Rose Cards · Tips and Tricks · Tutorials

NEW VRD Rose Card Patterns for September and VRD Cinnamon Stix Quilt Tutorial

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope you are enjoying this collection of VRD quilt tutorials to inspire you to leap back into quilting this fall. May these tutorials nudge you into making a quilt for someone special or maybe just for yourself.

We’ve got lots to do today, so let’s get moving.

First up, it’s the Thursday after the first Friday of the month, and you know what that means – NEW PATTERNS! Talk about fall inspiration!!!

Here’s the new collection of 5 VRD Rose Cards for September. Aren’t they super???

A collage of quilt pattern cards for September 2025, featuring designs titled Awestruck, Edwina, Pumpkin Parade, Besties, and Viroqua, each with vibrant colors and unique patterns.

Get the set of 5 print patterns HERE

(Patterns are also available individually both as print and digital versions)

Awestruck by Molly uses 5″ squares and finishes at 44″ x 60″. There are kits still available HERE featuring Tula’s True Colors collection while they last. Totally loving the name!

Melissa wows us with her Pumpkin Parade throw quilt. It uses yardage (or your stash!) and finishes at 45″ x 56″. We still have a few kits left HERE featuring Riley Blake Seasonal fabrics, so grab one before they’re gone.

Pat is back this month with her latest Tim Holtz Palette quilt pattern, Edwina, featuring the Indigo Palette. Edwina finishes at 45″ x 60″ and is fat quarter friendly. Kits are still available, but going fast, so get yours HERE.

Besties is my new throw-sized quilt pattern this month. It’s fat quarter friendly and finishes at 48″ x 64″. We have kits featuring Anna Maria’s Iconic collection (see below) still available HERE.

Colorful patchwork quilt featuring various floral patterns and vibrant colors arranged in a grid layout.

Besties in the Iconic Collection

Viroqua is Rachelle’s latest smashing mod pattern. It finishes at 42″ x 48″ and uses half yards and yardage (stash friendly!). There are kits still available HERE featuring Windham’s Sketchbook 21 collection (see below).

A patchwork quilt top featuring various fabric patterns arranged in a geometric design with triangles and squares, showcasing a mix of colors and textures.

Viroqua in the Sketchbook 21 collection (please disregard the 2 mistakes where we turned the HSTs the wrong way – it’s getting fixed as we speak)

Last, but certainly not least is this month’s new table runner, Beachcomber. I’m sorry I missed the deadline boat last month with this fun runner, but I think it’s not too late to have just a wee bit more summer before it’s officially autumn on September 22nd.

You can really use just about any fabric collection or your stash for this fun and clever runner. Beachcomber finishes at 18″ x 54″ and uses yardage. Autumn? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas? And the list goes on. Have you ever thought about making a 2 sided runner with 2 different seasons….here’s your chance!

A digital mockup of the Beachcomber quilt pattern designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney, featuring a colorful quilt laid out on a sandy beach with ocean waves in the background.

Get your digital Beachcomber pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

Now we’ve covered all of the new September patterns, which one will you make first?

OH! One last little thing about the new patterns – Melissa’s new Pumpkin Parade throw quilt is a fabulous companion to our best-selling Pumpkin Hollow table runner.

A quilted table runner featuring orange pumpkins on a white background with a checked pattern, accompanied by autumn leaves, titled 'Pumpkin Hollow' designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney for Villa Rosa Designs.

Get your Pumpkin Hollow digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE.

All right, moving on, let’s dive into this week’s quilt tutorial – Cinnamon Stix.

Cinnamon Stix is a great pattern for a favorite fabric collection. You can use a stripe or even a seasonal/novelty fabric in the long strips, so it’s really versatile. Then simply add your coordinating fabrics for the Stix, a sashing, and border. Cinnamon Stix is fat quarter friendly and finishes at a nice 46″ x 63″.

A vibrant quilt titled 'Cinnamon Stix' featuring horizontal stripes of various fabrics in warm autumn colors and patterns, framed by a green border.

Get your Cinnamon Stix digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

I promised you a few weeks ago that I was going to have another quilt featuring Hoffman’s Rodeo Dreams digital collection – well, here it is! Today we’re using the border stripe in the collection along with fun coordinates, including a few batiks.

A variety of fabric swatches in red, blue, and neutral tones arranged on a sewing table, featuring a western-themed border print with cowboys and horses, alongside a quilting pattern titled 'Cinnamon Stix'.

First up, we’re going to cut out the Stix for the 3 pieced Stix rows.

A rotary cutter and acrylic ruler on a cutting mat with the 'Cinnamon Stix' quilt pattern card by Heidi Cook.

Once we’ve gotten all of the Stix cut, we’re going to slap them up on the design wall so we can arrange and rearrange them until we’re happy with the fabric placement.

Heads up – because the Stix are cut different widths, each row might look a bit different, depending on how you arrange your Stix.

Fabric squares arranged on a design wall in a patchwork pattern, featuring red, white, and blue colors.

Now we’re happy with how the Stix rows look, so it’s time to sew them together. I like to sew them into pairs, then sew the pairs into quads, and so on until all the pieces are stitched together into a row. Then repeat for the next 2 rows.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching layers of fabric together, featuring a mixture of light beige and patterned blue fabric.

Okay, all the Stix are sewn together into 3 rows. Lookin’ good!

Three rows of colorful quilt fabric blocks arranged on a design wall, featuring blue, red, and cream tones.

Next let’s work on prepping and cutting the Rodeo border stripe fabric. My pal (and cousin), Robin, is helping me out with this tutorial today – we’re working on it in her sewing room.

A person cutting fabric on a cutting mat with a rotary cutter, featuring printed rodeo scenes and decorative fabric borders.
Hey Robin!

Once the stripe is cut, we’re going to work on cutting the narrow sashing, which is this gorgeous blue 885 Dot batik. LOVE IT!

A rotary cutter is placed on a cutting mat with strips of navy blue fabric featuring white dot patterns, alongside a clear acrylic ruler for measuring.

Let’s sew the sashing to both sides of our pieced Stix rows.

A sewing machine stitching together several pieces of fabric, including a patterned pink fabric and solid blue fabric, arranged on a sewing table.

Now we’re going to lay out the sashed Stix rows with the stripe. My tip is to find the center of the sashed Stix row and the center of the border stripe. Then match and pin the centers together and pin outward towards the ends to keep the quilt nice and square. We’re ready to sew the rows together. And then we need to add sashing all the way around as our first border.

Yay! The center of the quilt is finished. Easy peasy!

A quilt featuring western-themed fabric panels depicting riders on horses and dogs, arranged in alternating striped sections of blue, red, and patterned fabric, displayed against a light-grey backdrop.

Okay, time to cut the final border, which is a wonderful red bandana print from the Rodeo Dreams collection. Then we’re going to sew it to the quilt. Yay!

A person cutting red bandana fabric with a rotary cutter on a cutting mat using a ruler for measurements.

And here it is – the finished Cinnamon Stix quilt top in Rodeo Dreams. Isn’t it really fun???

A colorful quilt featuring cowboy and rodeo-themed fabric, arranged in vertical stripes with red borders, displayed against a light backdrop.

Here it is outside for a straight-on shot. It was really breezy so we ended up taking the photo in front of one of Robin’s hubby’s farm toys so it blocked the wind, instead of in front of the old barn (our first choice). Thank you Mary Lee and Robin for holding the quilt and fighting the wind for me. Perfect!

Two people holding a finished quilt featuring horse and cowboy patterns against a construction vehicle background.

I bet you’re already thinking about border stripes in your stash (or something new at your local quilt shop) to use in this fun and fast VRD pattern. We’d love to see your Cinnamon Stix quilts on our VRD Facebook page.

Now that the top (or flimsy) is done, it’s time to layer it with batting and backing, quilt it, bind it, and lastly add a label. Eventually…..

Stay tuned next week for another great VRD tutorial.

Until then –

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

quilt market · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Welcome to International Quilt Market Fall 2022!

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Here it is — a little peak inside International Quilt Market by moi just for you.

I remember before I attended my first Fall Market in 2010, “Market” was a term that conjured up all kinds of quilt mystique. We talked about it in hushed voices tinged with awe. What exactly was it? How did you get to go? Why was it such a mystery?

Twelve years later and although the mystery has unraveled over the years, I am still amazed by every Quilt Market I attend.

This year was different from all the others — I came to Market with a whole new purpose. In the past, I either attended Market in order to promote my latest book or as an independent designer associated with a publisher or other business. This time I came as part of the Villa Rosa Designs team and would be working at the VRD booth for the first time. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was so excited to go. I had a lot to learn and had great teachers in Pat, our “Rose Queen”, Bonnie who manages the retail shop in California, and Leann, Pat’s daughter and the VRD computer whiz.

So what exactly is International Quilt Market?

Since 1979, the show has been the trade show for the quilting and textile industries.

Market is a wholesale trade show, open only to credentialed attendees and those in the business. Here, you’ll be able to visit more than 1,000 booths to see all kinds of products both new and familiar ranging from fabrics, book, and patterns to sewing machines, notions, and supplies. You can also learn in dozens of Take & Teach classes and Business Seminars, and take that knowledge or class skills back home to your shop or business!

From the Quilts, Inc. website.

This year’s Houston Quilt Market might not have been as big as the last pre-pandemic Houston Market in 2019, but everyone there was excited and energized to be there.

Let me take you on a little tour of Quilt Market by visiting some of the booths and vendors.

First up, of course is our Villa Rosa Designs booth!

Nice, huh? All the quilts you see hung around the walls of the booth are all cover quilts for Rose Cards of the last 6 months. Oh! The table runners were there too — draped down on the table fronts. Bright, colorful, and fun! We even had fat quarters bundles and kits.

So many great shop owners/workers, designers, and lots of other folks in the industry stopped by to see the latest patterns and catch up. Everyone was so kind and excited about our Rose Card patterns. I met a lot of super people and really enjoyed chatting and talking Villa Rosa Designs with everyone.

When the booth wasn’t too busy, we all took turns going to appointments, meeting up with contacts, and walking the floor, seeing all the other booths, and checking out displays to see what was new and trending. Of course, when we were swamped, it was all hands on deck!

News Flash!

One of the things we were really excited to share with everyone who walked into the booth was our NEW Villa Rosa Designs fabric collection with Blank Quilting. The collection is called Xanadu. Yep, like the 1970’s movie. And the collection has a wonderful 70s feel that is fresh, fun, funky, and flirty with an updated color palette. It was designed by Pat’s sister, Nancy Lorene, who does most of the art for the Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards. There are 12 completely different fabrics in the collection. It should be shipping to your local quilt shops in April 2023.

Here it is! Isn’t it great??? My absolute favorite piece is the one that looks like paper snippets (I love them all of course, but that one really sparks my imagination).

We were even able to make up a few quilts using Xanadu samples! The real fabrics are even better than the digital images.

I checked in with some of my favorite vendors and also met some new ones this year.

One of the first places I checked out was the “Toy Department,” Graphic Expressions, where you can find all kinds of fun, useful, and quirky little goodies.

My next stop was to see my old friends, the Springers at Quilts from Mulberry Lane. I met them at my first Quilt Market and at every one I’ve attended since, I make sure to stop to shop and catch up. They always have a great selection of antique quilts and textiles. This year they even had some feed sacks, but I was already familiar with the patterns, so I shopped through their antique quilt blocks and brought a great selection home with me.

It took me a little while to find the Swan Amity booth, but after the second attempt, I found them. Boy was I glad too! They were on my to-do list for Market because I needed a new pair of machine quilting gloves. I found their gloves when I attended Market in 2019 and I never quilt without them now, but after 3 years, my gloves are starting to show some wear (see my 3 year old pair on the left in the photo below). Swan Amity gloves are a lot like a leather golf glove with touchscreen fingertips and padded palms. Love them!

I had a great time shooting the breeze with the ladies at the Mary Ellen’s Best Press booth. Devi and the gang were so much fun! I personally can’t make a quilt without Best Press. My favorite scents are Peach and Citrus. What’s your favorite?

I stopped by the Hoffman California Fabrics booth and got the chance to meet up with Sandy, who I’ve been working with on some projects lately. It was so awesome to finally meet her! That’s one of my favorite things about Quilt Market — meeting people in person, especially if you’ve only been in contact with them through email.

At Market, the fabric companies display quilt samples featuring their upcoming collections so it’s a really good opportunity to see upcoming trends in fabric colors and quilt styles. Look at these gorgeous quilts on display at Hoffman.

I checked in with my pals at Choice Fabrics, too, and introduced them to Villa Rosa Design Rose Cards. Sorry, I never did get around to taking a photo of their booth, we were too busy gabbing! LOL!

I was on the lookout for new products and other cool stuff when I walked around the show.

I met Rosanna of Rosanna Diggs Embroidery. This was her first time at Quilt Market, showing off her great embroidery kits. The kits had absolutely everything in them you needed except scissors! And the designs were just adorable. The Hexagon quilt block kit grabbed my attention on the front table, so I stopped in the booth to say hi.

I stopped to visit with the designer, Lori, of From My Heart to Your Hands, to tell her how much I love her gorgeous miniature quilt patterns. I have collected quite a few of her Fat Quarter Quilting patterns, which have 9 mini quilts in each pattern pack. I love the mix of piecing and applique, although I’m definitely a piecer and not an appliquer — I still haven’t finished my first mini applique quilt from one of her patterns from years ago. I really loved her display of the mini quilts pinned with clothespins to clotheslines. So fun and eye catching! Wish I’d thought of it!

I visited with another pattern designer, Dawn, at the Sew Cherished booth. Her wool applique was simply amazing. Wool applique is something I really admire, but haven’t done much of it yet. Someday……

A new friend I met at lunch introduced me to the ladies at the booth next to hers, Trailhead Yarns. Their threads are truly amazing and there are so many colors to choose from — even variegated! I’m thinking I might want to try some Sashiko again sometime.

Everywhere I turned there were QUILTS, QUILTS, and more QUILTS! Here are some of the great quilts I spotted at Market.

Well, that just about wraps up my visit to International Quilt Market. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I saw. My head is swimming with visions of quilts and fabrics. Time to spend some quality time with my sewing machine.

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD