Tag: 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

2025 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 4

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Hello Quilty Friends!

It’s hard to believe it’s Week 4 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge already, isn’t it? How many of you have been following our VRD Project Finishers on our VRD Facebook page? I know I have! I really love how supportive everyone is on the VRD FB page, too, it’s a great place to hang out if you’ve never visited before.

I’m really hoping this “finish 1 project a week” concept will stick with me and I’ll continue after the Challenge is over because I literally have STACKS of flimsies (quilt tops) waiting impatiently to get quilted, bound, and finished. I think it would be a great accomplishment for me (or any of you) to shrink those stacks of unfinished projects before the end of the year.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to jump into 2026 with a plethora of new project ideas without the guilt of that sad stack of unfinished projects sitting there, judging us? Besides, finishing projects will make more room in our quilting spaces for new projects!

Okay, how about our Week 3 Challenge winner now (selected using a random number generator)?

Congrats to Robin M!

Prizes for our Weeks 1-3 winners will be in the mail shortly, so enjoy your quilty surprises sponsored by our good friends over at QT Fabrics. Thank you, QT!

Now we’re ready to jump into our Week 4 Challenge!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 4

My finish this week was a really fun one – Helix by our talented VRD designer, Molly Cook. Have you ever tried this pattern before? Helix is fat quarter friendly and finishes at a nice 50″ x 66″. You could add a border all around to make it larger if you wanted to.

It is definitely a more challenging project – I would consider it more intermediate/advanced. There’s a lot of matching points and seam intersections in this one. The finished quilt is gorgeous, though, with its eye-catching geometry. A very cool quilt.

A quilt design titled 'Helix' by Molly Cook, featuring vibrant patchwork in various shades of blue, green, purple, and brown, set against a patterned background.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

When I searched for this tutorial on the blog, I discovered – gasp! – it was from 2023! Huh. How time flies! You can find the Helix tutorial HERE.

If you’ve never made this one before, I really do suggest you check out the tutorial because all those intersecting points can be a challenge if you’ve never done them before.

Here’s my BEFORE photo:

A completed quilt with geometric patterns in shades of blue and green, displayed outdoors against a backdrop of trees and a cloudy sky.

Apparently when I took the photo back in 2023, it was a really windy day!

And here is my AFTER photo:

A completed quilt featuring geometric patterns in shades of blue, green, and teal, displayed outdoors against a grassy background.

See the interesting plaid markings showing through the quilt (the sun was behind the quilt when I snapped the photo)? That is courtesy of the fun blue/teal plaid fleece on the back. Yep, another fleece-backed throw with no batting – just the way I like ’em! Fleece-backed throws are perfect all year around as they are lightweight yet cozy and soft.

I’m really pleased with how this quilt turned out. The crisp white background was the perfect companion to set off all of the blues, greens, teals, and turquoises. I quilted it with my usual allover meander, but this time I used a very subtle variegated thread, Seamist by YLI. I thought, why not? My Helix has a lot of white space so I thought the variegated thread in blues and teals (I swear there’s a bit of green and lavender, too) would really compliment the quilt. I love how it turned out, but the thread color variations were very very subtle.

Close-up view of a quilt showcasing intricate patchwork patterns in shades of teal, green, and white, with a soft quilted texture.
A spool of YLI machine quilting thread labeled 'Seamist', displaying the barcode and specifications on the side.
A spool of turquoise and teal variegated sewing thread resting on a sewing machine surface with a purple measuring grid.

I found a blue fabric in my stash that had narrow white lines to give it a subtle plaid look for the binding. I machine stitched the binding on to save time and it definitely went better than last week – my corners were much neater on this one. And of course, I added my label dated 2025, even though I started the quilt in 2023. It’s the end that counts, not the beginning.

Yay! Another finish from my towering stack of UFOs. Hmmm. Which one will I finish next?

Quilting Cats

I’m going to change the subject in honor of National Cat Day (October 29th).

How many of you have a kitty partner in crime when quilting (or knitting, crocheting, garment sewing, crafting, etc.)?

Right now as I type this post, my furry buddy, Griffin (age 4), is sprawled across my desk. Only recently has he started doing that again. I love it, but sometimes we end up playing tug o’ war over my mouse pad area. LOL! He really really likes to stretch out pretty much across my whole desk top. Sometimes when I’m trying to use my mouse (which I do A LOT), Griffy will claim my mouse pad and mouse (and sometimes my hand) as his. Silly boy. Of course, as he sprawls over my desk, he knows I just can’t resist scratching him in his favorite spots. Smart boy!

