Tag: QT Fabrics

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 4

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Hello Quilty Friends!

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

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

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

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

Congrats to Robin M!

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 4

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

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

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

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

Here’s my BEFORE photo:

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

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

And here is my AFTER photo:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quilting Cats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 Let's Design a Quit Together Series · Just Quilty Stuff · Quilt Play · Quilting Partners · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

A Sneak Peek, Our Shoofly Challenge, and Let’s Design a Quilt: Playing with the Sawtooth Star Block

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

The forecast for today is sum-sum-summertime with a strong chance of quilting! SEW much to do today, so let’s get started.

Before we jump into this week’s Quilt Design adventure, though, I want to share a fun SNEAK PEEK with you from our friends over at QT Fabrics. You might recall that VRD has been working closely with QT to pair their new fabric collections with our patterns. Here is our latest collaboration:

Image featuring the logos of QT Fabrics and Villa Rosa Designs, highlighting their collaboration for Fall 2025 collections.

You can check out the catalog HERE.

These upcoming fabric collections are being shown to quilt shops right now and will ship in late 2025/early 2026. If you see something you like — ask for the collection (and VRD patterns, of course) at you local quilt shop.

Churn Dash Challenge Winner

As part of my Quilt Design series last week, I offered up a challenge to you – see what you could do with the Churn Dash block.

First, I want to thank those of you who shared your ideas, creations, blocks, and quilts.

And the winner is………………………..

Lisa from KY

Lisa won with her charming Churn Dash quilt, below, featuring multiple sizes of her Churn Dash blocks with the added fun of novelty farm panels and prints inside each block. Way to go, Lisa!

A colorful quilt featuring various farm animal-themed blocks framed with bold borders in different colors, displayed against a brick wall.

Log Cabin Inspiration

Folks were really inspired by last week’s Courthouse Steps block quilt design party and suggested we stay in the Log Cabin zone. Thank you for those suggestions, but I want to keep addressing different kinds of blocks to maximize your inspiration when it comes to designing quilts. There are entire books written about Log Cabin blocks and quilts and a few blog posts just can’t do the topic justice, I am afraid.

In lieu of more Log Cabin blocks, here is a short list of Log Cabin books for you to explore. I tried to choose a variety to show you here on the blog, but believe me – there are tons more out there just waiting to inspire your next Log Cabin quilt.

A colorful quilt featuring curvy log cabin blocks and a floral border, showcased outdoors in a natural setting.
Find it HERE
Book cover titled 'Log Cabin Improv: Quilts with a Twist on Tradition' by Mary M. Hogan, featuring a colorful patchwork quilt design made of various Log Cabin blocks.
Find it HERE
Cover of the book 'Extraordinary Log Cabin Quilts' by Judy Martin, featuring colorful quilt designs including traditional log cabin patterns.
Find it HERE
Cover of the book '101 Log Cabin Blocks' featuring various log cabin quilt block designs and patterns.
Get it HERE
Cover of the book 'Creative Log Cabin Quilts' displaying a quilt with various Log Cabin block designs in a garden setting with flowers and a wooden fence.
Find it HERE

After enjoying your Log Cabin comments and quilt photos, it occurred to me that I have not done a Star block yet……..so today’s the day!

The Sawtooth Star Block

I chose an oldie, but a goodie for today – the Sawtooth Star.

Sawtooth Star is known by many names and has a lot of different variations. Apparently, it first appeared in print in the 1880’s or 1890’s in popular publications such as Farm and Fireside Magazine as well as in the Ladies Art Company catalog in 1895. The Sawtooth Star block was block # 5. Like most quilt blocks, however; Sawtooth Star blocks were probably being made long before they ever appeared in print.

Here is our classic 2 color Sawtooth Star block.

A simple quilt block design featuring a red Sawtooth Star pattern with a solid center and white background.

So, let’s make a quilt. Here are 20 blocks set side by side. This makes a lovely classic 2 color quilt, but of course we’re not going to stop there.

A quilt layout featuring a repeating pattern of red Sawtooth Star blocks interspersed with white squares.

Here it is with sashing in between the blocks. Again, super classic. I do like how the sashing gives the stars room to breathe, plus this layout would be a lot easier due to not having to match up all those points. Win, win….

A quilt design featuring multiple Sawtooth Star blocks in red and white, arranged in a grid pattern.

Let’s go back to our block and tweak it a little bit, shall we? Let’s change the solid center block into an Hourglass.

A quilt block design featuring a Sawtooth Star pattern in vibrant red and white colors, arranged in a grid layout.

Here are the blocks set side to side. I find it interesting that I’m not seeing the stars so much now, but rather, all the triangles seem to jump out at me now. And I see “V” shapes, too. Huh.

A quilt layout featuring red Sawtooth Star blocks arranged in a grid, alternating with white squares.

Let’s tweak the block again by adding Half Square Triangles (HSTs) in the 4 corners.

Quilt block pattern featuring a red and white Sawtooth Star design.

Okay, now let’s set the blocks side by side in a quilt. Wow! There is so much more movement – almost to the point of being distracting. Really cool, though.

Quilt pattern featuring a repeating design of red and white Sawtooth Star blocks arranged in a grid layout.

Let’s add a 3rd color to the blocks now.

Classic Sawtooth Star quilt block design featuring red, blue, and white fabric triangles arranged in a star pattern.

Here is the same layout as above, but with the added 3rd color. It looks totally different and not as dizzying.

Quilt design featuring a pattern of Sawtooth Star blocks in red, white, and blue colors arranged in a grid layout.

What if we add sashing again? Cool – we now have a Shoofly block where the sashing square meets the blue HSTs – this adds a lot of interest to the design. Liking this, but not quite there yet. Let’s keep tweaking.

A quilt design featuring a classic Sawtooth Star block layout in red and blue, arranged in a grid with white spaces between the blocks.

I think the blocks look a bit heavy, so I’m going to lighten them up a bit by changing the inner blue triangles back to white. Yep, liking this one more.

A quilt design featuring multiple Sawtooth Star blocks arranged in a grid pattern. The stars are colored in red and white with blue squares in between, creating a striking contrast against the white background.

I’d call this a finished design, so let’s add some fabric. Here it is featuring fabrics from QT Fabrics’ American Tapestry collection.

A quilt design featuring a repetitive pattern of Sawtooth Star blocks in red and navy, with a neutral background and small star accents.

It’s a bit too vertical for me, though, so let me make one more tweak by alternating the direction of the blocks. Yes, I think that does it. This one’s a wrap!

A quilt featuring a repeating Sawtooth Star block design in red and white, with dark blue star-patterned corner pieces and a light beige background.

But wait – I’m not done yet. I’m having way too much fun to stop now. Let’s go back to our block and tweak it a bit more by adding blue triangles on the sides only.

Illustration of a Sawtooth Star quilt block featuring red and blue triangular segments arranged around a central white square.

Here’s our updated block set side to side in a quilt. You totally lose the star block, don’t you? I like the horizontal repetition of the triangles, too.

A quilt design featuring a pattern of interlocking red, blue, and white triangles arranged in a grid layout, with a central diamond shape in white.

Let’s add fabric! Here it is using the QT fabrics from American Tapestry again. Love it, yet……

Quilt featuring a repeated pattern of red, white, and blue fabrics arranged in a geometric design with star motifs.

One more tweak……let’s rotate every other block. Yup, that’s the one. Finished. Great movement – I can’t even see the stars now, can you?

A colorful quilt featuring a Sawtooth Star design with red, white, and blue fabrics embellished with stars, arranged in a grid pattern.

Do you remember where we started? A classic 2 color Sawtooth Star.

A graphic illustration of a classic Sawtooth Star quilt block, featuring a central square in red surrounded by triangular points in red against a white background.

YAY! This has been another fun quilt design adventure! Sew glad you came along.

If you’ve missed any posts in our Quilt Design Series so far, you can catch up below:

Playing with Nine Patch Blocks

Playing with the Spool Block

Playing with the Courthouse Steps Block

Stay tuned for next week when we explore another block in our Let’s Design a Quilt series. Any thoughts on another great block to explore?

See you next time!

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Design. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

NEW VRD April Rose Card Quilt Patterns and A Fabulous Catalog by our Quilting Partner, QT Fabrics

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Guess what today is??? It’s the Thursday after the first Friday in April, which means………..NEW PATTERNS!

If you are a new blog follower, you might not know that at Villa Rosa Designs, we add 5-7 NEW Rose Card patterns each and every month, all year long. New monthly patterns are usually launched the first Friday of the month on VRD’s Fry-Day Live event online. You can find Fry-Day Live events HERE most Fridays at 4:00 PM Pacific Time (7 PM Eastern time).

With 5-7 new patterns every month, that adds up to between 60-84 NEW patterns every year – WOW! Then add those to our over 700 patterns already in print! It’s almost mind-boggling. We really do have something for everyone!

I know you’re anxious to see this month’s patterns, so here they are –

Collage of five new quilting pattern cards for April 2025, including Butterfield, Dakota, Havenwood, Cadott, and Turtle Soup, featuring colorful quilt designs.

Get the set of 5 print cards HERE

As usual, our talented VRD designers do not disappoint!

Butterfield is by our own Rose Queen, Pat, uses a collection of fat quarters and goes together really fast. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. We also have Butterfield kits (includes the pattern) featuring Tim Holtz Palette Yellow fabrics.

Dakota is also by Pat and is a quick to make fat quarter quilt. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. And we have Dakota kits (includes the pattern) featuring Victory Garden fabrics.

Havenwood, designed by Rachelle, is Jelly Roll or scrap friendly. It works up fast with your favorite quick piecing techniques. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. We have Havenwood kits (includes the pattern) featuring the Sweet Melodies collection (below).

A colorful quilt featuring a patchwork design with various patterns and fabrics, arranged in blocks of different colors including red, blue, yellow, green, and floral prints.

Havenwood in Sweet Melodies

Cadott is also by Rachelle and is a fun modern quilt with A LOT of visual appeal. It uses yardage or your stash. You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. Sorry, no kits for this one.

Turtle Soup by Heidi features a theme fabric or border stripe – and what a fun name! You can find the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE. Sorry, the kits are already sold out.

But Wait………there’s more! (Tehehe, you know how much I love writing this.)

Our NEW April Table Runner (by moi) is called Window Boxes. You can use panel squares or fat quarters for this pretty runner pattern.

Cover of the quilt pattern 'Window Boxes' featuring a quilt with hexagonal shapes in yellow, turquoise, and pink fabrics, surrounded by floral prints, set against a peach background.

Get the Digital pattern HERE or the Print pattern HERE.

That’s it for the new patterns this month. Which one are you going to make first??? I can’t wait to see your April projects on our VRD Facebook Group.

Now let me tell you about QT Fabrics and VRD.

Quilting Partner – QT Fabrics

As many of you already know, Villa Rosa Designs has made lots of connections with other companies in the quilting industry in recent years. We call them our Quilting Partners. You can find our Quilting Partners over on the right side of the blog towards the top.

Are you familiar with our pals over at QT Fabrics? They are an employee-owned and operated company and have been in business for a long time. You can find QT fabrics at your local quilt shop AND you can check out VRD’s QT Fabric offerings on our website HERE.

We’ve been partnering with QT Fabrics for a while now and I’m really excited to share with you their recent publication featuring our Rose Card patterns and QT’s newest fabric collections, which will be out in quilt shops this Fall. Aren’t you the lucky ones to get a sneak peak???

Here’s the PDF version of the wonderful catalog that QT put together featuring ALL VRD Rose Card patterns paired with their new 2025 Summer Collection, which will available this fall.

I definitely have some of these on my to-do and look forward to sharing new tutorials here on the blog featuring some of these fun designs and fabrics. Woohoo!

VillaRosa_Friends_QTINK_Summer25Flip-1Download

If you’d rather check out the really cool digital Flipbook version, you can find it HERE.

I hope you found a lot of inspiration in this catalog – maybe some new-to-you patterns and/or great upcoming fabric collections. If you see a collection you love, ask for it at your local quilt shop – the fabrics will be available this fall. All of the featured patterns in the catalog are available on our website, villarosadesigns.com.

Well, that’s it for me. Take care and do something fun this week.

Until next time –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD