm.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Maybe it’s time to add new lattice in your garden?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Canadian Geese returning.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Easter dinner!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Umbrellas are a must in April.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

The bugs are venturing out again.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Bring on the ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fresh rolls, and more!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Wake up and spring into your day!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Nana wears aprons when she cooks.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Maybe there are noodles on the Easter table?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Need a tote for your Easter egg hunt?

Print Pattern Only

Perhaps it’s time to freshen up the living room with new paint?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

The Spring landscape keeps changing.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

New pavers for a garden path?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Even the brooks and creeks are waking up.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

At the garden center picking out new boxes and pots.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

So much to do in the kitchen on Easter morning.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Finally! A place to keep all my gardening tools.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Who can resist a new baby puppy or kitten?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Sometimes I think it rains every day in April….

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Every rainbow is special.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Discover a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Finding a dress or a tux for the Senior Prom.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

With all the rain, it’s truly wonderful to see the sun!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

With a little luck, the sun will shine on Easter Sunday.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

A tote to hold all your Easter goodies from Grandma and Grandpa.

Print Pattern Only

Something yummy in your basket.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

After all the Easter leftovers, maybe it’s time for some Takeout.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Look out the window to see Spring happen.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

The spring peepers are peeping!

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Maybe some new tiles for the kitchen or patio?

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

The vineyards are shaking off the winter.

Digital Pattern or Print Pattern

Well, I hope you enjoyed this great selection of VRD Rose Card patterns. I really enjoyed putting it together. Did you know we now have around 700 patterns in print? How many do you have?

Don’t forget — there’s FREE SHIPPING on patterns. Always.

Stay tuned for next week’s post showcasing our brand new April Rose Card patterns.

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Think Spring. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to all the fun things you have planned for us! Susan

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