A gray cat lying on a desk cluttered with papers and a pink mouse pad, looking intently at the camera.

Here’s my handsome Griffy. You can see that he has control of the mouse pad in the photo. ARGH! We take turns winning our game of tug o’ war. LOL!

I have another cat, Pip, but at 15, she doesn’t come downstairs to my studio dungeon anymore. She is our upstairs diva. Then there’s Bailly, my 3 year old Shih Tzu. She’s a heartful, but also a handful. And she thinks she’s a cat.

So Happy National Cat Day to you and your furry feline companions. Maybe they’ll help you (or hinder you, depending on their mood) get your project finished for next week’s Week 5 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge.

See you right here next week for more VRD fun and Week 5 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge.

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks – Week 2 and an Accessory Challenge

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Hello Quilty Friends!

How are you this fine Thursday?  Getting some quilts finished, I hope?

I’ve been having a great time checking out the finished quilts for Week 1 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge.   It’s almost like, in 1 week, I’ve completed a lot of quilts!  Yay!  But I didn’t actually have to do all the work.  To me, that’s a perfect scenario!

So, if you finished a quilt for Week 1, pat yourself on the back and get ready to repeat this week!

And our Week 1 drawing winner is…………… Jill S.

Want to get in on the action?  It’s not too late – just email me at tricia@villarosadesign.com to join for the remaining 5 Weeks of the Challenge.  

You can get all the info HERE.

Now let’s jump into Week 2 of our Challenge.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks:  Week 2

I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of extra time this week, so I decided to tackle one of my table runners UFOs for Week 2,  Steppin’ Up.

Cover image for the 'Steppin' Up' quilt pattern by Tricia Lynn Maloney, featuring a colorful quilted table runner with various patterned fabrics, displayed against a porch backdrop.

Don’t have Steppin’ Up yet?

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

My Before Photo (layered and ready to quilt):

A quilted table runner featuring a colorful pattern with autumn-themed fabrics, pinned and layered, ready for quilting against a backdrop of soft fabric.

My After Photo (Done and Done!):

A colorful autumn table runner quilt displayed hanging from a tree, featuring diamond shapes in shades of red, orange, yellow, and green with a floral border.

I made this Autumn version of Steppin’ Up a few years ago when my Friday Quilt group did a whole year of VRD Table Runners.  Of course, I made the top as a class sample and never finished it.  I don’t remember the name of the collection anymore as the fabrics were left over from another project from way back when.  Of course, if you want to make an Autumn version yourself, now’s the time to gather up a gorgeous selection of warm fall fabrics.

I backed it with a neutral backing fabric and a layer of thin cotton batting.  I free motion quilted it with an allover loop design (one of my absolute favorite designs which also quilts up really fast – you can see how I do loops HERE).  I machine stitched the brown tonal binding on and guess what – it actually turned out pretty well.  Last, of course, I added a label.

Have you ever made Steppin’ Up?  It’s a really fun one if you haven’t.  You can actually arrange the blocks in a lot of different ways to make your runner your way.

So, what are you finishing for Week 2?  You have until Friday at midnight to email or post your before/after photos of your Week 2 projects to be entered in our Week 2 drawing.

October VRD Accessory Challenge

Speaking of my Friday group, this past week for our October meeting, we had a group challenge reveal – VRD Accessory patterns.  Have you ever made any of our really fun Accessory patterns?  You can find all of them HERE.  I’m excited to tell you that we are going to be adding NEW Accessory patterns going forward.  In fact, I’m working on a few ideas right now.

So, my quilty pals rose to the October Accessory Challenge.  Check out their makes, below. Of course, they all rolled their eyes at me when I started snapping pictures because they just knew I was going to show off their projects on the blog. Sorry, not sorry…….

Gaynel made the Olivia Jane pattern.  Gaynel discovered that Olivia Jane was the perfect tote to hold a 12”x 12” rotating cutting mat.

A woman holding a handcrafted patchwork bag, displaying various fabric patterns and colors, in a sewing space filled with quilting materials and supplies.

Mary Lee made Catrina Jane, a 2 Pocketed VRD Rose Card Pattern Keeper. You can’t tell in this photo which shows the inside, but her outside fabric is a really cool African batik, which is more like an embossed fabric than the usual batiks we are familiar with.

An open 2-pocket pattern card holder made from colorful autumn-themed fabric, showcasing a floral design, next to the pattern cover titled 'Catrina Jane'.

Robin made the Dinner Party Place Mats.  She did alter them a bit by making 4 identical mats instead of swapping the fabrics in each place mat. Find the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE.

A stack of finished dinner party placemats with festive fabric featuring Santa Claus and holiday decorations, placed on a wooden table next to a beverage bottle.

Donna made not only 1, but 4 tote bags using the Tabitha Jane pattern.  Here is the one she made herself.  The other 3 will be holiday gifts. Good thinking, Donna!

A woman wearing a floral shirt and a gray cardigan is holding a colorful tote bag with a scenic design, smiling at the camera.

Kim made a set of these uber adorable Buzzy Bee Snack Mats.  You can find the digital pattern HERE and the print pattern HERE.

A person holding a quilted item featuring bee patterns and floral designs, trimmed in yellow.

There would no way at all I could choose a favorite from their projects because in my book, they are all winners because they finished their projects, so everyone got to pick out a fat quarter as a prize.

I hope these fun Accessory projects will inspire you to make some of your own – HEY!  You could even make some as part of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – we have 4 more weeks to go yet.  You could make some great holiday gifts, or maybe a little something something for yourself.

Okay, time to get back to work on your Challenge projects.  And mine too.

Have a great week. Get SEW much done!

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Quilting and Books

A Quilt Finishing Challenge (6 Quilts in 6 Weeks) and Great Quilt Mystery Reads

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope you all enjoyed the last month or so of new VRD quilt tutorials to help you jumpstart your Fall quilting. I certainly did, but now I’ve added 6 more quilts to my unfinished quilt stack. Oh no! I think that stack is going to topple over any day now, unless I do something quick! How about you? Do you have a stack of VRD quilts waiting to be finished?

If you missed any of the recent VRD tutorials, you can find the links below:

Falling

Busy Bee

Cinnamon Stix

Midnight Pathway

Morning Tea

Tea With Mara

I had an idea………

Quilt Finishing Challenge – 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks

With my teetering stacks of unfinished quilt tops (or flimsies), I decided some kind of serious intervention was required. What if I challenge myself to complete one quilt a week? What if I make myself accountable by posting a before and after photo each week?

It sounds a little daunting to me, but I’m up for a new challenge this fall. After all, in the last 6 weeks, I made 6 new flimsies, so maybe I should make a plan to finish them, right?

Now to decide how many weeks I think I can manage…….hmmm, how about 6 weeks? Sounds reasonable, I think. I hope. Fingers crossed.

The Dates:

Week 1 – 10/9

Week 2 – 10/16

Week 3 – 10/23

Week 4 – 10/30

Week 5 – 11/6

Week 6 – 11/13

The Rules:

Each week for 6 weeks, I will post a photo of the unfinished top as well as a photo of the finished quilt (quilted and bound [by hand or machine]) on the blog and on the VRD Facebook page.

All quilt tops must be VRD patterns – this is the VRD blog, after all.

No size requirements (I have flimsies from snack mats up to large throw quilts).

Wanna join me in this challenge?

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

Each week, I’ll draw a name from those participants who posted before/after photos to win a little quilty surprise. Might be from me or from one of our lovely quilting partners.

Before/After photos must be posted by each week’s date, listed above, so your name goes into the weekly drawing.

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

PSST! You can even use the next six weeks to make a NEW VRD quilt each week if you want – hey, maybe you don’t have any unfinished VRD tops just sitting around. So go ahead – pick your favorite VRD pattern and get moving. Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to get some of your Christmas sewing done early???

I think that’s all the important info.

So who’s with me? Send me your info and I’ll add you to my participant list. Then get sewing! And don’t forget to have some fun!!!

Now that our Challenge is LIVE, let’s take a break for some reading. Am I procrastinating already? Maybe…..

Great Quilt Mystery Reads

Mysteries are my favorite book genre, and recently while I was perusing available mystery ebooks at my online library to find my next read, I found a promising title called Quilt City Murders by Bruce Leonard, so I decided to give it a try. Here’s a brief description from Amazon:

Quilter Hadley Carroll thinks her life can’t get any worse after being demoted from reporter to newspaper courier and having her fiancé, Matt Ackerman, dump her without explanation. But then, while chucking a sack of newspapers into the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky—known as Quilt City—she finds Matt’s body snagged under the transient dock. She knows she’ll never find peace if she doesn’t figure out why he left her and who killed him, so she gets to work.
As QuiltWeek Paducah, the largest quilting event in the world, approaches, then fills the small town with 30,000 textile connoisseurs, quilters turn up dead. Paducah’s mayor tries to instill calm as citizens panic, protests flare up, and visiting quilters flee by the thousands.
Despite grieving the loss of Matt, Hadley perseveres, strengthened by her troubled upbringing and aided by her weekly quilting group. She uses her investigative skills and impressive intellect to solve the murders, to bring peace back to her hometown, and to get a good night’s sleep—finally.

Book cover of 'Quilt City Murders' featuring a woman holding a colorful quilt by a riverbank with a dog nearby, highlighting the title and author.

Quilt City Murders on Amazon

I was intrigued by the cover as well as how a male author would approach quilting. And it won a Best Mystery Award in 2022 from NIEA, which stands for The National Indie Excellence Award. I checked it out.

It took me a few chapters to get into it, but when everything started to roll, I simply could not put it down and I raced right to the end – whoa! Reading this book was like being on a train picking up speed while going downhill, seriously!

The characters surprised me by how realistic and well-rounded they were. I especially connected to the narrator, Hadley Carroll, because she is an imperfect character with a lot of baggage, just like the rest of us. And of course, Hadley has a dog named Trapunto (don’t you just LOVE this name???). As well as a quirky weekly quilt group.

Such a good read, so I couldn’t wait to check out book 2, Panic in Paducah. Even better than the first book! Actually held my breath in a few places, not kidding. Love how the characters keep surprising me, just like real people. I also find Hadley’s personal struggles to be realistic, especially when we all live in a world of imperfect people.

Book cover of 'Panic in Paducah' featuring a hand holding a lighter with a flame, set against a textured background. The title and author's name are prominently displayed.

Panic in Paducah on Amazon

Then I couldn’t wait to check out book 3 – Measure Once, Cut Twice

Oh no! Things just keep getting more and more complicated for Hadley in the third book. And Hadley is under more pressure than ever before as she races to help everyone with everything without losing herself to the chaos.

Cover of the book 'Quilt City: Measure Once, Cut Twice' by Bruce Leonard, featuring prescription bottles and scattered pills on a quilted background.

Measure Once, Cut Twice on Amazon

And then I went on to read Book 4 – Proving a Negative. Only the first 3 books were available at the online library, so I eagerly downloaded Book 4 and 5 from Amazon. I just finished this book yesterday and it was an amazing read, just like the first 3. I burned right through it in a couple days, reading every spare minute I could – the past few days have been busy ones, too, with me driving parents to their appointments here and there.

I will say each book is getting more intense than the previous one, which is probably why I can’t put them down. I’m really hooked. The author, Bruce Leonard, is fantastic! I love how quilting is woven into the story, but the story isn’t necessarily centered around quilting. I find the story lines to be realistic and relevant. And I absolutely love how the characters are evolving in each book.

Cover of the mystery novel 'Quilt City: Proving a Negative' by Bruce Leonard featuring an illustration of Benjamin Franklin on a hundred-dollar bill with a magnifying glass.

Proving a Negative on Amazon

Up next is Book 5 – Safety Second. This is the 5th out of 5 books, so I’m not sure if it’s the final book in the series or else just the most current. I hope the author continues writing for this series, because it’s really one of the best I’ve read for a while and I’ve read A LOT of mystery books over the years (if you didn’t know, I was a librarian for 11 years).

I probably won’t start it today because I’m writing the blog and doing work stuff today, but hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to dive back into Hadley’s Paducah. Now that I’m starting Book 5, the characters are like old friends and I can’t wait to see what everyone will be up to in Book 5. If this is the final book of the series, I wonder if Hadley will get her happily ever after…….or not.

Cover of the book 'Quilt City: Safety Second' by Bruce Leonard, featuring a wooden mallet against a textured gray background.

Safety Second on Amazon

Look for these books at your local library, ask for them through Interlibrary loan at your local library, purchase them at your favorite bookseller, or use the Amazon links above.

By the way…….there’s even a companion Cookbook – Quilt City Cookbook. What fun! I haven’t ordered it yet, but I probably will after I finish Book 5, Safety Second. I love that the cookbook is even talked about in the books as Hadley writes it and then utilizes the recipes.

Cover of the cookbook 'Quilt City Cookbook' by Bruce Leonard, featuring desserts including ice cream cones, cookies, and a slice of cake, with a warm orange background.

Quilt City Cookbook on Amazon

Don’t forget to email me your name and email if you want to join my Quilt Finishing Challenge – 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks.

Ready…..Set…..Go….Quilt!

And it’s okay to take a reading break now and then. Tell ’em Tricia said so.

See you next week for my first Before/After photos for the Challenge.

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Read. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD