Yep – you’re right, it’s not Thursday yet, but I had some important information to share with you about Villa Rosa Designs and it couldn’t wait until our usual Thursday post.
Please read on –
Moving Along
Pat Fryer is making changes – all toward scaling back her personal work load and concentrating on the Villa Rosa patterns.
California fabric shop and online fabric store –
All of the fresh new fabrics will be handed off to Heidi and Molly Cook. The location is the same and all of the good things will be there. They have a new name – 3 Aunts Quilt Shop. The website 3AuntsQuiltShop.com will be live October 1. There will be links on the VillaRosaDesigns.com website and in our newsletters. All of Villa Rosa Designs patterns will be available at the shop and on 3AuntsQuiltShop.com. 3 Aunts Quilt Shop will carry on as the California home of Villa Rosa Designs. Great things are in store!
VillaRosaDesigns.com –
The website will continue to have all of the Villa Rosa Designs patterns, and will still have close-out fabric and kits. There is much remaining inventory after years of buying and overbuying fabric.
Pat and company [me included!] are going to be adding much more in the way of videos, tutorials, challenges, social sharing. Let’s keep Villa Rosa Designs quilting and connected!
The new Texas home of Villa Rosa Designs –
A new East Texas location is opening in October. The location is a partnership between Pat of Villa Rosa Designs and Catherine of Running Doe Quilts. Running Doe Quilt Shop is expanding there – more machines, more fabric and notions, more classes. Running Doe’s new shop will be renamed Rose City Sewing. The location will have all of the Villa Rosa patterns available, along with close-out Villa Rosa fabrics. Great things are in store!
Wholesale Operations –
Austin, TX is still home to Villa Rosa Designs administration and print shop. Leann Fryer handles operations, web design, programming, wholesale ordering, and special orders. Wholesale orders for quilt shops can be placed on VillaRosaWholesale.com.
Pattern Shipping –
Central Missouri houses the patterns. Eric Aitken fills pattern orders – wholesale and retail. Nancy Aitken heads our art department from there.
With all these moves, Villa Rosa Designs continues to be scattered over 3 states. Centralizing contacts – phone and emails – will be a challenge we hope to simplify.
Contacts –
3 Aunts Quilt Shop – Molly Cook, Heidi Cook 3auntsquiltshop@gmail.com 530-509-5133 530-798-8506 530-755-6467 3AuntsQuiltShop.com 12438 Loma Rica Dr., Ste. A Grass Valley CA 95945
Whew! What a crazy whirlwind the last few days here at Quilt Market have been! As I sit down to write this, Market is over and Festival is just beginning and I thought I’d share a little bit about my Market experience with you. So here goes.
Time to Travel
While Molly and Heidi were flying in from California and I was on my way from Pennsylvania last Thursday, Pat was already here in Houston. Pat spent the day hauling stuff from the van to the booth and running here and there to pick up shipments. Molly and Heidi’s plane was diverted which made them arrive a few hours late and my plane was early, so the three of us actually met at the airport.
Check out these really cool clouds I saw from the plane. I’ve never seen clouds quite like this before with strange finger-like projections on the top of the clouds. You might need to zoom in on the photos to see the weirdness.
DID YOU KNOW?????? Snack Mats are a great accessory for plane travel — they are just the right size for the seat trays. What a great way to brighten up your flight (and keep things clean) as you enjoy the onboard snack and beverage. I discovered this quite by accident when I was finishing a bit of binding and laid my mat down on the table. Huh! Happy accident! You can find ALL of our VRD Snack Mats so far to date HERE.
Up to this point, everything had seemed so easy for me – too easy, I guess – as there ended up being an issue with Molly’s rental car so the three of us went to 2 different rental companies until we were finally on our way to the house Pat had rented. We dropped our stuff off at the house and headed for Wal Mart to grab what we needed. Wouldn’t you know it, but the closest Wal Mart wasn’t even a real Superstore because it lacked sections such as dairy and produce, so we ended up having to go to Randal’s to pick up our food items. Yikes!
We finally made it back to the house so we could settle in. Sheesh, I was totally worn out! Travel days can be like like that, can’t they?
Behind the Scenes at Marketand SEW Much More!
We headed to the Conference Center the next morning on Friday to get the booth set up for Quilt Market. This is definitely no easy task, let me tell you! First, you have to get everything inside so you can set up your booth. Luckily Pat had spent Thursday doing just that so we didn’t have to move much inside. Secondly, you have to navigate around all the other vendors’ stuff sitting in the aisles as they are also setting up their booths. Let me show you some photos of set up. Don’t forget the loaders and equipment, the trolleys and carts….
See what I mean??? These photos are looking up and down the aisle the VRD booth is located in.
And here’s our VRD booth in the beginning stages. We had a Schoolhouse session at 1:55 PM, so we couldn’t do much with the quilts until afterwards. Schoolhouse sessions are basically mini break out lectures where vendors can share their current and upcoming products and programs.
I was thrilled that our quilting partners, Hoffman, were in the booth right beside us. It was great seeing my Hoffman pal, Sandy, again. Oops, I never did take any photos of their booth. Mea culpa…..
So, halfway through set-up, we took our cart of quilts (which you see above in the third photo) and headed up to the classroom assigned to us for our session.
WOWZER!
There ended up being well over 100 people in attendance to see what was new with Villa Rosa! And to see all the quilts, too! Amazingly, we showed every single one we brought upstairs. It was crowded and standing room only — just the way we like it. YAY!
Look at all those happy people!
Then it was straight back to the booth to really get it set up. Molly and Heidi worked on hanging quilts. Pat and I kept working on Rose Cards. It was hustle time!
Finally, we were ready for the onslaught of eager shop owners on Saturday! It never fails to amaze and delight me when a disorganized space suddenly turns into a beautiful booth. Big SHOUT OUT to Molly and Heidi — they hung all the quilts, moved tables, helped Pat figure out the layout….
Me, I just try to stay out of the way and look pretty. LOL!
Quilt Market is On!
Saturday went incredibly fast as we were pretty much swamped all day. It took all 4 of us to man the booth. I just LOVE chatting with everyone and hearing their wonderful VRD stories and experiences. I didn’t get to grab any photos for you on Saturday, sorry.
Sunday was also pretty steady, but not the mobs like on Saturday. Molly and Heidi had some meetings at fabric companies to order new fabrics just for you! You’ll have to stay tuned to see what new fabrics are coming into the shop over the next year.
Here are some great photos Molly and Heidi wanted to share with you:
By the way, Molly promises to drop into the blog soon – she’s working on some new posts just for you. 🙂
Monday was my play day! Woohoo! When I wasn’t needed in the booth, I headed right down to the first aisle and enjoyed some great eye candy as I meandered my way through the aisles. I was such a slowpoke, though, because I kept stopping and chatting, but hey, that’s part of a show, isn’t it? After all the Markets I’ve been to now, I’ve developed lots of show friendships over the years, so it’s great to check in with folks and catch up.
Of course, I also love to meet new people, too.
I even managed to get some photos with a few folks myself. Cool!
With Minki Kim, a Riley Blake designerWith Kaffe Fassett and LizaWith Brandon Mably
I stopped by and met some other great designers too. Sandy Gervais has been one of my all-time favorite fabric designers for a very long time, so it was great to meet her.
Monday was such a relaxed day, I didn’t feel like I had to hurry to see everything all at once. Surprisingly, I did actually get to see everything. Yay!
This is a wonderful felt board set – it’s a felt panel! – by Jennifer for her Created With Love fabric collection coming to shops in May 2025. There will even be a felt panel sew along in May, so watch for it!
I absolutely adore it!
When I was a Children’s Librarian at my local public library a few years ago, I led a Tuesday Toddler Time and we always did some kind of felt board activity. Oh, how the kiddos would have loved this set. It does come with a cute little book for storage and play, but you could use them on a large flannel board, too. If you have little ones in your life, you might want to watch when this collection comes out and grab the felt panel because it probably won’t last long.
Schiffer Publishing booth
I wouldn’t be a very good book nerd if I didn’t show at least one photo with books, would I? There were 3 different publishers present this year. That was really great to see because since the Pandemic, book and magazine publishers have been slow to return to Market. Still no magazine publishers, though. Maybe next year.
Schiffer Publishing (the photo above) has always been my go-to publisher for amazing historical quilt books with an abundance of gorgeous photos. It was so nice to see my Schiffer pal, Joe, and catch up with him. I haven’t seen him at a show since before the Pandemic so it was great to see him.
C&T Publishing was there this year, too. In addition to being one of our 2024 Blog Hop participants and sponsors, they were my publisher for my book, I Love Precut Quilts!
Fox Chapel was there, too. They were also one of our awesome 2024 Blog Hop sponsors.
Next up is Quilt Festival! If you’re planning to attend, please please please come see us and introduce yourself — we would love to see you. You can find us at booth 721. I promise, we’ll have some great shopping for you – kits, patterns, fabric, and super fun fat quarter bundles! Wait until you see our amazing dump table.
See you there!
Well, looks like that’s it for me this week! Stay tuned for next week’s post all about Quilt Festival!
I hope you all enjoyed last week’s photo tour of the Villa Rosa Quilt Shop with guest blogger Molly Cook. I certainly did as I’ve never seen the shop in person. Thanks, Molly! We look forward to you popping in on the blog again soon!
I’m happy to say I’m now a few weeks post knee replacement surgery and my knee is doing great. It’ll be a little while before I go bowling or line dancing, but I’m on the mend now.
Today I am excited to interview Heidi Cook, who is one third of the Villa Rosa Designs Cook Family designer trio, along with sister, Molly and Mom, Tamara.
Tricia: Hi Heidi! Thanks for taking the time to do an interview for the blog!
Heidi: Sure, glad to help out.
Tricia: Tell us about yourself.
Heidi: I live in Nevada County, California and I’m the youngest of 4 kids. And we were all home-schooled.
Tricia: Wow, that must have kept your Mom really busy. Anything else?
Heidi: I raised pigs for 5 years for our local Nevada County Fair.
Tricia: Cool, I was in the 4-H here in PA, but it was a cooking 4-H. Boy, that was a long time ago! LOL! Where/how did you meet Pat Fryer, Rose Queen and owner of Villa Rosa Designs?
Heidi: I met Pat at our local quilt guild.
Tricia: When did you learn to sew/quilt?
Heidi: I started sewing at age 9 when I joined the Junior Quilters through our local quilt guild and I started sewing for community service.
Tricia: 9 years old? WOW! So you’ve been sewing for quite a while, then?
Heidi: Yep, 18 years.
Tricia: I know you and Molly sew, but how about your other 2 siblings? Do they sew, too?
Heidi: The oldest, Naomi, started sewing first and she works at a fabric shop in Arkansas. My brother, who is between Molly and me, sewed till he got married.
Tricia: Wow! That is amazing! How long did you sew before designing your own quilts and patterns?
Heidi: I started designing my own quilts with scraps but it was officially about 8 years before I actually came out with my own patterns.
Tricia: What’s your favorite part of quilting/designing?
Heidi: Picking out the fabric, of course! LOL!
Tricia: Yep, that’s definitely one of my favorites too! What about your least favorite?
Heidi: Cutting it out.
Tricia: Do you have a favorite pattern from those you’ve designed?
Heidi: No! They are all my children — how could I pick just one as my favorite — they are all my favorites.
Tricia: Here are Heidi’s VRD Rose Card patterns to date. You can find them HERE.
Tricia: Wowzer, Heidi! You certainly have a lot of quilt patterns! And I see a theme in all their names — food. Am I guessing right that you like to cook?
Heidi: You guessed right! LOL! I not only cook, but I love to garden too!
Tricia: What else do you do when you’re not quilting or sewing?
Heidi: I like to play coed softball and keep score for the senior softball league.
Tricia: Any advice for quilters who want to become quilt designers?
Heidi: Graph paper is your best friend!
Tricia: Just so you know, dear readers, Heidi is a big part in prepping for the shows whether it’s the Facebook live sale or the quilt shows. Thanks, Heidi! It’s been great getting to know you better and we all look forward to your upcoming “foody” Rose Card patterns.
Heidi: Thanks for having me!
What fun to get to know another of our amazing VRD Designers! Take care and don’t forget to scoop up some of Heidi’s delicious patterns!
Gulp — other than shopping, I have yet to even get started. Oh wait! I put out a couple decorations in the living room and got the outside lights on. Hmm. That’s it.
Yikes! I’d better get moving, there’s only 10 days until Christmas…..
Recently, I wrapped up (pun intended) my 2022 Table Runner a Month class with a festive December Christmas party/class. What a lot of fun we had — we met an hour earlier than usual so we could do a pot luck lunch. YUM! I don’t know why, but quilting and food always go together. And chocolate — you have to have chocolate!
It was a soup and sandwich pot luck — we had 2 soups, sandwich wraps, meatballs, and an awesome assortment of everything else! Way too much food, but OH SO DELICIOUS! I tried my hand at potato soup. I ended up mashing 3 different recipes together. I made it on the stove top and then transferred it to a crock pot. I was amazed at how good it actually turned out, considering I’d never made potato soup this way before. In the past, I always started with a white sauce, but this time I started with chicken broth — I didn’t even have to add any flour — the starch in the potatoes thickened up the soup when I squashed them up with a spatula once they were soft. Of course, the cream cheese and shredded cheddar didn’t hurt any either! Here is one of the recipes I mashed up: Easy Potato Soup Recipe.
We did a 1 yard fabric exchange, too. For my group, that means we each brought the equivalent of about a yard of fabric in a gift bag or box (could be 4 fat quarters, 8 fat eighths, 1 charm pack, 2 half yards — you get the idea). To do the fabric exchange, we sat in a circle and played a Christmas game using a Right Left version of Frosty the Snowman.
Don’t know what a Right Left Gift Exchange is? You can go HERE for more information and 5 fun Right Left stories. Or just search “Right Left Christmas Game” on the Internet and you will get lots of different story options so you can choose your favorite! What I love about this game is that it doesn’t take a lot of time, you can do it with any size group, and no one’s feelings get hurt.
I also went over our December project and introduced the group to the Disappearing Nine and Four Patch blocks. Are you familiar with these? I just love all the different ways you can do them and how each time, your quilt looks completely unique even though you are using the same concept over and over. Lots of fun! If you are new to Disappearing Nine and Four Patch designs, you can go HERE for more information.
Our 2022 class was a Table Runner a Month theme this year (I try to choose a different theme or project each year). We began the class in March and met once a month through December. We skip January and February because those are usually the worst winter months in our area, but sometimes March and April can be worse than January and February. Oh, jolly Pennsylvania….. Each month in 2022, we made a different Villa Rosa Rose Card table runner pattern.
One of my quilty pals, Sherry, had been after me for a couple years to do a class on my VRD runners. I finally agreed to do a year of my VRD table runner Rose Cards for 2022 — it felt kind of weird to do an entire year of my own patterns, but Sherry was right — it turned out to be an awesome group/class.
Here is the list of the Rose Cards we did for 2022 (I added the links to the VRD website just in case you want to know more or purchase the patterns) —
Now for the fun! Here are photos of some of the table runners made by members of the group.
Awesome runners, aren’t they??? And these are only some of the numerous runners!
I love how each person showed their own styles, used their own fabrics, modified the design by adding or subtracting borders, made the runners smaller or larger or even a square, and even made some runners extra special by piecing extra fabric into the backing. These ladies are not only talented, they are a great group of people.
I was so inspired this year using my Villa Rosa patterns, we are going to do a Year of Panels and Novelties in 2023, using — you guessed it — Villa Rosa patterns.
Villa Rosa Designs has over 500 patterns in our VRD catalog, so I could seriously go for years without using the same pattern twice. How cool is that? Besides, VRD releases 5+ NEW patterns every month — that’s over 60 NEW patterns EACH YEAR.
You might wonder why I am taking so much time to talk about the Table Runner class, but it leads right into my next topic!
Perfect Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas Quilters Can Make
Table Runners!
Yep — table runners are my go-to solution for a quick last minute handmade gift.
Let’s break this down:
Table Runners are….
quilts
handmade
a very personal gift
a lot faster to make than larger quilts
easy to personalize to the recipient
less expensive to make because they require small amounts of fabric
precut and stash-friendly
a great gift for practically anyone on your list
special
AWESOME!
Of course, any small quilt or project that can be finished quickly makes a great last minute gift — table runners, place mats, wall quilts, table quilts, doll quilts, mini quilts, pillows, and more.
Villa Rose Designs has got your back, I promise you!
A stack of VRD Rose Cards makes an amazing gift for yourself or your favorite quilty pals, too…..just sayin’……..
If you don’t have time to make a runner or other project before the holidays, consider gifting a quilt kit — pick a fun pattern and add the required fabrics for the top and binding. A kit for your fav quilty friend will give that person something new and fun to do during the winter months. Or gift a kit to a non-quilty person with a note saying you will complete it for them after the holidays.
However you do it, here are some great Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns to inspire you:
Table Runners and Place Mats
Amen uses pre-printed panel squares or a theme fabric which means some of the work is already done for you before you even get started.
Griddle uses stash or scraps so there’s no need to head to the quilt shop (unless you really want to…).
Ripple Runner is super fast to make and finish. Short on time? Use a light, medium, and dark fabric instead of making it scrappy. Or go Christmas scrappy — what fun!
Season’s Greetings is a no-brainer — really. Don’t have fat sixths (12″ x 22″)? Dive into your scraps and stash instead!
Sugarplum is a super simple and cute pattern that goes together in a snap. 1 fat quarter and a bunch a scraps. Sew sew sew! Presto! DONE!
Let’s Eat is a fun set of place mats that uses pre-printed panel squares or a theme fabric which means of course that some of the work is already done for you.
Small Quilts
Baby Goose is a great versatile quilt at 42″ x 58″ and can be backed with only one width of fabric. It would take longer than a table runner to make, but it still goes very fast because the focal fabric does most of the work.
Cabin Fever is the perfect size for a baby quilt or a wall quilt or a small lap quilt AND it goes really fast.
Cat City for your favorite feline lover. Go HERE for a 2 Cat City quilt block mini cat quilt tutorial.
Dainty Machines has directions for multiple sizes, including a 26″ x 26″ mini quilt with 4 blocks. You can check out my interview with Sewl Sister HERE.
Did you know we have a whole VRD collection of Accessory Rose Cards? Accessories make great gifts for anyone and everyone. I’ll show you some of my favs, but you can click on the link above to see the whole collection.
I hope these great projects have not only inspired you but give you the desire to whip up those last minute holiday gifts. There’s still time, but you’d better hurry!
Villa Rosa Quilts 