Curated List of Holiday Themed VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns Part 2 and Holiday Gift Idea #2

November 27, 2025November 26, 2025 rosecards1 Comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

And Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner setting with a golden roasted turkey centerpiece, surrounded by various side dishes, pumpkins, and autumn decorations, with 'Happy Thanksgiving' text overlay.

I hope you are spending the day with those you love in a safe place, especially if you are in the path of a wicked snowstorm, as I am here in NW PA. They’re saying anywhere from 6-19 inches of snow. But the real problem is the fierce wind that just won’t stop. The power has already blinked off 3 times while I’ve been writing this post, so I’m going to wrap it up and cross my fingers that I can launch it before we lose the power again. Please forgive me if you find any typos as I’m going to skip my usual final edit and read through today.

I hope you’re back to enjoy Part 2 of my Curated Holiday Themed List of Rose Card Quilt Patterns. I have included the links for both the the digital and the print patterns. Print patterns always ship free in the US, and for our International friends, please consider our digital versions which will come right to your inbox.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks – One Last Thank You

Prizes for our Weeks 4-6 winners will be in the mail shortly, so enjoy your quilty surprises sponsored by our good friends over at Hoffman Fabrics. Thanks so much, Hoffman!

Now please enjoy this parade of patterns while you nosh on leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. And don’t forget the pie…..

Curated Holiday Themed List of Rose Card Quilt Patterns

Nana’s Aprons – Memories of baking cookies with Nana.

A quilt design titled 'Nana's Aprons' featuring colorful patchwork patterns, displayed on a wooden background.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Olivia Jane – Patchwork bags make great gift wrapping – a gift within a gift.

Colorful charm square patchwork tote bag design featuring three views, with vibrant patterns and designs, titled 'Olivia Jane' by Villa Rosa Designs.

Print Only HERE

Painted Moon – A sweet quilt for your wall or for a special child.

Cover of the 'Painted Moon' quilt pattern featuring a colorful quilt design with floral and geometric elements, accompanied by the text 'PAINTED MOON' and 'Villa Rosa Designs'.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Parade – Memories of watching the Macy’s Christmas Parade on Christmas morning.

A colorful quilt titled 'Parade' featuring a grid of various patchwork squares on a floral background, designed by Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Peace – What can I say – the world needs more of this.

Colorful quilt titled 'Peace' featuring a patchwork design with various fabrics in shades of pink, green, blue, and yellow, displayed against a bright yellow background.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Peppermint – A classic Christmas must have.

A quilt design titled 'Peppermint' featuring a pattern of red, green, and blue fabric with festive imagery, framed with decorative borders.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Peppermint & Holly – A sweet table runner to delight one and all.

A quilted table runner named 'Peppermint & Holly' displayed against a backdrop of evergreen branches, featuring red and green colors with festive patterns.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Phyllis – Add your favorite holiday fabrics for a star-worthy season.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Petit Fours – Cake??? Did someone say cake???

A colorful quilt titled 'Petit Fours' featuring red borders and a variety of square patches in floral and solid patterns.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Pink Peace – Enjoy the quiet moments.

A quilt pattern named 'Pink Peace' featuring a patchwork design in soft pink tones, with various floral and geometric prints, presented by Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Poinsettia – You need at least one for the holidays.

A vibrant quilt pattern featuring red and green poinsettias, displayed on a pink background with a decorative border.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Puppy Love – I always wanted a puppy for Christmas!

A quilt design titled 'Puppy Love' featuring playful phrases about dogs and heart motifs, surrounded by a colorful patchwork border.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Puzzled – Jigsaw puzzles were always fun gifts.

A quilt titled 'Puzzled' featuring a pattern of overlapping squares in black, gray, and white tones, displayed with an elegant border and text by Molly Cook for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Raspberry Cream – When I was a kid, I would actually take a little bite out of each chocolate in my Mom’s box of chocolates until I found the ones I liked.

A vibrant quilt titled 'Raspberry Cream' featuring a variety of fabric patterns in shades of pink, blue, and gray, framed by a floral border.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Red Rose – Flowers for Christmas.

Colorful quilt featuring a pattern named 'Red Rose', with floral and geometric designs in shades of red, yellow, blue, and pink. The quilt is bordered by a decorative stripe and a red rose graphic in the corner.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Remember Me – The Holidays are all about remembers those you hold dear, near and far.

A quilt design titled 'Remember Me' featuring a pattern with vibrant purples, golds, and intricate geometric shapes, alongside a pink rose graphic and the text 'Villa Rosa Designs'.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Savannah Jane – A handmade gift sure to please someone special on your gift list.

Savannah Jane patchwork scarf displayed on mannequins, showcasing various colorful fabric patterns. The design features charm squares in a mix of purples, blues, and coordinating prints.

Print Only HERE

Season’s Greetings – This runner is so fast, you can make one for someone on your list and one for yourself.

A colorful patchwork table runner with holiday-themed fabric featuring patterns like candy canes, snowflakes, and plaid, set against a green background.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Sierra Snow – There will be snow for Christmas this year….

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Silver Star – We always put the star tree topper on last, right before we turned off the lights in the house and turned on the tree lights. Magical.

Cover image of the 'Silver Star' quilt pattern by Villa Rosa Designs, featuring a brightly colored star pattern set against a gray background, with a vibrant border.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Snow Goose – Another Holiday classic in blue and white.

A quilt titled 'Snow Goose' featuring blue and white geometric patterns, hanging on a tree branch amidst a snowy background.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Snow Ruby – A fast last minute make for the holidays.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Snowberry – Add some classic red and white to your holiday table this year.

A quilt pattern titled 'Snowberry' featuring a montage of red and white checkered and patterned squares, displayed against a snowy backdrop and evergreen branches.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Snowdrop – Sweet and simple and fast to make.

A quilt design titled 'Snowdrop' featuring a patchwork of various fabric patterns in shades of teal and gray, bordered by a floral motif and the text 'Villa Rosa Designs'.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Snowfall – Snow always makes the Holidays more special.

Cover of the quilt pattern titled 'Snowfall,' featuring a blue and white quilt draped on snow-covered evergreen branches.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Spice Drop – Christmas candy was always a special little treat.

A colorful quilt pattern titled 'Spice Drop' featuring various vibrant fabrics in a patchwork design, surrounded by a pink background and floral border.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Splendor – Gold and Silver ribbons and papers make for an elegant holiday.

A quilt design titled 'Splendor' featuring a decorated Christmas tree in a decorative pot, surrounded by a patchwork border of gold, silver, and white fabrics.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Star Queen – Imagine this starry stunner in the shades of Christmas gracing your bed, bringing holiday cheer all night long.

A colorful quilt titled 'Star Queen' displayed outdoors, featuring a patchwork design with star motifs in various colors.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Starfire – Stars twinkle on the tree.

A vibrant quilt design titled 'Starfire' featuring red stars on black and white floral patterns, bordered with a decorative design at the bottom.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Stargazer – Stars have a very special place in our holiday celebrations.

A colorful quilt titled 'Stargazer' displayed outdoors on snow, featuring various patterns in shades of yellow, blue, and orange, with text overlay by Running Doe Quilts for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Sugar & Spice – Cookies are baking and the whole house smells divine.

A colorful quilt design named 'Sugar & Spice' featuring a patchwork of vibrant fabrics in red, green, blue, and yellow. The quilt has a playful arrangement of patterns, including flowers, stripes, and polka dots, and is attributed to Heidi Cook for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Sugar Cookies – My Aunt’s sugar cookies were always the best with gobs of frosting and lots of sprinkles.

Quilt design featuring colorful squares and rectangles with festive sugar cookie patterns, titled 'Sugar Cookies' designed by Heidi Cook for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Sugarplum – …While visions of sugarplums dance in their heads.

Colorful quilted table runner titled 'Sugarplum' with a patchwork design featuring red, green, and pink fabrics, set against a snowy background.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Surprise – It’s hard to wait until Christmas morning to discover all the surprises the special day will reveal.

Quilt titled 'Surprise' featuring a pattern of red, green, and white fabrics, designed by Melissa Milligan for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Sweater Weather – Don your favorite ugly Christmas sweater!

A quilt titled 'Sweater Weather' featuring a blue background with white star patterns, surrounded by a snow-covered forest.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Tabitha Jane – A fun and fast to make tote bag, perfect for your holiday haul.

Promotional graphic for the 'Tabitha Jane' reversible tote bag, featuring four different fabric designs with a shoulder strap. The design includes text detailing fabric requirements, dimensions, and construction notes.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Tall Pine – Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree!

A patchwork quilt design featuring a tall pine tree on a colorful background, with the words 'TALL PINE' at the top and 'Running Doe Quilts For Villa Rosa Designs' at the bottom.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Turkish Delight – This is always a special treat during the holidays in my family.

A colorful quilt pattern titled 'Turkish Delight' by Heidi Cook for Villa Rosa Designs, featuring various fabric squares, set against a background with flowers.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Twinkle – The lights on the tree twinkle like stars in the sky.

A colorful quilt titled 'Twinkle' featuring a pattern of multi-colored triangles and squares, displayed outdoors against a cloudy sky.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Whiskers – I always wanted to find a fluffy little kitten in my Christmas stocking.

Cover of the quilt pattern titled 'Whiskers' featuring a playful kitten holding a candy cane, with a colorful quilt background decorated with festive patterns.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Woolly Mitten Snack Mat – Don’t forget your mittens when you go outside!

A quilted snack mat featuring a woolly mitten design with snowman fabric, set against a bright red background, labeled 'Woolly Mitten Snack Mat.'

Digital HERE or Print HERE

Wreathed – Time to hang the wreath on the door and add a bright red bow.

A quilt design titled 'Wreathed' featuring a circular pattern with red, green, and white elements, designed by Melissa Milligan for Villa Rosa Designs.

Digital HERE or Print HERE

And that, folks, is the end of my Curated Holiday VRD Rose Card List. I hope you enjoyed it and perhaps discovered some new-to-you patterns.

Holiday Gift Idea #2

Last week, I started a Holiday Gift Idea series – one for each week until Christmas. The idea could be for yourself, someone else, or even something to make.

As most of you know our VRD Rose Queen, Pat Fryer, is in the process of relocating to Tyler, Texas where our VRD designer, Catherine of Running Doe Quilts, is opening a new quilt shop called Rose City Quilting, which will be the new Texas home of Running Doe Quilts and Villa Rosa Designs.

There are 2 designs to choose from:

Rose City Quilting T Shirts (front design) HERE

Black t-shirt featuring a pink graphic design with a deer, sewing machine, and roses, labeled 'Rose City Sewing - Home of Running Doe Quilts & Villa Rosa Designs'.

Rose City Quilting T Shirts (back design) HERE

A light blue t-shirt featuring a graphic design with 'Rose City Sewing' text on the back, alongside images of roses and a sewing machine.

Just tell ’em Tricia sent you! (Wink, wink.)

That’s it for me this week – I’m off to enjoy a little Thanksgiving food of my own. And pie. With lots of whipped topping. Yum!

Sew. Laugh. Eat. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

VRD Tea With Mara Quilt Tutorial

August 21, 2025August 20, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

After our super fun Let’s Design a Quilt series (if you missed it, please check out the right side bar on the blog to find all of the links for the series) wrapped up last week, I promised a new group of tutorials to jump-start your autumn quilting.

You know how this time of the year is filled with local fairs and such right before the kiddos go back to school? Well, this week we’re off to the rodeo! Yippee!

Four cowboys riding horses during a rodeo, raising their hands in excitement, with dust kicking up in the background and an audience visible in the stands.

Have you ever been to a rodeo? I have a vague memory of going when I was a kid. My Grandma (my Dad’s mom) was always crazy about horses and always had at least a couple on the farm (my Grandpa always had his cows). I spent a lot of time on the farm as a kid as my grandparents’ farm was just down the road from our house. I have lots of good memories on the farm from when I was a kid. Baby animals were probably my favorite. Of course, running through the fields at midnight in the summer chasing down stray cows or horses was always fun, too. Good times.

Let’s slap our cowgirl (or cowboy) hats on our heads, put on our boots, and get started!

VRD Tea With Mara Quilt Tutorial

Tea With Mara is designed by Deanne of Creative Sewlutions, one of our talented VRD designers. This quilt finishes at a generous 58″ x 72″ and it can handle those large prints we are so loathe to chop up. Use printed panel squares……or not down the center. Sew many options……..sew little time!

A colorful quilt titled 'Tea with Mara' featuring a patchwork design with floral and butterfly patterns, highlighting various shades of pink, blue, and purple.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

PSST! Don’t forget, patterns always ship free, so grab a few more while you’re perusing the VRD patterns at the online shop.

For today’s tutorial, I’m using fabric from our friends over at Hoffman. It’s a digital-printed collection called Rodeo Dreams. When I saw this collection, I loved it! Maybe because it brought back fun memories from my childhood? So I’m letting you know right now that you’ll be seeing a couple more tutorials featuring Rodeo Dreams.

Just a quick word of caution when using digitally-printed fabrics – start with a brand new needle because if your needle is dull, you run the risk of damaging the fabric and we certainly don’t want to do that.

A selection of quilting fabrics, including blue and red bandana prints, a brown print, and a fabric featuring cowboys on horseback, alongside a digital pattern for the "Tea With Mara" quilt tutorial.

The first fabric I’m going to cut is the running yardage of the rodeo vignettes. I’m very glad I have a ruler the same size as the required block size in the pattern so I can fussy cut the squares easily and accurately.

A cutting mat featuring a quilting ruler over fabric with a rodeo scene, alongside a tutorial card for the 'Tea with Mara' quilt pattern.

Having the right sized ruler makes it a lot easier to fussy cut these vignettes than trying to cut strips and then cutting the strips into squares. This type of fabric makes strips and squares kind of tricky because the vignettes aren’t all the same size nor do they line up in a perfect grid.

Love quilting rulers! Boy, they do make quilting so much easier, faster, and more accurate.

Mostly, I rely on my 6×24 and 6×12 rulers for cutting, but it’s always a great idea to have a collection of square rulers in the most common sizes, which are not only good for fussy cutting, but also for squaring up blocks.

A set of clear quilting rulers in various sizes, featuring measurement grids and markings, placed on a white background. — This **basic ruler set** includes rulers in common sizes

The only problem with fussy cutting is that your fabric will look like Swiss cheese when you get all done! LOL! Check mine out below. I can still fussy cut more pieces out of the fabric, but there is definitely more waste doing it this way than cutting strips into squares. Just something to think about if you’ve never fussy cut before.

A layout of quilting fabric featuring rodeo scenes, displayed on a flannel wall alongside various quilt blocks.

Now I’m finished making Swiss cheese, it’s time to cut the rest of my fabrics. Loving this red bandana print – it looks like the real thing (digitally printed, of course)!

A rotary cutter and quilting ruler positioned on a cutting mat, with a vibrant red bandana print fabric and a quilt pattern titled 'Tea with Mara' by Creative Sewlutions.

Here are all my fabrics cut and ready to sew.

A collection of quilting fabrics including a red bandana print, a blue bandana print, a brown fabric, and a fabric featuring a cowboy chasing a calf, with a quilt pattern titled 'Tea with Mara' visible.

But before I start sewing, I’m going to lay out all of the pieces on my flannel wall. I want to make sure I like the placement of the rodeo vignettes before I commit to their positions permanently.

Quilt blocks arranged on a flannel wall, featuring red, blue, and brown fabrics with a rodeo theme and floral patterns.

I really like the nice big pieces in this quilt, even if I have to layer pieces on the floor because the quilt is going to be longer than my flannel wall. It’s going together surprisingly fast, though.

Of course, you don’t have to fussy cut your fabrics like I did – you could use any fabric you wanted for the center squares. Or you could even scrap this quilt up and use some of your stash. Such a versatile pattern – I could totally picture this quilt in a great collection of fall or harvest fabrics! Hmmmmmmmm….

You could even add a 6″ finished border, which would make the quilt a big 70″ x 84″!

Now I’ve got all my pieces up on the flannel wall. I switched a couple of the rodeo vignettes around, but other than that, I think it’s ready to sew. I like how it looks.

A colorful quilt layout featuring horse and rodeo-themed fabric squares, with red, blue, white, and brown patterned blocks arranged in a grid pattern on a design wall. A cutting mat and quilting ruler are visible in the foreground, along with a pattern card labeled 'Tea With Mara.'

Yippee-ki-yi-yay! Let’s sew this little dogie together! I really like how the fabrics alternate in placement from side to side – it definitely helps to keep your eyes moving around the quilt. The red and blue bandana fabrics really make this quilt in addition to the rodeo vignette squares. LOVE IT!

A quilt with alternating squares of red, white, blue, and brown fabric, featuring images of rodeo scenes.

And here it is outside on the clothesline. All I need is a horse or 2 grazing in the backyard, right? I’ll be binding this quilt with the dark blue batik you see in the fabric and pattern photo way up at the beginning of this tutorial. I think it will frame the quilt nicely.

A colorful quilt with red, blue, brown, and white squares, featuring rodeo-themed prints, hanging on a clothesline in a grassy field.

Now to get this quilt top layered, quilted, bound, and labeled…….some day, anyway. Right now I’m going to add it to my teetering pile of flimsies and UFOs. I’m hoping to make a good-sized dent in that pile this fall and winter. It’s just been way too hot this summer to machine quilt and do binding.

Here’s to autumn with its warm days and cool nights. And the brilliant colors of the season…. I can’t wait!

See you next week for another great tutorial!

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

VRD Augustina Quilt Tutorial – Perfect Summer Project

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

WHEW! If you’re like me, you are having a heatwave right now. 90’s every day. It even hit 100 on the thermometer on Monday! YIKES! I’m sooooo not ready for these temps. It’s like we went straight from 50’s to 90’s in a couple weeks.

90’s are definitely not normal for this time of year here in northwestern Pennsylvania. AND we have high humidity to go with the heat which makes me want to just melt into a puddle on the ground every time I have to step outside. I literally had to scramble on Sunday to get the window AC units in, but we’re all good now. I just don’t want to go outside anymore.

A woman in a floral dress appears distressed while crawling on a sunlit street, with water droplets visually distorting around her, creating an impression of melting. — **I’m melting into a puddle………!!!!**

Luckily my dungeon studio is still cool enough (sadly, it is not air conditioned) to work in comfortably. I have several fans on to keep the air moving, but when the heat finally infiltrates my space, it’ll get quite uncomfortable. That usually isn’t until August and September, though, but we’ll see what summer brings this year. Northwestern Pennsylvania is an interesting place to live – record amounts of snow and cold in the winter, a wet and cold spring, then – POOF! – record high temps in June. Only the strong survive……..

I finally got a little quality time with my sewing machine this week so I decided to put together a new tutorial for you. Augustina is a such great project for summer!

Of course Augustina is fast and fun – it’s a VRD pattern, but it’s also not so big that you feel like you’re wrestling an alligator while your body is dripping with sweat. I promise you, this quilt really is quick – I made the top in a couple hours and that included both cutting and photographing my step-outs for the tutorial. It’s a very satisfying afternoon project.

VRD Augustina Quilt Tutorial

Augustina is a great sized quilt for a small throw or a juvenile quilt. And this is a pattern you are going to turn to over and over again for a beautiful quilt with little effort, yet it looks like a million bucks (sorry, it’s late and I couldn’t think of another phrase to use). So don’t forget to get your own Augustina pattern if you don’t have it yet.

A vibrant quilt pattern titled 'Augustina' featuring colorful fabric blocks in shades of purple, yellow, and orange, with floral and geometric designs. The quilt is displayed on a warm orange background, showcasing its cheerful and lively aesthetic.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Let’s get started!

The first thing we need to do, of course, is round up our fabrics. Augustina is a fat quarter project, so you can march right over to your stash and find some coordinating fat quarters or you can use this project as an excuse to visit your local quilt shop to buy new fabric. Yeah, I know, we quilters really don’t need an excuse, but it is handy to have one anyway, isn’t it?

For this tutorial, I am using Flower Shoppe fabrics from our quilty friends over at Hoffman Fabrics. The flower fabrics are all amazing Hoffman digital prints – have you seen these in person yet? The colors are so bright and clear – I feel like I could pick these flowers right off the fabric. We’ve paired a few Hoffman batiks to balance out the gorgeous flower prints.

Please remember when using digital prints, that they do not react exactly the same as regular quilting cottons. Always start with a new needle in your machine so you are not pulling threads when sewing as well as a new rotary cutting blade so you are cutting cleanly through the fabric instead of sawing at it, which can damage the fibers.

A collection of fabric pieces featuring floral patterns, including sunflowers and roses, stacked with an Augustina quilt pattern booklet on a cutting mat.

Next up…..cutting.

SHHHHH! The secret of this quilt is that the pieces are big. Big pieces mean you don’t have to spend loads of time cutting little squares, rectangles, or triangles. Big pieces are a huge time saver! Big pieces also mean you can use bigger prints (when you use big prints in small pieces, the design gets all chopped up and you tend to lose what you loved about the print to begin with). Yay! Let’s GO BIG!

In the photos, below, we’re cutting our accent fabric into strips and then into rectangles.

A rotary cutter, a cutting mat, and a ruler placed on top of a blue marbled fabric in preparation for cutting.

A rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler placed on a green cutting mat with yellow grid lines, with a strip of fabric in the background.

Below, we’re cutting our FQs into strips and then into 2 different sized rectangles.

A rotary cutter and ruler placed on a floral fabric with orange poppies, laid on a green cutting mat, ready for cutting.

A rotary cutter rests on a floral fabric featuring orange poppies, positioned on a green cutting mat marked with measurements.

VIOLA! Cutting done. Easy peasy. Here’s all the pieces we need to make Augustina.

A selection of colorful quilting fabrics featuring vibrant floral patterns, including poppies and roses, arranged on a green cutting mat with a ruler and rotary cutter nearby.

Before we can sew Augustina together, we have to lay out our fabrics. I’m going to put them up on my handy dandy flannel board which consists of a flannel-backed table cloth clamped to the tops of my fabric storage unit doors. As I’ve mentioned before, this idea came from my pal, Mary Lee. Kudos to you, Mary Lee! It’s a great option if you don’t have a spare wall to put up a more permanent quilt wall solution. I can simply take it down when I need access to my yardage stash. I’ve actually had this tablecloth for years now, so it’s even an economical option.

A colorful quilt top featuring sunflower and poppy floral patterns, laid out for sewing with a light blue background and various fabric strips.

A layout of quilt fabric pieces showcasing bright floral patterns including sunflowers, poppies, and abstract designs, arranged in vertical strips with a green cutting mat below.

Hmmm……I think I need to move some fabrics around.

A colorful quilt top layout featuring floral fabrics in various patterns and colors, arranged in vertical stripes.

A vibrant patchwork layout of floral fabric squares and rectangles arranged in vertical rows, showcasing bright colors like red, yellow, and green against a light background.

After several switcharoos, I think I’m happy with the layout now.

Let’s sew!

This quilt is sewn together in vertical rows. I took my time, only taking one vertical row off of my board at a time. I worked from the top down to sew the pieces together. It doesn’t matter whether you sew your strips top down or bottom up, just be consistent with all of your rows or else you might get your fabrics out of kilter.

A sewing machine with colorful fabric pieces, including floral and orange prints, laid out for stitching.

A partially assembled quilt top featuring colorful floral fabrics in various patterns and colors, arranged in vertical strips against a crafting workspace.

Okay, all the fabrics are now sewn into vertical rows.

Vertical strips of colorful floral and solid fabrics are laid out for a quilt project, with a cutting mat visible below.

Now I’m going to sew the vertical rows together into pairs. As this quilt has an odd number of rows, the last row will have to hang out all by itself for a while.

Vertical strips of colorful floral fabrics arranged on a flannel board in preparation for quilting.

Next, I’m going to sew the first 2 pairs together into a foursome. Then I’ll sew the third pair and the last row together into a trio.

Two vertical quilt sections showcasing a colorful patchwork of floral and solid fabrics on a cutting mat.

One last seam to sew the 2 sections together and the Augustina top will be finished. Fast as can be! There isn’t a lot of matching seams, but you do want to make sure your accent pieces are relatively even-looking across the quilt.

And here it is! Our completed Augustina quilt top.

Colorful quilt top featuring floral and solid fabric blocks arranged in a vertical pattern.

Although it was hot, I decided to take Augustina outside for a glamour photo. Sigh…….it was a little breezy out and I couldn’t get a photo with it hanging nicely for you. Bummer. But I do love how it looks surrounded by all the green – the flowers look like they are about to burst right off the quilt! That’s digital fabric for you – the number of colors that can be printed on fabric is phenomenal and creates stunning designs.

A colorful quilt featuring floral patterns and various fabrics, hanging on a clothesline outdoors with green grass and trees in the background.

And that’s it! Finito! Next I need to layer, quilt, and bind it…….someday, anyway.

If you’re looking for another great summer quilt pattern, check out the Jubilee tutorial from a few weeks ago. It’s also a super go-to project.

That’s it for me today, gotta go have me some summer……..in the air conditioning. LOL!

See you next week, same time same place —

Sew. Laugh. Stay Cool. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Hanging Out With Hoffman California International Fabrics

September 26, 2024September 25, 2024 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Hello Autumn! Here it is — the season I’ve been waiting for all year. I don’t really know what it is about autumn, though, that inspires me so much. The colors? The sounds? The smells? Warm days and cool nights? Sweaters and fuzzy socks? Hot tea and a little snack in the afternoon? Huh! I think it’s all of the above!

Many of you already know that Villa Rosa Designs partners with other companies in the quilt industry. You can see our quilting partners on the far right side of the blog (just click on the company to be directed to their website). Perhaps you’re wondering how that all came about? Well, the easiest and quickest answer to that question is that our wonderful fast and fun VRD Rose Card patterns pair beautifully with pretty much any fabric collection and we have patterns for just about any fabric cut or style. Rose Card patterns also provide a terrific way to feature and showcase new fabric collections because VRD patterns really are all about the fabrics, not fussy cutting or piecing. Yay, Rose Card patterns — you rock ! Want to check out our entire catalog of 650+ Rose Card patterns? Print Patterns HERE or Digital Patterns HERE

One of the really FUN things I get to do is work closely with fabric companies to match our patterns to their collections. If you’ve visited any fabric company websites recently to check out their newest fabric collections, you might have seen some of our Rose Card patterns hanging out there. How cool is that???

Hoffman California International Fabrics is one of the companies that we partner with. It’s really fun playing with digital fabrics in their new collections paired with our VRD Rose Card patterns. You know how a lot of quilters make quilts in their heads while others make quilts with fabric? I get to make quilts on a computer screen with digital files! Neat-o!

Did you know that Hoffman has been in business since 1924? Wowzer! That’s 100 YEARS!!! Imagine all the amazing fabrics they have produced in 100 years! It’s positively mind-boggling!

Let’s all sing Happy Birthday to Hoffman. On the count of 3 — 1…….2…..3! Sing! Happy Birthday to you…………..

SPeaking of Hoffman, I LOVE using yummy Hoffman batiks and stunning digitally-printed fabrics for blog tutorials. One of my all-time favorite tutorials is Hillside Charm featuring the Wading with Water Lilies collection from a couple years ago. Do you have a favorite tutorial? If so, which one?

You can find the Hillside Charm print and digital patterns HERE. There are some pretty cool kits available too!

If you missed the Hillside Charm tutorial, you can find it HERE.

PSST! We still have a few Wading with Waterlilies fabrics at the VRD shop, including a couple panels! You can find them HERE.

I certainly hope everyone is in the mood for a little Fall inspiration today because I’m going to share some with you whether you’re ready or not! LOL! I’m really excited to share Hoffman’s Fall 2024 Project Catalog with you. It is literally HOT OF THE PRESS! I just saw it the other day and I totally knew I had to share it with you. Yep, it’s that good!

Take your time and enjoy flipping through the catalog. I guarantee you will find A LOT of inspiration here. Pay special attention to our VRD patterns in the catalog because you might just see some of them in the future as blog tutorials. Just sayin’………

I hope you enjoyed the catalog. Stay tuned for lots of exciting things coming soon, including new blog tutorials. Who doesn’t love tutorials???

That’s it for me this week.

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

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

VRD Beatrice Quilt Tutorial and the Fall 2023 Hoffman Project Catalog

September 14, 2023September 13, 2023 rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope you are all getting some sewing and quilting tucked in around your busy fall schedule. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t get regular access to my sewing machine, I get — well, grumpy. I am not kidding. I have found over the years that if I don’t get time to devote to my creative endeavors, I become out of sorts — you can ask my family. LOL! So when I get short-tempered, the best cure is sewing and quilting, even if it’s only a half hour here or twenty minutes there, I absolutely have to have time to be creative.

So I must say that using the excuse of creating a series of fall quilt tutorials with all these glorious Hoffman batik fabric collections, I am feeding my creative soul AND at the same time, I have rekindled my interest in getting back into quilting after basically taking the summer off. Of course, the next part of my making a quilt top or two a week, is to actually get them layered, quilted, bound, labeled — FINISHED. I have started this process by going to my local quilt shop, Homespun Treasures, to pin three of the recent quilts, and now they are ready for machine quilting. I use the tables in the classroom to layer my quilts and maybe I check out the new fabrics while I’m there….

But first, I have another Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card quilt tutorial, Beatrice, for you!

VRD Beatrice Quilt Tutorial

Ever since Beatrice came out earlier this year, I’ve been eager to make it. I love that it pairs two classic blocks — a Rail Fence and a Friendship Star (which is really a Nine Patch block in disguise) — together. You can check out our Rail Fence post and Nine Patch post, which are part of our Quilt Block Basics series, for more block fun and inspiration.

I also love how the Friendship Star blocks are arranged in diagonal rows cascading through woven Rail Fence blocks in a less-than-typical arrangement. Beatrice finishes at a generous 54″ x 72,” which is a very nice-sized throw quilt.

I hope you’ll give this one a try!

Get Beatrice HERE

Let’s take a look at the gorgeous Hoffman Bali Batik collection, Homestead, I am using for my Beatrice quilt. Ask for it at your favorite quilt shop or online retailer!

Isn’t this collection delicious? I added an 1895 Watercolor batik as my star fabric — can you find it?? (Hint: it’s the lightest fabric….)

Ready? Set. Go! Let’s get started on Beatrice!

1. We’re going to cut all of our fabrics before we start to sew. Do you do that or do you cut your pieces out as you sew? Or do you make a sample block before you cut everything out? For my VRD quilts, I feel totally comfortable just jumping in — no need to make a sample block to make sure everything fits together properly because I know that everything will fit together perfectly. Just another thing I love about our Rose Card patterns.

2. Now let’s sew some Friendship Star blocks! The first thing we need to do is make some Half Square Triangles (HSTs) for the star points. When I first started quilting, I did not enjoy making HSTs, but the more I made them (so many quilt patterns use HSTs!), the more I found I actually liked them. Of course, the more I made them, the more accurate my HSTs became, too.

Layer your squares right sides together (RST). Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Sew 1/4″ away from both sides of your drawn line. Cut on the drawn line to make 2 HSTs. Press the blocks open. And don’t forget to trim off your little dog ears at the corners (this will help the accuracy of your piecing — trust me).

3. Next we’re going to lay out a Friendship Star block, which is a Nine Patch block with HSTs. That way, we know how the block should look. With Friendship Star blocks, it’s easy to turn the HSTs the wrong way, which makes for some wonky stars. I actually kept this block layout up on my flannel wall so I could use it as my reference as I sewed the blocks together.

4. Time to sew the blocks together. I am happy to say, I only stitched one block wrong, which of course meant that I had to unsew it and then sew it back together the right way. Mea culpa. Press your blocks. Stars done — yay!

5. Moving right along — let’s make some Rail Fence blocks. Now, the pattern walks you through sewing strip sets together and then sub-cutting the strip sets into the units for the Rail Fence blocks.

I prefer cutting my fabrics before sewing them together. I used to do the strip set method, but I always had a problem keeping my strips straight — mine would bow like a rainbow. This, of course, affected the accuracy of my piecing. This frustration is what led me to determining what the (unfinished) length of the unit would be and then cutting all my pieces before sewing the units. The easiest way to figure out the length is to look at the size of the unit you’re cutting out of the strip sets — usually that measurement is what you need.

Here are my rectangles ready to sew together into Rail Fence blocks.

6. Time to sew the Rail Fence blocks together. First, I sew the rectangles into pairs, then I sew the pairs into quads. Another thing I like better about sewing the rectangles together versus strip piecing is that I get a lot more variety in my blocks. After all the blocks are pieced, go ahead and press them. Rail Fence blocks done. Yippee!

7. All the blocks are finished!

8. Boy, am I glad that I have my handy dandy flannel backed table cloth already clipped up on my fabric storage cubes because the next step is to lay out the blocks according to the diagram on the pattern. Whoever discovered that fabric sticks to flannel was a genius! Thank you, thank you!

This quilt is big and I can’t get the entire thing arranged on my flannel wall so I will have to divide the quilt into sections and then sew the sections together. While the blocks are up in the first larger section, I moved a few things around so that the fabrics are well-distributed throughout and not concentrated in any one area.

I will say that these fabrics from the Homestead collection definitely make a gorgeous quilt! It just looks so warm and inviting, like a cup of hot apple cider. Where’s my doughnut??? Boston creme, if you please….

9. I sewed the blocks into rows and then I sewed the rows together into the top section of the quilt.

10. I folded the top section in half and moved it to the top of my flannel wall to make room at the bottom the last rows. That way, I will still be able to move blocks around in the bottom rows if needed. Next I sewed the blocks into rows and the rows into the bottom section. Finally I sewed the bottom section to the top section.

11. Here is my Beatrice quilt top, or flimsy. Yay! I am very happy with how it turned out. It is simply beautiful!

While I was sewing Beatrice together, I kept wondering how it would look in patriotic colors (the quilt diagram on the back of the pattern is done in red, white, and blue). But for this quilt to be large enough to be a Quilts of Valor quilt, you would have to add a border or another column of blocks because it’s not quite wide enough.

Adding a 4″ finished border all the way around would make the quilt 62″ x 80″ which is a wonderful size for a QOF quilt as well as a twin-sized quilt. You would need about 1 1/4 yards fabric for the border (cut strips 4 1/2″ wide) and a total of 5/8 yard for the binding for this larger size.

Who knows, maybe Beatrice will be my next QOF quilt project to make and donate. You’ll have to check back later to see if it is. LOL!

I look forward to seeing your Beatrice quilts! You can post them on our VRD Facebook page. Hope to see you there!

Speaking of Hoffman Fabrics, the new Fall 2024 catalogs have just come out. Check out the Project Book, filled with loads of inspiration and Villa Rosa Design Rose Card patterns featuring the latest Hoffman collections. Truly, a feast for the eyes. Ask at your favorite quilt shop or online retailer for the patterns, fabrics, or maybe even kits. ENJOY!

What quilt will you make first?

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Alassio Quilt Tutorial

August 31, 2023August 30, 2023 rosecards6 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Yep, I am still in my fall quilt-making zone. Which is not a big surprise really because for the last couple weeks, here in NW PA, we’ve been having very fall-like weather. Today is quite cool with a high temperature only in the 60s and it feels really really chilly. Usually, August is in the 80s and even 90s occasionally. You know the “dog days” of summer? So the 60s is kind of a shock to the system. Our nights have even dipped down into the 40s a couple times. Just chalk it up to the ever-changing world of weird weather, I guess.

So in honor of our early autumn weather in August, I am going to show you how to make anther great Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card pattern, Alassio. Do you really have to use a fall-themed fabric collection like I am doing? Nope, not at all. This pattern will work beautifully with any fabric collection!

Get Alassio HERE

Alassio VRD Quilt Tutorial

Alassio is a super fast quilt to put together and it finishes at a great size of 54″ x 72″! It uses fat quarters and a background fabric. What could be simpler?

I put my Alassio quilt top together in about 5 hours — all in one day — and that included the step by step photos for this tutorial. It goes together so quickly — you’ll be amazed and very happy, especially if you need a quilt in a hurry.

I made my Alassio quilt sample with the Hoffman All Things Spice batik collection and coordinating 1895 Watercolors batiks. Isn’t it sew yummy? I just want to crawl into those fabrics with a good book, a cup of cider, and a donut………

On that note, let’s make Alassio together!

First, we need to cut out our background squares.

2. Next up is cutting the pieces for our framed blocks from our fat quarters. I like to stack my fabrics and cut 3 or 4 at a time. Do likewise if you want, but it’s perfectly fine to cut them one at a time, too.

3. Moving right along, let’s mix and match our fabrics so each square will have a different fabric frame around it. And after that’s done, we’ll sew matching shorter strips to opposite sides of the squares.

4. Now we need to press our blocks so far before we add the long strips on the other sides of the center squares. I don’t normally do a lot of pressing when I’m making blocks but I do think pressing these blocks as you go results in crisper seams and better blocks.

5. Okay, now we’re ready to sew the long strips on the opposite sides of the center squares. Make sure the long strips match the strips you’ve already sewn onto the squares.

The again, who says your strips have to match — just sayin’…….

6. Head over to your iron again and press those blocks one more time — now our blocks done. That was fast, wasn’t it?

7. I just clipped my flannel-backed tablecloth up on my fabric storage cubes, which is my new design wall. I have to hang it sideways because it’s too long to hang up and down. And because this quilt is so big, I’m going to need to lay it out sideways, too. Fingers crossed that the tablecloth is long enough (or wide enough because it’s hung sideways) to lay out all the blocks.

How do you lay out your blocks before sewing them together? When I first started quilting, I used to lay my blocks out a cement floor. Yikes! Then for a really long time, I laid them out on a queen sized bed, which accommodated most of the quilts I made and saved some stress on my knees and my back. Now I have my very own portable design wall, otherwise known as a flannel-backed tablecloth. And it works great!

So, while we’re laying out the blocks according to the quilt diagram on the back of the pattern, go ahead and move the blocks around so fabrics and colors are well-distributed throughout the entire quilt.

Then once we’re satisfied with our layouts (yay — all the blocks fit on the flannel tablecloth!), it’s time to sew them into rows. Then we will sew the rows together. Quilt top done! Easy piezy!

I am so pleased with how my Alassio top turned out! I can’t wait to get it layered with pretty autumn-themed fleece, machine quilted, bound, and labeled so I can start enjoying it right away!

Alassio finishes faster because it doesn’t have a border, but if you want to make the quilt larger, you could add a border. It would look kind of like this:

This version of Alassio features a 4 1/2″ finished border. With this border, Alassio would finish at 64″ x 82″, which fits a twin bed or makes a nice big comfy throw.

To make Alassio with the border, you need 1 1/4 yds for the border (cut 8 strips that are 5″ x WOF) and a total of 5/8 yard (cut 8 strips that are 21/2″ x WOF) for binding.

Isn’t this a great quilt? Bet you can’t make just one!

I’d love to see your Alassio quilts! You can share them on our Villa Rosa Designs Facebook group page.

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Think Fall Quilts. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia

Panel Quilts · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD October Sky Panel Quilt Tutorial

August 24, 2023August 23, 2023 rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Today is a kind of blah day — raining off and on, overcast, and grey — not what I’d call a typical summer day at all. It’s been looking more fall-like here in NW PA. In fact, I was looking at one of the maple trees in the back yard yesterday and I actually saw the leaves starting to change on ends of several branches. As much I hate to see summer going, I do love autumn. What’s your favorite season?

As I’ve mentioned before, I get fall fabrics on my brain this time of year! Then I can’t wait to start making fall quilts. What better day than a dreary one to share an awesome FALL tutorial with you? And you can’t get more fall than October Sky!

Get October Sky HERE

October Sky VRD Tutorial

Don’t let the name of the pattern fool you — you can use any kind of horizontal panel — any one your little hear desires. I’m not using actual fall fabrics for this quilt, but to me, it still feels like a fall quilt. I think it’s the jewel-tone colors. Take a look at these yummy fabrics from Hoffman California Fabrics, one of our quilting partners. The digital panel is called Nightshade and the fabrics are coordinating 1895 Watercolors batiks. Simply scrumptious!

Let’s get started!

1. Trim the selvages off your panel. Horizontal panels can vary slightly so it doesn’t hurt to do a quick measurement of your panel, then you’ll know how it compares to the pattern. You don’t really need these numbers right now, but if your panel is not as wide as the pattern, you will need to make a small adjustment a bit later in the construction process.

2. Cut your border strips for the top and bottom of the panel and sew them on.

3. Now we are going to cut out the squares for the pieced sections at the top and bottom of the panel. I just love these 1895 Watercolors batiks — they go with everything. The dark plum in front is my background.

4. Time to make some Half Square Triangles, or HSTs. Layer 2 squares right sides together, drawn a diagonal line from corner to opposite corner. Sew 1/4″ away from both sides of the drawn line. Cut apart on the drawn line and press open.

5. Having a flannel board — or in my case, the back of a flannel tablecloth clipped to my wall cube unit — to arrange the HSTs makes getting the arrangement right the first time much easier to accomplish.

6. Sew the HSTs together. Make 2 identical pieced sections. You will be flipping one upside down to sew t the bottom of the panel. It makes an interesting design even without the panel in the middle though, doesn’t it?

7. Refer back to your panel measurements. If your panel is not as wide as the panel measurement in the pattern, you may need to add a little extra width to the side background rectangles. To be on the safe side, I added an extra 1″ or so to the side rectangles just to make sure my pieced sections would be wide enough because my panel wasn’t quite the same size as the one listed in the pattern.

It’s okay if the side rectangles make the pieced sections a little wider than the panel — you can trim and square things up in a later step.

8. The most important part of this step is to find the centers of both the pieced sections and the panel. Then match those centers up before sewing because nobody wants off-center sunbursts! LOL!

Once you’re happy with your placement (I used pins to keep everything lined up just right), sew the pieced sections onto the panel. Lookin’ good!

9. Now it’s time to trim and square up the sides of the pieced sections. Ahhh! Much better!

10. Time to add top and bottom borders. I actually increased the width of my borders a couple inches to make the quilt just a little bit bigger as a throw. Do the same if you’d like. Just keep in mind, you might need more fabric if you increase the width of your borders.

11. Ready to add those side borders now? You will need to piece those side borders to make them long enough. VOILA! The top is done!

Since I couldn’t get the breeze to cooperate with me, I took another photo of the October Sky out flat. Gorgeous, isn’t it? The colors are so rich and yummy.

12. The next steps will be layering, quilting, binding, and labeling the quilt. And then….another VRD quilt DONE!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I’d love to see your October Sky quilts — you can post them on our Facebook page HERE or drop me an email if you’d like. And there will be more fun VRD tutorials coming, so stay tuned!

Well, that’s it for me. See you next week!

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

Hanging Out with our Quilting Partners!

August 17, 2023August 30, 2023 rosecards1 Comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I thought it would be fun to share with you some behind-the-scenes VRD stuff. I know I’ve mentioned our quilting partners before and you can see a list of our partners along the right side of the blog along with links. Today I thought it would be cool to show you some of the projects we’ve been doing with our partners.

Hoffman California Fabrics

We’ve been working with Hoffman for a while now and I’m excited to share a recent Hoffman catalog where you can find some of our Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns featured. Check out Addison and Bee’s Knees on page 18 and Beaded and Cross Stitched on page 21, all in the CongoBay collection by designer McKenna Ryan.

lookbook-congobaypots Download

You can check out our Villa Rosa Designs collection of Hoffman fabrics available on our website HERE.

Here are the links to the featured patterns:

Addison

Bee’s Knees

Beaded

Cross Stitched

And you can visit Hoffman fabrics HERE. Check out the fabrics in the CongoBay collection HERE.

The new Fall catalogs will be coming soon, so stay tuned. Don’t forget to ask for Hoffman Fabrics at your local quilt shop.

FreeSpirit

We’re working on a new and exciting project with FreeSpirit! And I’m thrilled to say it’s available at your local quilt shops right now! Here are the 4 VRD patterns featured with the Tim Holtz Abandoned Spark Pack. This Spark Pack includes a set of 10 fat quarters and you can use any of the 4 VRD patterns with the Spark Pack. How cool is that???

Here’s the vido showing the quilts and talking about Spark Packs.

You can get all 4 quilt patterns for $7.50 HERE and can shop our VRD Tim Holtz fabrics HERE.

You can visit FreeSpirit Fabrics HERE and get to know Tim Holtz and his collections HERE.

Keepsake Quilting

We’ve been working with Keepsake Quilting, to pair their fabric collections with our Rose Card patterns to make great kits. You can check out their current catalog to see our Fernanda pattern paired with the Hocus Pocus collection to create an awesome Halloween quilt kit on page 11.

You can find the Hocus Pocus Fernanda kit HERE.

There are many other VRD Rose cards available at Keepsake Quilting, so make sure you check out their current offerings HERE.

You can find our Rose Card pattern Fernanda HERE.

Blank Quilting

Recently, we’ve been pairing some of the new Blank Quilting fabric collections with our Rose Card patterns. What a lot of fun it is working closely with fabric companies to use our patterns to make their fabrics shine. Or maybe it’s using their new fabric collections to make our patterns shine? I think it’s a little of each. LOL! Anyway you look at it, it’s a win-win for everyone!

Check out these awesome quilts featuring fabric collections from Blank Quilting.

Al a Carte in Modern Abstraction

Splendor in Modern Abstraction

You can check out Blank Quilting’s Modern Abstraction fabrics HERE.

Bedazzled in Whimsy Daisical 2

Mountains in Whimsy Daisical 2

You can check out Blank Quilting’s Whimsy Daisical 2 fabrics HERE or visit the Blank Quilting website for more info HERE.

Studio E

Studio E is a fairly new quilting partner and we’re really glad to be working together! Like with Blank Quilting, we’ve been pairing some of our patterns with their new collections. Check out these awesome quilts!

Foxfire in Squeeze the Day

Check out Squeeze the Day HERE.

Eazy Piezy in Pollen Nation

Gingersnap in Pollen Nation

Check out the Pollen Nation fabrics HERE.

You can check out all the great Studio E fabrics HERE.

Benartex

We’ve been working with Benartex this year and it’s been really fun matching up our patterns to their fabrics. Here are some of our collaborative designs:

Grand Prize in A Heart Led Life

Waverly in A Heart Led Life

2M in Bali Tropical Retreat

Geneva in Bali Tropical Retreat

Dulcie in Bali Tropical Cove

Folklore in Bali Tropical Cove

Biscotti in Barnyard Rules

Candy Land in Barnyard Rules

Fish and Chips in Barnyard Rules

Planters in Barnyard Rules

Gingersnap in Begins with Mum

Magic Show in Begins with Mum

Gingersnap in Cherry Hill

Discovery in Chillin’ and Grillin’

Pumpkin Pie in Chillin’ and Grillin’

Baby Goose in Cottontail Farms

Busy Bee in Cottontail Farms

Cherish in Enjoy the Ride

Cool Water in Enjoy the Ride

Foxfire in Enjoy the Ride

Kaleidoscope in Enjoy the Ride

Hartford in Gilded Feathers

Snow Ruby in Gilded Feathers

Lollipop in Happy Heart

Painted Moon in Happy Heart

Liberty Bell in Live, Love, Camp

Ahoy in Live, Love, Camp

Bear Hugs in Love You Fur-Ever

Kit and Caboodle in Love You Fur-Ever

Biscotti in Love Ewe More

Eazy Piezy in Love Ewe More

Grand Prize in Parrot Habitat

San Julian in Rooville

White Cloud in Rooville

Alassio in Sail Away

Fernanda in Sail Away

Ripple Runner in Sail Away

Estrella in Shangri-La

Honor in Shangri-La

Carnival Glass in Simply Blessed

Daybreak in Simply Blessed

Discovery in Simply Blessed

Playdate in Simply Blessed

Double Delight in Transparency

Lattice in True Romance

Beatrice in Venetian Marble

Cidermill in Venetian Marble

Addison in Whispering Lilies

You can visit Benartex HERE.

And please don’t forget to ask for these wonderful fabrics at your local quilt shop as well as our Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards. Support your local quilt shops! If you don’t ask, you local shop owner doesn’t know, so ask away!

Just keep quilting!

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia

Quilt Block Basics · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards

Quilt Block Basics — The Y Block, Rose Card List, and Hoffman Fabrics + VRD

April 27, 2023April 26, 2023 rosecards1 Comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Wow! We’ve got lots to talk about today — I hope you are ready!

Let’s start off with our Quilt Blocks Basics first — today we are taking a good look at the Y BLOCK!

I did the HSTs and QSTs before tackling the Y block because a Y block is a combination of a QST and an HST. Sounds weird, I know, but really, that’s what it is.

There are other names for the Y block unit, but for the purpose of this post, we’ll stick with calling it the Y block.

Let’s look at some blocks using the Y block unit:

Bet you’ve never heard of most of these blocks — they were pretty new to me, too.

Now let’s play a little bit with this very versatile quilt block unit. We are going to use 4 Y block units together in a 4 Patch configuration.

Let’s see what happens when we flip the Y block units around in the block:

Wow! We can really come up with some fun blocks that will make interesting quilt designs!

I think you can see the versatility of the Y block unit in the block variations above. Just imagine what you could come up with if you started changing out the fabrics as well as moving the units about. This is only a 4 patch block frame — what about a 9 patch frame? What if you combined this unit with other units like HSTs, QSTs, or others?

It is simply mind-boggling, isn’t it???

Electric Quilt 8 Software makes it sew easy to play with these units! I can get lost for hours playing with blocks in EQ….

How to Make a Y Block

There are several different ways to tackle the construction of the Y block unit. I decided not to reinvent the wheel because there are so many different ways to make a traditional Y block.

Here’s a great traditional Y block tutorial from Scissortailquilting.com just like the way I would demonstrate how to make it. YAY MATH! They even include the math formulas for you as well as a cutting chart.

The traditional method works great for putting together Y block units, except for one little thing — you make 4 units with mirror images, which is terrific if you want mirror images, but what if you need a Y block unit but not its mirror image?????

Seriously, though, who wants to make twice as many blocks as they need to, which takes twice as much time and twice as much fabric???

My friend, Cathey Laird, of Cathey Marie Designs, was fascinated with the Y block unit and pondered the mirror image issue for a long time until she came up with a solution. Cathey invented a cool Y block ruler which eliminated the mirror image problem — instead of mirror images, you get 4 identical Y block units!

You can find Cathey’s ruler HERE.

Here’s a great Y block tutorial done by Cathey herself:

Y Block VRD Rose Card Patterns

I went through the entire pattern catalog and found only a few Rose Card patterns featuring Y blocks.

Get Crossed Paths HERE

Get Twisted HERE

Well, I see new Y block designs for VRD in the future! LOL!

Speaking of Rose Cards, I wanted to share something very cool with you!

Rose Card Tracker

Did you know VRD has a printable list of ALL the Rose Cards????? This might be new to you because it is actually located on the wholesale website, but the list is for everyone who loves Rose Cards.

It is updated every month to include each month’s new patterns, too.

You can find the VRD Rose Card list HERE.

Not too long ago, I finally got all my Rose Cards organized and alphabetized in small clear plastic crates with lids. Yay me!

So next I decided to figure out which Rose Cards I was missing in my collection.

I easily printed out the list (3 pages long as of right now) and sorted through all my Rose Cards to find out which ones I did not have. Then I ordered all the ones I was missing. LOL! As long as I keep up with the new cards, I will have a complete collection of VRD Rose Cards.

It really didn’t take me too long to go through the list because it is in alphabetical order, just like my Cards. Below, you can see that I used red Xs to mark the ones I had. Then, when I did my order, I just ordered all the ones without a red X. I put a small dot in the empty spaces as I went along so I knew which ones I had already added to my order (in case I had to stop at some point and go back to it later).

As of right now I have 3 of the plastic storage boxes almost full with my Cards, so I will probably be adding a 4th as soon as my new Cards arrive. I plan to keep my Cards organized that way, then it will be a snap to find any Card I am looking for.

Yay! Three cheers for organization!!!! How many Rose Cards do you have? How many do you need to complete your collection?

Check Out Our VRD Rose Card Patterns in the NEW Hoffman Spring Project Book

We’ve been working with Hoffman Fabrics for a while now. Their new Spring catalogs are out and I’m excited to share the new Spring 2023 Project Book with you. It is simply drool-worthy!!!!

Hoffman Project Catalog Spring 2023

Sew. Dream. And head to your local quilt shop to find Hoffman Fabrics and VRD Rose Cards.

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Blog Hop 2023 · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

New January 2023 VRD Rose Card Patterns and VRD Fast & Fun Blog Hop Update

January 12, 2023January 23, 2023 rosecards8 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

It’s my favorite Thursday of the month — the Thursday after the first Friday of the month. That means it’s time to brag up our NEW January 2023 Rose Card patterns! Yay!

I just love sharing all the creativity our family of designers come up with each month. Even though I’ve been designing patterns for VRD since 2017, it still blows my mind that each and every month Villa Rosa Designs puts out 5 new regular patterns and at least 1 new table runner pattern. What other pattern company puts out over 60 new patterns a year? And has a catalog of more than 500 patterns on top of that?

Who’s crazy enough to do all that????

WE ARE — www.villarosadesigns.com!!!

Okay, okay, let’s see the new January patterns! Finally!

Here they are! Aren’t they great?

Bella Vista is a horizontal panel pattern.

Diamond Daze uses fat quarters.

Petit Fours is 5″ square friendly.

Piccadilly uses 2 1/2″ strips.

Tradewinds uses a focal or novelty print with an ombre.

You can get all 5 patterns for the low low price of $8.95 HERE. Remember, free shipping in the USA and International orders are for the digital set of cards.

We have kits too, so click on the pattern names above to check kit availability for each pattern.

Our new Table Runner Rose Card is Blizzard. Who doesn’t love classic blue and white???

You can purchase the pattern or check to see if the kit is still available HERE.

If you aren’t getting your VRD Rose Card patterns delivered right to your mailbox each month (snail mail or digital), you really need to join one of our Monthly Pattern Clubs! You can do the regular 5 patterns or the 5 patterns + table runners. You choose!

To register for the regular Pattern Club, go HERE.

To register for Pattern Club + Table Runners, go HERE.

Now that you’re hyped about our newest patterns like I am, let’s talk about our VRD Blog Hop January 19-26 — that means it starts next week! Yippee!

UPDATE: Villa Rosa Designs Fast & Fun Blog Hop January 19-26

I can’t believe that the Blog Hop is next week! This is going to be SEW MUCH FUN!

Are you ready to see great quilts using our special Blog Hop Collection Rose Card patterns?

Are you ready to register for loads of great prizes??

Are you ready to shake off the winter blahs???

ARE YOU READY???

We are so excited here at VRD and we hope that you are getting excited for the Blog Hop next week, too.

We are incredibly fortunate to have the COOLEST bloggers out there in the blogosphere, participating in our blog hop! You can check out their blogs below:

http://frombolttobeauty.blogspot.com

https://www.kathleenmcmusing.com

https://scottfortunoff.com

https://www.piecefulthoughts.com

https://littlepenguinquilts.blogspot.com

https://www.keepsakequilting.com/blogs/keepsake-quilting-blog

https://quiltwithaview.blogspot.com

https://www.mmmquilts.com

https://cherylsteapots2quilting.blogspot.com

https://www.devotedquilter.com

https://www.qovf.org

https://needleandfoot.com

https://shout4joy-shouting.blogspot.com

https://doyoueq.com/blog

https://thecraftyquilter.com

http://www.joscountryjunction.com

https://www.stitchinathome.com

Prizes for giveaways are coming in daily. Here’s sneak peak!

From Timeless Treasures:

From The Gypsy Quilter and Creative Grids:

From Moda:

From Hoffman California Fabrics:

While I snapped pictures of goodies, my furbaby Griffin decided to investigate. He likes to think he’s the Inspector General. LOL! Silly Griffy!

Here are some of the other prizes that will be given away:

Electric Quilt is giving away a copy of Electric Quilt 8! Wow!

The Quilts of Valor Foundation will be giving away copies of their latest books! Woohoo!

Villa Rosa Designs will be giving away sets of our 2023 Blog Hop Collection Rose Card patterns! Cool Beans!

The Orphan Quilter (moi) will be giving away signed copies of books. Neat-o!

But wait! There’s more!

Many of our bloggers will be offering giveaways of their own in addition to the sponsor prizes on their blogs too — from t-shirts to charm squares to panels to books — OH MY!

There will also be 2 big Prize Packs filled with lots of quilting goodies to giveaway, too!!

Thanks to our awesome sponsors! This Blog Hop wouldn’t be happening without you!