It’s my favorite Thursday — the Thursday after the first Friday of each month when I get to show off our NEW monthly Rose Card Patterns.
Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in the Blog Hop that I didn’t get a new table runner turned in for February’s release. Guess you’ll have to wait until next month for a new table runner pattern. In the meantime, you can check out all of our VRD table runners HERE.
So, without further ado — here are February’s new Rose Card patterns:
Aren’t they AWESOME????
I am particularly intrigued by Helix and hope to have a new tutorial on the blog for Helix soon. And Neptune is certainly calling me, too.
Which one is your favorite?
Of course, you really don’t have to choose because you can get all 5 for the low low price of $8.95 HERE.
The Blog Hop WINNERS!
Bet you never thought I’d ever get around to announcing the winners of the Blog Hop. WOW! There really were A LOT of winners — each participating blogger chose 4 winners (1 to win a set of the Blog Hop patterns and 3 to win Sponsor Prizes) and 2 names to go into the Grand Prize drawing.
Well, after a couple weeks of getting things organized, winners contacted, and everything wrapped up, I am finally ready to reveal the winners. Almost ALL the prizes were claimed, but there were a few winners who never responded.
And guess what???? The winners came from all over the US, from Canada, and even from Australia!
I know a lot of you commented that you’d like to see another blog hop in the future. Maybe we’ll do this again, but for now we all need a little break. Whew! And the next thing I need to do is get all the prizes shipped out to all the lucky winners.
One last thank you to all of our participating bloggers and Blog Hop Sponsors! THANK YOU!!!
And finally — here are the winners in no particular order:
Quilt Winners:
Candie in CA
Elaine in KY
Linda in FL
Jacomina in VA
Leslie in NC
Nikki in VA
Blog Hop VRD Card Set Winners:
Suzanne in NY
Rachel in IA
Peggi in KS
Kathy in CA
Beth in OR
Donna in Canada
Anja in Canada
Karen in IA
Janice in MO
Linda in HI
Cathy in Canada
Lori in CA
Bonnie in Canada
Susan in NY
Pamela in TX
Wendy in MI
Darlene in IN
Barb in NE
Alison in Australia
Sponsored Prize Winners:
Nancy in CA
Karen in PA
Michelle in IA
Kathy in IA
Patty in ND
Shirley in IA
Karen in MA
Donna in FL
Kim in PA
Lisa in KY
Lezlie in NC
Bridget in NY
Pamela in PA
Anne-Marie in IN
Robin in CA
Rosa in MI
Gaynel in PA
Sandy in TN
Sandra in NY
Patti in PA
J. in WA
Pat in MI
D. in NY
Nikki in VA
Sherri in AZ
Renea in IA
Darlene in CA
Jocelyn in FL
Margaret in TX
Dawn in IN
Bridget in AZ
Donna in CA
Laurie in IL
Susan in NM
Sandy in OR
Barbara in UT
Becky in IA
Joanna in MA
Cheryl in IL
Joy in NC
Darlene in IN
Kay in MA
Mildred in PA
Jennifer in NY
Karen in MD
Kim in UT
Marvel in SD
Rosalie in TX
Joyce in TN
Sherri in CA
Grand Prize Winners: Will be announced next week
Congratulations to all of the winners! I promise — your prizes will be in the mail shortly. Thank you for your patience.
First, I have to wish you a Happy Groundhog Day! My fingers are crossed for an early spring this year.
WOW! What an AWESOME Blog Hop we just had, wasn’t it?
Right now I am in the midst of contacting all the winners, so please be patient as I work through each blogger’s list. There are a TON of prizes to award and this part is actually taking longer than I’d anticipated. Not a bad thing, really……..
What was your favorite part of the Hop? Mine was seeing all of the finished projects from each bloggers — each project just blew my mind! I was thrilled to see how the bloggers interpreted the patterns. Some even changed sizes or layouts to make the patterns their own. More than one blogger dove into their stash to create their quilts.
I am sew ready to start a new project, but I can’t seem to get away from the computer right now. Oh well…..I can dream.
I wanted to post the link to the Blog Hop Rose Card Collection one more time in case you wanted to get a set before they’re gone. You can get your set HERE.
ENTHUSIASTIC APPLAUSE goes out to all of our blogger participants. They are a very talented and creative group of folks. I hope you enjoyed getting to know them a little bit better.
I can’t believe that a week has passed since we began our very first VRD Blog Hop. It’s been SEW MUCH FUN, hasn’t it?
Our participating bloggers have shared their VRD quilts, tips and tricks, and inspiration by the boatload — just what we all needed in the middle of January to help us jump start a new fun project! You can visit Villa Rosa Designs HERE to see our catalog of over 500 Rose Card patterns for even more inspiration.
Here’s the special VRD Rose Card collection used for this very Fast & Fun Blog Hop:
An enormous HUG goes out to our amazing bloggers for participating in the Blog Hop and showing us their own spin for the VRD Rose Card patterns above. Thank you, Bloggers, for taking the time to be part of the Blog Hop!
I’m bummed that the Fast & Fun Blog Hop is wrapping up today. Sadly, all good things much come to an end sometime. And this Blog Hop really was a “good thing,” wasn’t it?
I really enjoyed reading each participating blogger’s post each day, didn’t you? I must confess that I read them over breakfast because I honestly couldn’t wait to see which quilt each blogger created! And I absolutely loved reading the comments on our VRD post as well as the comments on the other blogs. What fun!
THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to hop from blog to blog this past week. It really warms my heart that so many folks came along for our Fast & Fun Blog Hop ride!
If you haven’t finished reading all the posts for the Hop and leaving comments to register for prizes, you have through Sunday, January 29th to do so. Use the links above to visit each participating blogger to catch up on your reading and your prize entries.
I just have to do a quick shout out to my cousin, Robin, a fellow quilter. Robin had her knee replaced yesterday and after waking up from anesthesia and while she had a little lunch, she made sure to read Wednesday’s blog posts for the Hop. Now that’s real dedication! Heal fast, Cuz.
Winners will be drawn next week, notified, and prizes will be shipped in February. We will also be posting the winners in February, so stay tuned — it could even be you.
One Last VRD Fast & Fun Blog Hop Giveaway
Let’s review all the prizes that are up for grabs for this Blog Hop:
Everyone is eligible to win prizes. Please note that winners outside the USA will receive a digital set of the 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection.
There are several opportunities for you to win prizes during the blog hop:
Individual bloggers may be hosting giveaways on their blogs for you to win. Please visit these bloggers to find out about their giveaways and how to register.
Villa Rosa Designs is giving away a 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection on each participating blog.
Sponsor prizes have been donated by our lovely Sponsors, above, and even from some of the bloggers, too! These prizes are divided into 2 different categories —
Grand Prize Boxes (of which there are 2) are filled with tons of quilting goodies including books, fabric, precuts, notions, patterns, and more.
Individual Prizes (each blogger will select 3 winners on their blog) which may be books, patterns, fat quarter bundles, 5″ squares, 2 1/2″ strips, 10″ squares, notions, and more.
No purchase is necessary to participate in the Blog Hop or to win prizes.
You have up to 3 chances to win the quilts listed above on this blog post.
1. Leave a comment onthis post and tell us your thoughts about the VRD Fast & Fun Blog Hop.
2. Become a blog follower/subscriber and leave a comment on this post telling us that you are a blog follower/subscriber.
3. Join our VRD Facebook group and leave a comment on this post telling us you joined our FB group.
Ready! Set! GO!
Please note that in order to leave a comment on this blog post to be registered for prizes, you will need to click on the comments link just under the blog title at the top of this blog post. After you click the “comments” link found to the right side, you need to scroll all the way down to the bottom of “comments” in order to find the “Reply” box to leave your own comment. Be patient — there may be a lot of comments to go through until you get to the bottom.Thank you.
Don’t forget — registration for prizes closes Sunday, January 29th.
Winners will be selected randomly on Monday/Tuesday January 30th/31st.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE AN EMAIL ADDRESSSO WE CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE A WINNER!
Well, Quilty Friends, I thank you for hopping along with us this past week. Hope you had as much fun as we did!
I hope you are ready to come along on a fun quilting adventure, otherwise known as our very first Blog Hop here at Villa Rosa Designs. We’re calling it the Fast & Fun Blog Hop, and I know you’ll understand why very soon.
We have a super group of bloggers ready to share some awesome quilts made with Villa Rosa Designs (VRD) Rose Card patterns.
In fact, we’ve put together a special collection of 5 patterns just for this Blog Hop!
Here are the 5 patterns in the 2023 Fast & Fun Blog Hop Collection:
Lucky you! You can purchase a set of these 5 patterns HERE. Or visit our website HERE for even more great Rose Card patterns (over 500 of them).
Or you might just win a set. READ ON to find out how!
Villa Rosa Designs is the brainchild of owner and Rose Queen, Pat Fryer. Pat wanted to create Fast & Fun, affordable, and high quality patterns for quilters featuring precuts like 1/2 yards, fat quarters, 10″ squares, 5″ squares, 2 1/2″ strips, fat eighths, and fat sixths as well as other fabric cuts like panels and novelty fabrics.
Since its launch in 2010, VRD has become much more than a handful of easy-to-make quilt patterns. Rose Cards, Villa Rosa’s signature postcard-sized patterns, combine great design with simple packaging and an attractive price, making Rose Cards one of the best selling pattern brands on the market today! And since 2010, Villa Rosa Designs has grown to include a collection of very talented designers, each with their own unique style.
Now that you know a little bit about Villa Rosa Designs, let me tell you about the VRD Fast & Fun Blog Hop!
Let’s HOP!
We’ve teamed up with an awesome group of bloggers, who have accepted the challenge to create 1 of the 5 Blog Hop Rose Card patterns above. To see which blogger has created which pattern, you’ll have to visit EACH blogger during the blog hop which runs from today, January 19th through next Thursday, January 26th.
You will have the opportunity to win lots of great prizes during the blog hop! All you have to do is hop from blog to blog every day from January 19th through January 26th to see which quilt each blogger made and to find out how to register for prizes on each blog.
Registration for prizes will close on Sunday, January 29th.
Before I jump into all the cool prizes you might win, I want to take a moment to thank all of our incredible sponsors, who donated all kinds of quilting goodies for you to win. Thank you Sponsors! Without you, this Blog Hop wouldn’t be happening.
Everyone is eligible to win prizes. Please note that winners outside the USA will receive a digital set of the 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection.
There are several opportunities for you to win prizes during the blog hop:
Individual bloggers may be hosting giveaways on their blogs for you to win. Please visit these bloggers to find out about their giveaways and how to register.
Villa Rosa Designs is giving away a 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection on each participating blog.
Sponsor prizes have been donated by our lovely Sponsors, above, and even from some of the bloggers, too! These prizes are divided into 2 different categories —
Grand Prize Boxes (of which there are 2) are filled with tons of quilting goodies including books, fabric, precuts, notions, patterns, and more.
Individual Prizes (each blogger will select 3 winners on their blog) which may be books, patterns, fat quarter bundles, 5″ squares, 2 1/2″ strips, 10″ squares, notions, and more.
WOW! That’s a lot of prizes if you do the math.
Please note that to leave a comment on this blog to be registered for prizes, you will need to click on the comments link just under the blog title at the top of the blog. After you click the “comments” link, you need to scroll all the way down to the bottom of “comments” in order to find the space to leave your own comment. Be patient — there are a lot of comments to go through until you get to the bottom. Thank you.
Here are some photos of the prizes to get you motivated! LOL!
Photo 1 (left) shows a Grand Prize Box. Oh my — look at all those quilting goodies!
Photos 2 and 3 (center and right) show an assortment of Individual Prizes just waiting for you to win — books, 10″ squares, 2 1/2″ strips, 5″ squares, fat quarter bundles, half yard bundles, notions, and patterns.
Sooooo, how do you win?
Hop from blog to blog from January 19th through January 26th and register for prizes at each blog. The more participating blogs you visit and register at, the more chances you have to win prizes! It’s really that easy, I promise.
Winners will be selected randomly. Each blogger will select 2 names to go into the Grand Prize Box drawing and 2 winners will be selected randomly to win. Each blogger will also randomly select 3 winners for the Sponsored Individual Prizes.
Prize registration closes Sunday, January 29, 2023.
Winners will be announced the beginning of February 2023. Prizes will be shipped in February 2023.
No purchase is necessary to participate in the Blog Hop or to win prizes.
Villa Rosa Designs Thursday January 19th Giveaway
Thank you for reading all the way through this post! As a reward, you can register to win QUILTS!
Here’s your chance to win one of these 3 Quilts made from VRD Rose Card patterns. These 3 quilts are completely finished — machine quilted and bound — and ready for you to enjoy. Awesome!!!
You have up to 3 chances to win the quilts listed above on this blog.
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell us what your favorite Rose Card pattern is (or one you would like to make if you’re new to VRD).
2. Become a blog follower/subscriber and leave a comment on this post telling us that you are a blog follower/subscriber.
3. Join our VRD Facebook group and leave a comment on this post telling us you joined our FB group.
Ready! Set! GO!
Please note that to leave a comment on this blog to be registered for prizes, you will need to click on the comments link just under the blog title at the top of the blog. After you click the “comments” link, you need to scroll all the way down to the bottom of “comments” in order to find the space to leave your own comment. Be patient — there are a lot of comments to go through until you get to the bottom.Thank you.
Don’t forget — registration for prizes closes Sunday, January 29th.
Winners will be selected randomly on Monday/Tuesday January 30th/31st.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE AN EMAIL ADDRESSSO WE CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE A WINNER!
Well, Quilty Friends, I thank you for reading the whole way to the end.
Good luck to each of you and please enjoy the Blog Hop!
It sure feels weird to be blogging on a Monday instead of our usual Thursday, but I wanted to share the Blog Hop Schedule with you so you can bookmark this post and check out the other participating bloggers.
Don’t forget, in addition to our Sponsored Giveaways, some of the bloggers will be hosting their own giveaways, too!
Well, that’s what I wanted to share with you today.
I’ll see you HERE on Thursday, January 19th when we kick off our amazing and awesome Villa Rosa Designs Fast & Fun Blog Hop! Don’t forget to bookmark us because Villa Rosa Quilts is where it all begins on January 19th!
It’s my favorite Thursday of the month — the Thursday after the first Friday of the month. That means it’s time to brag up our NEW January 2023 Rose Card patterns! Yay!
I just love sharing all the creativity our family of designers come up with each month. Even though I’ve been designing patterns for VRD since 2017, it still blows my mind that each and every month Villa Rosa Designs puts out 5 new regular patterns and at least 1 new table runner pattern. What other pattern company puts out over 60 new patterns a year? And has a catalog of more than 500 patterns on top of that?
Tradewinds uses a focal or novelty print with an ombre.
You can get all 5 patterns for the low low price of $8.95 HERE. Remember, free shipping in the USA and International orders are for the digital set of cards.
We have kits too, so click on the pattern names above to check kit availability for each pattern.
Our new Table Runner Rose Card is Blizzard. Who doesn’t love classic blue and white???
You can purchase the pattern or check to see if the kit is still available HERE.
If you aren’t getting your VRD Rose Card patterns delivered right to your mailbox each month (snail mail or digital), you really need to join one of our Monthly Pattern Clubs! You can do the regular 5 patterns or the 5 patterns + table runners. You choose!
To register for the regular Pattern Club, go HERE.
To register for Pattern Club + Table Runners, go HERE.
Now that you’re hyped about our newest patterns like I am, let’s talk about our VRD Blog Hop January 19-26 — that means it starts next week! Yippee!
UPDATE: Villa Rosa Designs Fast & Fun Blog Hop January 19-26
I can’t believe that the Blog Hop is next week! This is going to be SEW MUCH FUN!
Are you ready to see great quilts using our special Blog Hop Collection Rose Card patterns?
Are you ready to register for loads of great prizes??
Are you ready to shake off the winter blahs???
ARE YOU READY???
We are so excited here at VRD and we hope that you are getting excited for the Blog Hop next week, too.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the COOLEST bloggers out there in the blogosphere, participating in our blog hop! You can check out their blogs below:
Villa Rosa Designs will be giving away sets of our 2023 Blog Hop Collection Rose Card patterns! Cool Beans!
The Orphan Quilter (moi) will be giving away signed copies of books. Neat-o!
But wait! There’s more!
Many of our bloggers will be offering giveaways of their own in addition to the sponsor prizes on their blogs too — from t-shirts to charm squares to panels to books — OH MY!
There will also be 2 big Prize Packs filled with lots of quilting goodies to giveaway, too!!
Thanks to our awesome sponsors! This Blog Hop wouldn’t be happening without you!
I am SEW EXCITED to tell you all about our very first Villa Rosa Designs Blog Hop. We’re calling it the “Fast & Fun” Blog Hop because as most of you already know, Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards are fast and fun for real!
What is a Blog Hop?
It’s a group of bloggers who write about a specific topic or theme. The participating bloggers write and share their posts during a specific period of time. During the blog hop, people can read the posts each day of the hop and register for prizes. YES! I said prizes!
Have you ever gone on a Quilt Shop Hop? It’s a lot like that except you hop from blog to blog from the comfort of your home instead of from store to store.
Our blog hop will be January 19-26, 2023 and we have a great group of participants who will be telling you all about their Fast & Fun VRD projects. We will also be offering a special Blog Hop Rose Card Collection for sale on the website and of course, we will be giving away sets of these 5 awesome Rose Card patterns, too.
Sew…..mark your calendars for January 19-26 and tell all of your quilting pals!
Here are our participating blog partners for the blog hop as of today:
You might want to take a little time and explore our blog partners so you’re all set for the Blog Hop and can register for prizes on all participating blogs.
Speaking of registering for prizes, as of today, we have the following companies and businesses sponsoring our Blog Hop:
Many of our blog partners will be sponsoring their own giveaways on their blogs, too!
The blog hop is sounding more and more fun, isn’t it? Don’t forget to mark your calendars for January 19-26. The Blog Hop will kick off here at our Villa Rosa Designs blog,Villa Rosa Quilts, on January 19th!
We’ll have more information next week, so stop back then!
I used to write New Year’s Resolutions at the end of each year, but like most people, after a couple months, those Resolutions just didn’t resonate with me anymore and I failed more often than I succeeded. And each year, I would repeat the same process with the same results.
Somehow I stumbled onto the idea to write GOALS, not Resolutions.
Aha! Just a different word choice, but the same thing, you might think. But there is a big difference.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Resolution is a firmdecision to do or not to do something.
A Goal on the other hand is defined as the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
Same general idea, but Resolutions and Goals really are different things.
So now I write down a list of Goals for each new year (PSST! I love writing lists! My sister, Tracy, knows this and gave me a list-making journal for Christmas. LOL!). For me, Resolutions just end in failure and why should I set myself up for failure when Goals are a more positive concept — goals in sports, anyone!?! — and feel more attainable to me. I have also discovered that Goals can change or morph into new Goals, they can have multiple components to accomplish, a series of steps to complete in a specific order or not, and I can even — gasp! — add, subtract, or refine Goals throughout the year.
Goals are definitely more valuable to me than Resolutions.
Do you do New Year’s Resolutions or Goals?
One of my biggest Goals every year is to Get Organized. It is certainly an ongoing project for me (as in ongoing for years…). Maybe this is one of yours too?
Something I’ve found out in the last couple years about myself is that keeping a planner/journal/calendar helps me to organize my goals, my thoughts, appointments, tasks, and more. Writing things down helps me to see my progress over time, plan what steps I need to do next, and even to change directions if I need to.
I am such a believer in planners/journals/calendars that — Big Surprise! — I even designed one, which incorporates blank weekly and monthly grids so people can start it whenever it’s convenient AND it’s a Block of the Month project too! Woo-hoo! Talk about multi-tasking — keep yourself organized and make a quilt one block at a time for a whole year!
It’s called the Blue Moon Block of the Month Quilter’s Planner and you can find it HERE.
I guess you could consider my planner my main tool for getting organized. Maybe 2023 will be my best organized year yet!
How do you approach getting organized? I can always use more tips!
Speaking of organization, recently I’ve been seeing some posts on our VRD Facebook pages about organizing Rose Cards. I know we’ve talked about this before — you can revisit the posts HERE and HERE. With over 500 patterns in our catalog with more added every month, we hope to offer some kind of storage option for your Rose Cards in the future.
What would you like to see? What kind of storage options for your Rose Cards would you be interested in? What do you need to keep your Rose Cards organized?
We’ve got a lot of new fun stuff coming in 2023 here at Villa Rosa Designs (not sure if some kind of Rose Card organizational tool will be one of them though) and I’m sew sew excited to tell you about the very first one coming in January — our very first Villa Rosa DesignsBlog Hop!
VRD Blog Hop
What’s a Blog Hop? It’s a group of bloggers who write about a specific topic or theme. The participating bloggers write and share their posts during a specific period of time. During the blog hop, people can read the posts each day of the hop and register for prizes. YES! I said prizes! It’s a lot like a quilt shop hop, but you hop from blog to blog instead of store to store.
Our blog hop will be January 19-26, 2023 and we have a great group of participants who will be telling you all about their Fast & Fun VRD projects. We will also be offering a special Blog Hop Rose Card Collection.
Mark your calendars for January 19-26 and stay tuned for more about the Blog Hop next week.
Looking Ahead to 2023
What would you like to see in 2023 at Villa Rosa Designs? Ideas? Products? Are there new types of patterns you’d like to see that we aren’t already creating?
We always welcome your thoughts and feedback. Feel free to leave a comment on this post or email me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.
Thank you, dear friends, for your support and enthusiasm for Villa Rosa Designs during 2022. We couldn’t do what we do without you and we are looking forward to a New Year filled with exciting new Rose Cards and more.
I can’t! I feel like it should still be sometime in June. Where did 2022 go? I’d like to find it, please, so I can get more done before the end of the year. LOL!
This post is going to be shorter than usual because I have to get back to wrapping, baking, and decorating the tree as I am sure many of you are also trying to do.
Of course you already know that you can turn any of our Rose Card patterns into holiday quilts just by using holiday-themed fabrics, but did you know we have some actual holiday-themed Rose Cards?
I know, I know — it’s too late to whip up a new quilt for the holidays, but you can always start early for next year (after this Christmas, of course).
Let me show you. I bet this time next year, we’ll have even more holiday-themed patterns to add to this list, so stay tuned in December 2023 because I know our family of designers is already cooking up a bunch of new patterns for you to enjoy for 2023.
Holiday-Themed Rose Cards
Fa La La says Christmas — what more can I say??? Go HERE to buy the pattern.
First Night is a fast to make pattern using 10″ squares. I just had to include it in this Holiday pattern list because not only does it makes me think of the 12 Days of Christmas, but it also makes me think of the 8 Nights of Hanukkah if you use blue, gold, and white fabrics. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Gift Wrapped is one of our new December patterns. And it’s a real cutie! Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Happy Hollies is also a new December pattern and is perfect for your modern holiday celebration. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Merry Trees is a jolly table runner that will bring a smile to your face. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Peppermint & Holly is sure to be your new holiday classic runner. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Season’s Greetings will decorate your table with holiday cheer. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Splendor is a reminder of all the happy shiny-bright memories of this holiday season and holiday seasons yet to come. Go HERE to buy the pattern.
Gulp — other than shopping, I have yet to even get started. Oh wait! I put out a couple decorations in the living room and got the outside lights on. Hmm. That’s it.
Yikes! I’d better get moving, there’s only 10 days until Christmas…..
Recently, I wrapped up (pun intended) my 2022 Table Runner a Month class with a festive December Christmas party/class. What a lot of fun we had — we met an hour earlier than usual so we could do a pot luck lunch. YUM! I don’t know why, but quilting and food always go together. And chocolate — you have to have chocolate!
It was a soup and sandwich pot luck — we had 2 soups, sandwich wraps, meatballs, and an awesome assortment of everything else! Way too much food, but OH SO DELICIOUS! I tried my hand at potato soup. I ended up mashing 3 different recipes together. I made it on the stove top and then transferred it to a crock pot. I was amazed at how good it actually turned out, considering I’d never made potato soup this way before. In the past, I always started with a white sauce, but this time I started with chicken broth — I didn’t even have to add any flour — the starch in the potatoes thickened up the soup when I squashed them up with a spatula once they were soft. Of course, the cream cheese and shredded cheddar didn’t hurt any either! Here is one of the recipes I mashed up: Easy Potato Soup Recipe.
We did a 1 yard fabric exchange, too. For my group, that means we each brought the equivalent of about a yard of fabric in a gift bag or box (could be 4 fat quarters, 8 fat eighths, 1 charm pack, 2 half yards — you get the idea). To do the fabric exchange, we sat in a circle and played a Christmas game using a Right Left version of Frosty the Snowman.
Don’t know what a Right Left Gift Exchange is? You can go HERE for more information and 5 fun Right Left stories. Or just search “Right Left Christmas Game” on the Internet and you will get lots of different story options so you can choose your favorite! What I love about this game is that it doesn’t take a lot of time, you can do it with any size group, and no one’s feelings get hurt.
I also went over our December project and introduced the group to the Disappearing Nine and Four Patch blocks. Are you familiar with these? I just love all the different ways you can do them and how each time, your quilt looks completely unique even though you are using the same concept over and over. Lots of fun! If you are new to Disappearing Nine and Four Patch designs, you can go HERE for more information.
Our 2022 class was a Table Runner a Month theme this year (I try to choose a different theme or project each year). We began the class in March and met once a month through December. We skip January and February because those are usually the worst winter months in our area, but sometimes March and April can be worse than January and February. Oh, jolly Pennsylvania….. Each month in 2022, we made a different Villa Rosa Rose Card table runner pattern.
One of my quilty pals, Sherry, had been after me for a couple years to do a class on my VRD runners. I finally agreed to do a year of my VRD table runner Rose Cards for 2022 — it felt kind of weird to do an entire year of my own patterns, but Sherry was right — it turned out to be an awesome group/class.
Here is the list of the Rose Cards we did for 2022 (I added the links to the VRD website just in case you want to know more or purchase the patterns) —
Now for the fun! Here are photos of some of the table runners made by members of the group.
Awesome runners, aren’t they??? And these are only some of the numerous runners!
I love how each person showed their own styles, used their own fabrics, modified the design by adding or subtracting borders, made the runners smaller or larger or even a square, and even made some runners extra special by piecing extra fabric into the backing. These ladies are not only talented, they are a great group of people.
I was so inspired this year using my Villa Rosa patterns, we are going to do a Year of Panels and Novelties in 2023, using — you guessed it — Villa Rosa patterns.
Villa Rosa Designs has over 500 patterns in our VRD catalog, so I could seriously go for years without using the same pattern twice. How cool is that? Besides, VRD releases 5+ NEW patterns every month — that’s over 60 NEW patterns EACH YEAR.
You might wonder why I am taking so much time to talk about the Table Runner class, but it leads right into my next topic!
Perfect Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas Quilters Can Make
Table Runners!
Yep — table runners are my go-to solution for a quick last minute handmade gift.
Let’s break this down:
Table Runners are….
quilts
handmade
a very personal gift
a lot faster to make than larger quilts
easy to personalize to the recipient
less expensive to make because they require small amounts of fabric
precut and stash-friendly
a great gift for practically anyone on your list
special
AWESOME!
Of course, any small quilt or project that can be finished quickly makes a great last minute gift — table runners, place mats, wall quilts, table quilts, doll quilts, mini quilts, pillows, and more.
Villa Rose Designs has got your back, I promise you!
A stack of VRD Rose Cards makes an amazing gift for yourself or your favorite quilty pals, too…..just sayin’……..
If you don’t have time to make a runner or other project before the holidays, consider gifting a quilt kit — pick a fun pattern and add the required fabrics for the top and binding. A kit for your fav quilty friend will give that person something new and fun to do during the winter months. Or gift a kit to a non-quilty person with a note saying you will complete it for them after the holidays.
However you do it, here are some great Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns to inspire you:
Table Runners and Place Mats
Amen uses pre-printed panel squares or a theme fabric which means some of the work is already done for you before you even get started.
Griddle uses stash or scraps so there’s no need to head to the quilt shop (unless you really want to…).
Ripple Runner is super fast to make and finish. Short on time? Use a light, medium, and dark fabric instead of making it scrappy. Or go Christmas scrappy — what fun!
Season’s Greetings is a no-brainer — really. Don’t have fat sixths (12″ x 22″)? Dive into your scraps and stash instead!
Sugarplum is a super simple and cute pattern that goes together in a snap. 1 fat quarter and a bunch a scraps. Sew sew sew! Presto! DONE!
Let’s Eat is a fun set of place mats that uses pre-printed panel squares or a theme fabric which means of course that some of the work is already done for you.
Small Quilts
Baby Goose is a great versatile quilt at 42″ x 58″ and can be backed with only one width of fabric. It would take longer than a table runner to make, but it still goes very fast because the focal fabric does most of the work.
Cabin Fever is the perfect size for a baby quilt or a wall quilt or a small lap quilt AND it goes really fast.
Cat City for your favorite feline lover. Go HERE for a 2 Cat City quilt block mini cat quilt tutorial.
Dainty Machines has directions for multiple sizes, including a 26″ x 26″ mini quilt with 4 blocks. You can check out my interview with Sewl Sister HERE.
Did you know we have a whole VRD collection of Accessory Rose Cards? Accessories make great gifts for anyone and everyone. I’ll show you some of my favs, but you can click on the link above to see the whole collection.
I hope these great projects have not only inspired you but give you the desire to whip up those last minute holiday gifts. There’s still time, but you’d better hurry!
