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

April 16, 2026April 15, 2026 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 2!

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

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

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

Ready to see my Week 2 finish???

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 2

Drum roll please…………………

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here is my BEFORE photo:

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

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

And here’s my FINISHED Pacific Grove quilt!

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

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

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 1 Winner

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

Kim C. in Washington

Woohoo!

Throw the confetti! 🎉

Congratulations, Kim!

Here’s Kim’s Week 1 finished quilt:

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

Kim’s quilt is the Rail Fence pattern.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

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

10 Tips for Fast Finishing Quilts

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

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

Let’s do this! Together.

1. Machine stitch your binding

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

2. Learn to machine quilt your own quilts

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

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

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

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

3. Keep your quilting simple

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

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

4. Press as you go (yes, really)

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

You can find some help with pressing HERE.

5. Square it up before adding your binding

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

Squaring up questions? Get help HERE.

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

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

Find out more info on layering quilts HERE.

7. Don’t over-quilt it

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

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

8. Batch your boring tasks

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

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

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

10. Work in short, focused bursts

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

And a bonus tip or two-

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

Finally……………………A Little Reminder

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

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

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

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

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

April 2, 2026April 1, 2026 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

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

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

The Challenge Dates:

Week 1 Quilt due by Friday 4/10 midnight EST

Week 2 Quilt due by Friday 4/17 midnight EST

Week 3 Quilt due by Friday 4/24 midnight EST

Week 4 Quilt due by Friday 5/1 midnight EST

Week 5 Quilt due by Friday 5/8 midnight EST

Week 6 Quilt due by Friday 5/15 midnight EST

The Rules and All the Details of the Challenge:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wanna join me in this Challenge?

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

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

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

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

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

Spring into Spring VRD Quilt Tutorial Series: Charlie

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Let’s get going on this cute quilt!

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

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

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

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

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

A colorful fabric featuring cat designs laid on a cutting mat, accompanied by a rotary cutter and a clear ruler for measuring.

A rotary cutter and scissors on a cutting mat with colorful cat-themed fabric being cut with a ruler.

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

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

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

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

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

A cutting mat featuring a green fabric square, a transparent ruler, and a rotary cutter, arranged for quilting or sewing projects.

A rotary cutter and clear ruler are placed on a cutting mat with a piece of green fabric laid out for cutting.

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

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

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

A colorful fabric with a pattern of cats in various artistic styles, bordered by a yellow fabric strip. Pins are used to secure the pieces on a cutting mat.

A sewing machine stitching a vibrant fabric featuring colorful cat motifs alongside a plain yellow fabric.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A colorful quilt with a patchwork of vibrant fabric strips surrounding a central collage of various patterns and images.

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

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

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

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

An ironing board covered in a pink cow print fabric, with several fabric swatches in pastel colors including pink, green, blue, and purple laid out on top.

A cutting mat with colorful fabric pieces and a rotary cutter on top. The fabric features vibrant prints, including animals, and various solid colored fabric strips laid out in a patchwork pattern.

An ironing board with a colorful fabric patchwork spread across it, next to a steam iron. The fabric features various patterns in vibrant colors, and the ironing board cover has a pink and white design.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We CAN do this together.

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

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

Spring into Spring Tutorial Series: Pretty Posies, 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Invitation, and a Fabric Acquisition Road Trip (FART)

March 26, 2026March 25, 2026 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

We literally have SEW much to do today, so I’m going to jump right in with both feet.

I’m really excited to be hosting the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks challenge on the blog again! If you didn’t get the chance to participate last fall in the challenge, you’ll want to join us next week!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

Here’s how the whole 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks idea got started last fall:

With my teetering stacks of unfinished quilt tops (or flimsies), I decided some kind of serious intervention was required. Hey – what if I challenged myself to complete one quilt a week? What if I made myself accountable by posting a before and after photo each week? It sounded a little daunting to me, but I was up for a new challenge last fall. Then I had one of those why not? moments – why not invite all of you to join me? And a fun new blog challenge was born.

So here’s the schedule of events and all the info:

The Dates:

Week 1 – 4/10

Week 2 – 4/17

Week 3 – 4/24

Week 4 – 5/1

Week 5 – 5/8

Week 6 – 5/15

The Rules and All the Details of the Challenge:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wanna join me in this challenge?

Send 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. Then get sewing! And don’t forget to have some fun!!!

Okay, let’s move on to our new Spring tutorial for this week.

Spring into Spring Quilt Tutorial: Pretty Posies

Pretty Posies is totally a perfect table runner for spring with its slightly tossed sweet blooms. I just love the perky yellow centers of the flowers – to me, they look like a little springy hello. 🙂

A quilt titled 'Pretty Posies' featuring large colorful floral patterns, hanging on a tree branch in a natural setting. The quilt design incorporates pink, red, and yellow flowers, with a black and white floral border.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

1. Our first step is always to gather up our fabrics. Today I’m using lovely sample fabrics from our quilty pals over at Hoffman Fabrics. SHHH! This fabric isn’t even available yet, so you’re getting a sneak peak!

It’s an upcoming new collection called Blushwing and there are some lovely sweet 1895 Watercolors batik fabrics and a fun 885 Dot batik, too. Quilt shops will be able to order this fabric next month and it will ship to shops in September. So ask your favorite retailer to order Blushwing!

A collection of fabric pieces in various colors and patterns, including floral designs with birds and solid colors, spread out on a crafting surface.

2. Let’s get started at my cutting station (which doubles as my pressing station, too). There’s some simple cutting to do for this runner – cutting strips then cutting the strips into rectangles and squares. There’s nothing difficult or tricky with the cutting, just follow the instructions on your pattern. Instead of showing cutting images for each fabric, I’m just going to show you all the pieces cut and ready to move on to sewing.

Various fabric pieces arranged on a pink cutting mat, including a long strip of white fabric, a square of reddish fabric, and a small yellow square with a polka dot pattern.

3. Now we’re headed to the sewing machine. We are going to use the Stitch and Flip method to add a triangle to each corner of the flower squares. I’ve been calling this method the “flippy corner” method for a while now, but I recently discovered it is called more often the “Stitch and Flip” method, so I’ve decided to use this more common name going forward so I don’t confuse anyone (or myself).

One corner of each flower will have a yellow triangle while the other 3 corners of each flower square will be background fabric triangles.

Let me show you how the Stitch and Flip method works.

Layer a small square RST (right sides together) on one corner and draw a diagonal line. Then sew on the line. Cut off the excess fabric about 1/4″ away from the sewn line.

Close-up of fabric pieces, including a pink floral pattern and a yellow polka-dotted square, placed on a sewing machine table.

Close-up of two pieces of fabric being sewn together, one with a floral pattern in pink and the other a yellow fabric with polka dots. A ruler is visible in the background for measurement.

We will repeat the Stitch and Flip method to make background triangles for the other 3 corners of each flower square.

A partially sewn octagonal patchwork piece made of various fabrics, including pink and yellow, on a sewing table with measuring tools.

3. Back to my cutting and pressing station to press open all of the Stitch and Flip triangles.

A note about pressing: I suggest you press the triangles for 2 of the flower squares for each complete flower (you need 4 matching flower squares for each complete flower) towards the triangle and the other 2 towards the flower square. This will make sewing the flowers together a lot easier as the seams will nestle.

A stack of fabric pieces in various colors and patterns, including blue, pink, and yellow, arranged on a pink cutting mat with measuring grid.

A sewing workspace featuring an iron next to a blue hexagonal quilt piece with floral patterns, set on a gray pressing mat.

4. Back to my sewing machine. I’m going to lay out and sew each flower together with the yellow triangles towards the middle to create the flower center.

I’m going to sew the top 2 squares together and the bottom 2 squares together. Then I’m going to sew the top section and the bottom section together to make a complete flower.

A quilt block featuring four patterned octagons in shades of pink with a central yellow diamond surrounded by white fabric, placed on a gray felt surface.

A close-up view of a sewing project showing four hexagonal fabric pieces arranged in a pattern, with pink floral fabric and a yellow center piece, placed on a sewing machine table.

5. Sigh……back to the iron to give the blocks a nice press.

A blue and white hexagonal quilt block with a yellow center, placed on a gray fabric surface next to an iron and scissors.

A collection of colorful quilt blocks made from various fabrics, including floral and solid patterns, arranged on a soft surface.

6. Next we’re going to add the half sashing to each flower block. This is what creates the movement in the runner. It’s one of my favorite easy peasy techniques.

Back to the machine. First we add a background strip to the side and then we add the second background strip to the top. A quick press and our blocks are finished.

A sewing workspace featuring a pile of fabric pieces arranged in the shape of a flower, with blue and yellow patterns, set against a backdrop of quilting tools and a quilting machine.

A patchwork quilt block featuring four large red octagons arranged around a small yellow square center on a light patterned background.

7. Yay! Time to sew the blocks together. Sooooo, back to the machine. I think I’m starting to feel a bit like a pogo stick. My cutting and pressing station is near my sewing area, but I have to get up and go around the corner of my shelf unit in order to cut or press. Sigh…..I definitely need to take some time and do a little rearranging to make it easier to go from one to the other.

Because I am using 3 blue fabrics and 2 pink/mauve fabrics, I already knew how I wanted to lay out the blocks. You, however, might need to explore some different options until you find the arrangement you like the best. Flip and turn the blocks however you like.

A fabric quilt with five large floral blocks arranged in a row, featuring colors of blue, pink, and a floral pattern, set against a pastel background.

8. Now it’s time to cut border strips. Do you cut all your fabrics before you start a project or do you cut as you go along? When I have a border on a project, I usually wait until after I get the center made before I cut my border strips.

Isn’t this just the prettiest fabric for the border? So soft and gentle.

A stack of fabric strips featuring a pastel design of doves and floral patterns, placed on a pink cutting mat with a rotary cutter nearby.

9. I like to measure my quilt before I cut the border strips to size, even if a pattern gives the measurements. I just like to be on the safe side. So I measured my runner through the center both horizontally and vertically to get my final border sizes. I’m going to sew the borders to the short ends first.

I really love how the border pulls out the center blue floral flower, don’t you?

A quilt panel featuring a series of five floral patterns in varying colors including blue, pink, and green, with yellow accents in the center of each flower.

10. All right, now I’m going to pin my long borders to the runner. I would imagine every quilter has their own method for doing this step. For me, I begin by pinning the center of the border strip to the center of the runner side. Then I smooth each side of the border towards the end of the runner, where I pin the corners of the border strip to the corners of the runner. Finally I add a few more pins between the center and the ends to help keep everything lined up. What’s your method for sewing on long borders?

A patchwork quilt segment featuring blue, pink, and floral patterned fabrics with pinned sections ready for assembly.

VOILA! A finished Pretty Posies runner top. I just love how it turned out. Perfect for Spring.

A patchwork design featuring four large flower motifs in pink, red, and blue against a light floral background.

Now to layer it with batting and backing. Machine quilt it. Bind it and add a label.

WHEW! I think it’s time to take a break from sewing and go shopping!

A Fabric Acquisition Road Trip (FART)

On Saturday, friends Robin, Mary Lee, and I piled into my cute little red Jeep Compass and went on a fun laughter-filled FART to one of our area shops. Quilter’s Cupboard is located in Seneca, PA. Big SHOUT OUT to owners Shirley and Brenda!

Their shop is cozy and welcoming. You step inside the shop to see rows of colorful bolts of fabric and a wall filled with notions, patterns, and fabric panels. One of my favorite firs tstops are their precut shelves with assorted precuts, fun little goodies, and precut patterns. I of course grab some 5″ squares and 2.5″ squares.

The hallway boasts more bolts of fabric with tons of great rulers on the opposite wall. The first room has seasonal fabrics and flannel. The hallway then branches left into a large bright classroom with many samples gracing the walls with the kits nearby and ample space to have classes. The right branch of the hallway leads to an exit and another room filled with ByAnnie patterns and supplies with the most amazing (and inspiring) samples. I grabbed a new ByAnnie pattern, some mesh, and zippers. We’ll see if I get brave enough to tackle that project.

By the way, the shop is totally crazy about Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns! They have VRD samples galore as well as fantastic kits for all of their samples and of course VRD Rose Card patterns.

A display stand showcasing various quilting patterns from Villa Rosa, featuring designs such as 'Tea for 2', 'Lantern Hill', 'Love Cats', and more. A red basket with additional pattern booklets is also visible.

Here are some of the super VRD samples on the walls.

A wall hanging quilt featuring various nature-themed fabric squares including images of animals and birds, bordered with a dark brown fabric and yellow highlights.

Gridwork with a few adaptations. Get your digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE

A colorful quilt hung on a wall, featuring a patchwork design with blue, yellow, green, and floral patterns.

Pavers – get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Colorful quilt featuring beach-themed blocks with umbrellas, beach chairs, and seaside illustrations, arranged in a diagonal pattern against a yellow and light blue background.

Dinomite – get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

A colorful quilt featuring a geometric pattern with shades of teal, navy, green, and white, displayed on a wall.

Sisterhood (I totally love this colorway, don’t you?) – get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here’s a great selection of VRD table runners!

A display of colorful quilts on a table, showcasing various patterns and fabrics, with sewing supplies and patterns arranged nearby.

From left to right:

Merry Trees – get your digital pattern here or your print pattern HERE

Poinsettia – get your digital pattern here or your print pattern HERE

Lil Umbrellas – get your digital pattern here or your print pattern HERE

Bespoke (2 options shown) – get your digital pattern here or your print pattern HERE

Pumpkin Hollow – get your digital pattern here or your print pattern HERE

And seasonal snack mats!

Two handmade quilted placemats displayed on a wooden surface. The top placemat features a green and plaid patchwork design with shamrocks, while the bottom placemat showcases a bee and beehive pattern in black, yellow, and white.

Top: Shamrock – get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Bottom: Buzzy Bee – get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Or get all 12 Seasonal Snack Mat Patterns HERE.

What fun trip! Mary Lee spent the most and Robin spent the least. After we shopped, the three of us headed over to The Log Cabin restaurant for lunch.

Last stop was to Ollies to poke around to see what interesting and fun things we could find. Beside, Mary Lee had never been there before.

All in all, our FART was a welcome break from the minutia of our every day activities. And spending time with quilty pals is always a good time. When was your last FART?

WHEW, that’s it for today’s post. Don’t forget to join me for the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge which begins next week.

See you then!

Sew. Laugh. Sew Some More. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

Spring into Spring Quilt Tutorial Series: VRD Rose Card Pattern Honey

March 19, 2026March 18, 2026 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Spring literally starts a few days, which is probably why we have snow on the ground again and it was like 16 degrees last night. BRRR! Regardless, I’m definitely thinking spring! So I thought it would be fun to leap into some fun spring quilt tutorials to get me into the spirit even if the weather doesn’t cooperate with the season.

I’m also thinking it’s time for a spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. Anyone up for that? I did a 6 in 6 last fall and we had great time. It was incredible to finish one VRD quilt a week for 6 weeks. 6 completed quilts at the end. Which was rockin’ awesome! Especially considering all the tutorial sample tops that I’m accumulating. LOL! So……who’s in? I’m thinking to start this the first week of April, 2 weeks from now. It would last for 6 weeks. Right now, I’m just putting feelers out to see who wants to join me for this 6 in 6 challenge? I figure if I do this challenge twice a year in spring and fall, we can all get up to 12 quilts finished in a year.

There are a few rules, though, I’d better mention –

1) Quilts must be made from VRD patterns

2) You must post a before and an after photo on our Facebook page or email them to me if you’re not on FB to be entered in the weekly drawings

3) Anyone can participate

4) If you don’t have stacks of VRD UFOs like I do, no problem – you are welcome to make new VRD quilts/accessories to participate

I think that’s pretty much it for the rules to get started.

If you’re interested, you have 2 weeks to email me your name and email address at tricia@villarosadesigns.com. I promise your email address will only be used by me to notify you if you win a prize.

Now….on to our first Spring into Spring VRD quilt tutorial!

VRD Quilt Pattern Tutorial Honey

There’s nothing like a new table runner to add a touch of spring to you space! Have you ever made Honey before? If not, you’re in for a treat because this runner goes together quick as bunny and looks great in just about any group of fabrics you want to use.

A patchwork quilt with a mix of floral and checkered patterns in yellow, blue, and black, displayed on a dark background with the title 'Honey' and credits to Tricia Lynn Maloney from Orphan Quilt Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Let’s get started!

1. Time to gather up our fabrics. I’m using lovely sample fabrics from our quilty pals over at Hoffman Fabrics today. SHHH! This fabric isn’t even available yet, so you’re getting a sneak peak!

It’s an upcoming new collection called Nesting Hour and there are some lovely sherbet-y 1895 Watercolors batik coordinates, too. Quilt shops will be able to order this fabric next month and it will ship to shops in September. So ask your favorite retailer to order Nesting Hour!

A collection of various fabric swatches in floral and solid colors, arranged on a cutting mat with sewing tools in the background.

2. All right! Let’s get some cutting done. First, I’ll cut strips for the block centers and then I’ll cut the strips into squares.

A rotary cutter and a clear acrylic ruler placed on a floral printed fabric, with a pink cutting mat underneath.

A stack of fabric pieces with a floral pattern on a pink cutting mat, next to a yellow quilting ruler.

3. Next I’ll cut the strips for the frames and then subcut the strips into the needed smaller pieces.

A rotary cutter and a transparent quilting ruler are placed on a floral fabric, set against a pink cutting mat.

A cutting mat with a transparent quilting ruler placed over a light blue fabric strip and a rotary cutter nearby.

4. All the pieces are cut, organized by shape, and ready to sew. Yay!

Three pieces of fabric with floral designs laid out on a pink cutting mat.

5. We’re headed to the sewing machine to make the blocks. I’m going to sew the short strips onto opposite sides of the center square. When I’m sewing the same step over and over, I really love chain piecing because it saves both time and thread.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching together colorful fabric pieces with floral patterns, accompanied by neatly stacked fabric squares on the side.

6. After I sew the matching short strips to opposite sides, I’m headed over to the ironing station to press my block so far before adding the next strips. I don’t always press in the middle of sewing a block together, but today I am because I want the blocks to turn out really crisp.

A piece of fabric with floral patterns laid on gray felt, alongside a stack of assorted fabric swatches and an iron.

7. Then back to the sewing machine to add the long matching strips to opposite sides of the center square to complete the frame for each block.

Close-up view of a sewing machine with fabric pieces being stitched together, featuring floral patterns and pastel colors, on a quilting mat.

8. And back to the iron to press the completed blocks so they will be nice and crisp. I’ve noticed that when I press blocks on my wool pressing mat, I don’t have to use pressing spray to get sharply pressed blocks.

Right now I have an 18″ x 60″ mat on my 24″ X 60″ ironing station. My Dad designed and made the ironing board for me years ago. My lovely big board sits on top of an Ikea Kallax 8 cube shelf on casters and it’s the perfect height for me!

The 18″ wide mat just seems too narrow for me now, so I’m thinking of upgrading. I see mats are now available in 22″ x 60″ and 24″ x 60″, which is really great. Maybe I won’t run off the edge anymore. Definitely worth thinking about now if they have the exact size I need.

A square fabric patch featuring floral designs laid out on a work surface, with an iron and additional fabric pieces beside it.

9. Yay! My blocks are all pressed!

A stack of quilt fabric squares in various floral patterns, including a central square featuring a dark background with floral designs.

10. Next up is putting my blocks up on my design wall so I can rearrange them. Here’s a few photos showing how I’m moving things around. Sometimes this step takes more time than I’d like, but it is a really important one because nobody wants a visually lopsided quilt.

A patchwork layout featuring a series of floral squares surrounded by solid-colored borders in a variety of pastel shades.

A patchwork quilt layout featuring floral and pastel fabric squares arranged in a grid pattern.

11. Here’s the arrangement I decided upon. Then it was back to the sewing machine to sew the blocks together. Next up with be layering, quilting, adding a label, and binding…….sometime.

A quilt layout featuring a series of fabric squares arranged in a grid pattern. Each square has a floral print center surrounded by solid pastel colors. The layout includes a mix of peach, beige, and blue fabrics.

A colorful quilt layout featuring floral patterns with squares of light pastel colors and dark floral prints.

I really like how it turned out, don’t you? So soft and fresh. I can’t wait for the fabric to be available in quilt shops come September 2026.

Your homework for the next couple weeks is to decide whether you want to join me in a Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. Drop me an email (tricia@villarosadesigns.com) if you want in. I’ll post more info next week.

Let’s get quilting and finishing together! YEAH!

See you right here next week for another Spring into Spring tutorial.

Sew. Laugh. Sew Some More. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 4

October 30, 2025October 29, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

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 · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 3 and a Fun VRD Snack Mat Tutorial

October 23, 2025October 22, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

How are you this fine October Thursday? My thoughts are definitely turning towards cozy quilts, good books, and hot tea right now as the October winds howl outside, swirling the leaves in mini cyclones around the yard.

I’ve been really enjoying our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge and I hope you’ve been tuning in to the finished projects on our VRD Facebook page. If you signed up for the Challenge, please make sure to write that your before/after photos are for the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge so we can all ooooh and ahhhh over your completed project (this also makes it easier for me to note who finishes a project each week during the Challenge).

I’ve heard that it takes about 30 days to build a new habit so if we finish 1 quilt each week for 6 weeks, hypothetically we are building a new habit. At least, that’s my hope, anyway. LOL!

Before we get much further, though, let’s all congratulate Mary Q as our Week 2 winner. Yay you, Mary! Keep up the great work!

I wonder who will be our Week 3 winner next week??? Maybe Y O U ????

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 3

For Week 3, I chose to complete one of my recent blog tutorial quilts from last month – Busy Bee. I was sew in love with the Hoffman digital fabrics I used for my tutorial that I just had to finish this one as part of the challenge. Busy Bee is fat quarter friendly and finishes at 45″ x 54″, which is a nice kids quilt, baby quilt, or small throw. If you want it bigger, you can easily add more blocks or an outer border (or both).

If you missed the Busy Bee tutorial, you can find it HERE.

Don’t have Busy Bee yet?

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

Here’s my BEFORE photo:

A patchwork quilt hanging on a clothesline, featuring a mix of floral and patterned fabric squares in shades of pink, green, and white.

Here’s my AFTER photo:

A cozy quilt featuring a patchwork design with pink, green, and floral patterns, draped over a chair outdoors.

I backed my quilt with a lovely dusty rose textured fleece and free motion quilted the quilt with an allover meander design in a pretty pink thread.

I had a question recently on the blog about using fleece on the back of quilts, so I thought I’d address it here. I do not use batting when I use fleece on the back. I generally only use fleece on the backs of my throw quilts, although my quilty cuz, Kim, is using her fleece scraps on the back of her table runners and smaller projects, too. As for quilting a fleece backed quilt, I try to stay away from designs that cross over because the fleece is really stretchy and the quilt top isn’t (or at least it shouldn’t be) and crossing over lines potentially runs the risk of getting pleats and folds at intersections. I find wiggly line and meandering my designs of choice when quilting fleece backed quilts.

For more tips when quilting fleece, you can check out a blog post HERE from a few years ago.

The binding is Riviera, a Dot batik from our quilting partner, Hoffman , and it’s the absolute perfect finish. I stitched the binding on by machine again to save time. It turned out okay, but a few of my corners had minds of their own and were trying to do the salsa. Sheesh! I even had to rip one out and force it into submission. Corners can be so tricky!

A colorful batik fabric design featuring a blend of deep reds, purples, greens, and pinks with a dotted pattern throughout. — *Riviera Dot batik from Hoffman*

Now to decide which quilt to finish for Week 4……..

FUN VRD Snack Mat Tutorial

Recently, Chris from Needlepointers.com reached out to us to share a really fun idea and tutorial using our VRD Snack Mat patterns and I’m thrilled to share it with you. If you haven’t ever checked out Needlepointers.com, you should! Chris and her daughter Annette have been sharing craft tutorials and projects for the last 20 years on their website.

If you’re like me, you’re on the lookout for fun and fast Holiday gift ideas because the holidays are almost upon us. Snack Mats, of course, are an AWESOME quick and easy gift idea and as a bonus, each pattern makes 2 Snack Mats. You can find all the VRD Snack Mat patterns HERE. Snack Mat patterns are available in both digital and print formats.

Thanks, Chris, for sharing this GREAT IDEA with us!

Have you made anything fun using any of our VRD patterns and put together a tutorial online? We’d love to see it.

Please note that if you are thinking about creating a tutorial of your favorite VRD project (or you’ve done one already):

You may show the front of the pattern, but never the back where the instructions are
Do not give any cutting dimensions or measurements out verbally or in writing as part of your tutorial

Please keep in mind that all VRD patterns are protected by copyright law. Thank you for kindly respecting our VRD designers, their creativity, and their hard work.

Well, I’d better get to work on my Week 4 Challenge Project. I’ll show it off next week. You’d better get yours going, too.

See you then.

Have a great week. Get SEW much done!

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

October 16, 2025October 15, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

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 · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 1 and NEW October VRD Quilt Patterns

October 9, 2025October 8, 2025 rosecards8 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

There’s a lot to do on today’s blog post, so let’s just jump in with both feet!

First, I want to congratulate our very own Cook family – Molly, Heidi, and mom Tamara – on taking on the former Villa Rosa Designs physical quilt shop. They’ve renamed the shop 3 Aunts Quilt Shop and you can find it HERE. Please extend them your congratulations!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

I am absolutely THRILLED that 20 intrepid quilters have joined in with me for the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. Please post your before photo (unfinished quilt top or pile of fabric with the pattern if you’re making new projects) and after photo (completed project, quilted and bound [if you are doing Accessory projects, it may not actually have quilting and/or binding and that’s okay]) on our VRD Facebook page or you can email them to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com if you prefer.

Your before/after photos must be on the Facebook page or emailed to me by each Friday at midnight EST during the 6 Week Challenge.

If you have any questions, please drop me an email.

All right! Wanna see my finished project for Week 1????

Here is my Before photo:

A vibrant quilt featuring warm autumn colors such as orange and brown, displayed outdoors on a sunny day, with trees and grass in the background.

And here is my After photo:

A colorful quilt draped over a chair, featuring autumn-themed fabrics in shades of orange, yellow, and brown, with a patchwork design.

This VRD quilt is the Alassio pattern. I did this one as a tutorial in August 2023 (when I first wrote this sentence I thought it was from last year, then I checked and found out it was from 2023 – yikes!) and it went into my UFO (unfinished Object) pile. I thought it would a great one to start out the Challenge because it has a lovely warm fall vibe with the yummy batiks from Hoffman. I backed the quilt with cozy orange fleece and free motion quilted it with an allover meander design. I added the binding and machine-stitched it down. I’m not the greatest at finishing binding by machine, but it sure does go a lot faster than doing it by hand. I then added my label to the back. As this isn’t one of my patterns, I added VRD and the name of the pattern to my label along with my name, city and state, and the year the quilt was finished. Even though I started it in 2023, I didn’t complete it until now, so 2025 goes on the label.

Cover image for the Alassio quilt pattern by Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a colorful patchwork design with various fabrics in squares and rectangles.

Don’t have Alassio???

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Find the VRD Alassio tutorial HERE

I’ve already picked my project to complete for Week 2, but you’ll have to wait until next week to see it.

Now it’s your turn – post your photos before midnight. I’ll keep track of everyone who has posted (or sent me) their before/after photos for each week. Then I’ll randomly select that week’s winner from those folks who completed their weekly challenge. Please bear with me as I line up the prizes as this past weekend was International Quilt Market and this week is Festival so many of the companies I work with are a bit preoccupied right now.

If you don’t post a before/after photo for a weekly Challenge or you miss the deadline, your name won’t go into that week’s prize drawing. And that’s okay because life gets busy. I’m not kicking you out of the challenge – just make sure to post your photos for the next week to get your name in the next week’s drawing. Easy peasy.

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

I hope I’ve answered any questions you might have had. If not, feel free to email me.

Now let’s take a look at the new October quilt patterns!

NEW October VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns

As many of you already know, I just love the Thursday after the first Friday of every month because I get to show off our new patterns! If you’re new to Villa Rosa, you might not yet know that we offer at least 5 (but sometimes 6 or even 7) NEW patterns each and every month. It’s crazy, right? And nobody else does that, except VRD.

An overview of five new quilt patterns for October 2025, including 'Enchanted Forest,' 'Gabriella,' 'Maple Syrup,' 'Fennimore,' and 'Phyllis.' Each pattern features unique designs and colors, showcased in a collage format.

Get All 5 print patterns HERE

Enchanted Forest is Melissa’s new pattern just in time for Fall Quilting……or Spring…….or Summer. Her “happy trees” are right at home in any season! You can find a kit at Molly and Heidi’s newly named 3 Aunts Quilt Shop, HERE.

Gabriella is Pat’s newest Tim Holtz Palette quilt and features 3 lovely stars amongst the lavender and purple prints. 3 Aunts Quilt Shop still has kits available HERE.

Maple Syrup is Heidi’s latest foody quilt featuring a lovely panel and side borders of a coordinating printed stripe. 3 Aunts has kits in stock HERE.

Fennimore is Rachelle’s new modern pattern for October. It features a very interesting block. You can find Fennimore kits at 3 Aunts HERE.

Phyllis is Catherine’s October pattern and shows you a unique way to make the large star blocks. You can find 3 different kit options at Catherine’s shop, Running Doe Quilts, HERE.

There’s one more quilt for this month and it’s a real fun one!

Boscobel is a small or wall quilt sized project by Rachelle. You can use the cut off triangles from Fennimore for this project or your favorite stack of 5″ squares. This small quilt would also make a great table quilt!

A vibrant quilt titled 'Boscobel' featuring colorful triangles on a white background, designed by Rachelle for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

Yes, you probably noticed that yours truly did not have a new pattern for October. You’ll just have to wait for November!

I wanted to let you know that I’m still reading book 5 in the Quilt City series. The story is moving along swiftly, but I just haven’t had a lot of time to read this past week.

Well, it’s time for me to get back to my Challenge project for next week. Happy quilting to all of you!

See you right back here next week for more VRD fun and Week 2 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge.

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD