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

April 16, 2026April 15, 2026 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 2!

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

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

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

Ready to see my Week 2 finish???

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 2

Drum roll please…………………

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here is my BEFORE photo:

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

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

And here’s my FINISHED Pacific Grove quilt!

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

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

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 1 Winner

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

Kim C. in Washington

Woohoo!

Throw the confetti! 🎉

Congratulations, Kim!

Here’s Kim’s Week 1 finished quilt:

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

Kim’s quilt is the Rail Fence pattern.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

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

10 Tips for Fast Finishing Quilts

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

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

Let’s do this! Together.

1. Machine stitch your binding

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

2. Learn to machine quilt your own quilts

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

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

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

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

3. Keep your quilting simple

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

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

4. Press as you go (yes, really)

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

You can find some help with pressing HERE.

5. Square it up before adding your binding

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

Squaring up questions? Get help HERE.

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

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

Find out more info on layering quilts HERE.

7. Don’t over-quilt it

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

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

8. Batch your boring tasks

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

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

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

10. Work in short, focused bursts

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

And a bonus tip or two-

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

Finally……………………A Little Reminder

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

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

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

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 1 and NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

April 9, 2026April 8, 2026 rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’m really excited to kick off the first week of our Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. I decided not to attempt to do both a new tutorial and finish my Week 1 quilt this week. I know my limitations and there just wasn’t going to be enough time to do both. But, never fear we’ll get back to some wonderful new tutorials after we complete our 6 in 6 Challenge. Besides, this week I get to share with you our New April patterns. Yay!

I’m also thrilled to say that over 50 brave quilters are joining me for our 6 in 6 Challenge. Just imagine – if 50 people completed 1 quilt each week during the 6 week Challenge that would be a total of 300 quilts finished! WOWEE! Wouldn’t it be really amazing if that happened??? I’ll keep track of everyone’s finishes and give you a total number of quilts completed at the end of the Challenge.

If you are posting your before/after photos on Facebook, please say they are for the 6 in 6 Challenge and include the week number. Also, if your FB name is different from the name you provided when you signed up, please let me know or I won’t know who you are. This will help me tremendously as I want to make sure that everyone who is completing their quilts on time gets in the weekly drawings.

One of our participants emailed and asked if it was okay to change the size of VRD quilts for the Challenge. Absolutely! As long as the pattern you are using is a VRD Rose Card.

So, everyone who signed up to participate – let’s do this! Together.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 1

Whew! Just finished the binding on my Week 1 quilt. Seriously, I kid you not. Right before I sat down to write this post. The good news is – it’s done!

I chose Dusk Delight as my Week 1 quilt. It was from a blog tutorial a while back, you can find the tutorial HERE. Gulp……the tutorial was actually from June 2024. Sheesh! About time this quilt got finished.

A quilt design titled 'Dusk Delight' featuring a grid of colorful squares and rectangles in various shades, set against a light pink background. The design is attributed to Villa Rosa Designs and includes a decorative floral border.

Get your digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE

Dusk Delight is a really fun pattern using 2 1/2″ strips and a coordinating fabric. It would be a really cool design featuring a favorite novelty fabric, too. One important thing you would need to consider, though, is that the fabric for the long sashing strips is cut horizontally and pieced together. That means if your fabric design runs vertically, you would need additional fabric so you could cut your strips vertically.

Okay, here’s my BEFORE photo showing my Dusk Delight quilt top featuring a Bali Pop and a batik companion from Hoffman Fabrics.

A colorful patchwork quilt hanging outdoors, displaying various shades of blue, green, and white fabrics arranged in a grid pattern.

Now here is my AFTER photo showing my finished Dusk Delight. Woohoo! The weather was nice enough to take my After photos outside today, which was great. Our spring weather has been a bit weird so far. We had 86 degrees a couple days ago, then the temps dropped to the 30s (with snow showers) with a low of 14 degrees last night. BRRR! Today is in the 50s and tomorrow will be back up in the 70s. It’s like Mother Nature just can’t make up her mind which season to throw at us.

A colorful quilt hanging outside, displaying a pattern of squares in shades of blue, teal, and gray.

I used a royal blue solid fleece on the back, no batting. I machine quilted with a large meander allover to keep things simple. Besides, when I quilt on fleece I do prefer keeping things simple as the fleece has a lot more stretch than the quilt top does. I used a bright turquoise 100% cotton thread on the top and bottom. And a really dark blue batik for the binding, which I attached with machine. I’m getting better with machine binding the more I do, but I still struggle to make my corners neat, though.

I had to go digging for a binding fabric because I couldn’t remember what fabric I had originally set aside for the binding way back in 2024. LOL! Usually I try to keep the binding fabric tucked inside the quilt top, but somehow along the way the quilt and binding parted ways. That’s okay, though, because I utilized my stash to find a suitable replacement. What’s a stash for anyway???

Here’s a close up of the back of my Dusk Delight, showing my machine quilting. Please ignore the lint…..

Close-up of a dark blue fabric with a quilted texture featuring a pattern of wavy lines.

So, what VRD quilt did you finish/make for Week 1? You have until Friday 4/10 midnight EST to complete your quilt and either post a before/after photo to our VRD Facebook page or you can email photos to me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com.

Speaking of VRD patterns……….

NEW VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns for April

I know, I know – I don’t have to say it, but somehow I just have to. I LOVE the Thursday after the first Friday of every month because that’s when I get to show off all the new monthly patterns. Yippee!

It does seem a little ironic, though, doesn’t it that this is Week 1 for our 6 in 6 Challenge with the intent to finish VRD UFOs and here I am enticing you with the NEW April patterns. Ho hum…….that’s my job – to help you complete quilts so you can make new ones without feeling guilty.

Without any more teasing, let’s check out the new patterns!

Collage of five quilt pattern cards for April 2026 featuring Allspice, Melrose, LaValle, Crackled, and Turnkey designs, available for $8.95.

Get all 5 April quilt print patterns HERE

Allspice is Heidi’s latest pattern! I really like the big and little stars and would love to make it in patriotic fabrics. You can find a kit with the same fabrics as the pattern HERE.

LaValle is Rachelle’s newest mod quilt design. Love the cool colors against the white background, it feels really beachy to me.

Melrose is Pat’s latest offering. I really like how the fabrics are arranged from light to dark, accentuating the V shape. Imagine this one in shades of blue and white (my fav)……. You can find a kit featuring Yellow Sky fabrics HERE.

Crackled is Molly’s new pattern. I love how the light blue strips really pop against the darker fabrics, don’t you? You can find a Crackled kit featuring Kaffe fabrics HERE (and it’s amazing!).

Turnkey is Catherine at Running Doe’s latest mod quilt design. I think this one looks super fun to make. It could be totally scrappy or more controlled. You can find a kit for Turnkey featuring the same fabrics as the pattern cover HERE or a kit with Sun Moments fabrics HERE.

YES, there is more!

Our latest table runner is called Serenity and I know you’ll be incredibly surprised to see that it’s blue and white (you know how much I LOVE blue and white). I used fabric from Moda’s Larking collection for this runner. Truly, the fabric inspired the pattern name because it really is serene. And the fun thing about this runner pattern is that you can use panel squares in place of the big center square and/or the smaller squares. I love patterns that give you options.

A wall-hanging quilt titled 'Serenity' featuring various blue and white fabric patterns, displayed against a wooden backdrop, accompanied by a vase of flowers and neatly folded quilts in a basket.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your Print pattern HERE

You can find a kit for Serenity featuring Daydreams fabrics HERE.

Now for our April Pillow Pattern – Garden Wishes. Isn’t it adorable? I mean the pillow, not the dog. Yes, Bailly my 3 year old Shih Tzu is adorable, too (and she knows it!). Bailly enjoys posing for photos. As you can see her fur is long and pretty wild right now but next month she’ll be sporting a shorter ‘do.

Are you following along each month with the seasonal pillows? Just think – if you are, then in January 2027, you’ll have 12 months of fun seasonal pillows! How awesome is that??? If you haven’t started (or finished) your pillows for January-March, there’s still plenty of time to get caught up. I’d love to see your pillows on our VRD Facebook page.

A small dog sitting on a couch next to a decorative pillow featuring a colorful flower pot design, with the text 'Garden Wishes Pillow' above it.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

You might remember that Heidi and Molly (3 Aunts Quilt Shop, the former VRD quilt shop in CA) are featuring each month’s seasonal pillow pattern as a block of the month project. So, if you missed any of the earlier months, you can find available kits HERE.

Each kit includes the pattern and the fabric for the 18″ pillow front. And the kits are only $10! Better grab yours before they’re gone.

This month’s Garden Wishes kits are:

Kaffe

Tonals

Tula

What fun we have here at VRD……patterns, fabrics, cute little dogs, and more.

Well, that’s it for me this week. I have to get started on my Week 2 quilt for next week.

I’m looking forward to checking out all the great finishes on Facebook, too. So get your Week 1 quilt finished by Friday midnight to get your name in the Week 1 drawing.

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

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

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

April 2, 2026April 1, 2026 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

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

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

The Challenge Dates:

Week 1 Quilt due by Friday 4/10 midnight EST

Week 2 Quilt due by Friday 4/17 midnight EST

Week 3 Quilt due by Friday 4/24 midnight EST

Week 4 Quilt due by Friday 5/1 midnight EST

Week 5 Quilt due by Friday 5/8 midnight EST

Week 6 Quilt due by Friday 5/15 midnight EST

The Rules and All the Details of the Challenge:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wanna join me in this Challenge?

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

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

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

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

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

Spring into Spring VRD Quilt Tutorial Series: Charlie

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Let’s get going on this cute quilt!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We CAN do this together.

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

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – Week 4

October 30, 2025October 29, 2025 rosecardsLeave a comment

Hello Quilty Friends!

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

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

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

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

Congrats to Robin M!

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 4

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

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

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

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

Here’s my BEFORE photo:

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

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

And here is my AFTER photo:

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

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

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

Close-up view of a quilt showcasing intricate patchwork patterns in shades of teal, green, and white, with a soft quilted texture.

A spool of YLI machine quilting thread labeled 'Seamist', displaying the barcode and specifications on the side.

A spool of turquoise and teal variegated sewing thread resting on a sewing machine surface with a purple measuring grid.

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

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

Quilting Cats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

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

October 23, 2025October 22, 2025 rosecards2 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

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

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

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

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 3

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

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

Don’t have Busy Bee yet?

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

Here’s my BEFORE photo:

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

Here’s my AFTER photo:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FUN VRD Snack Mat Tutorial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you then.

Have a great week. Get SEW much done!

Sew. Laugh. Finish. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

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

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

October 9, 2025October 8, 2025 rosecards8 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

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

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

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge

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

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

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

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

Here is my Before photo:

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

And here is my After photo:

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

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

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

Don’t have Alassio???

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Find the VRD Alassio tutorial HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEW October VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns

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

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

Get All 5 print patterns HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE.

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

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

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

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

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Quilting and Books

A Quilt Finishing Challenge (6 Quilts in 6 Weeks) and Great Quilt Mystery Reads

October 2, 2025October 1, 2025 rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope you all enjoyed the last month or so of new VRD quilt tutorials to help you jumpstart your Fall quilting. I certainly did, but now I’ve added 6 more quilts to my unfinished quilt stack. Oh no! I think that stack is going to topple over any day now, unless I do something quick! How about you? Do you have a stack of VRD quilts waiting to be finished?

If you missed any of the recent VRD tutorials, you can find the links below:

Falling

Busy Bee

Cinnamon Stix

Midnight Pathway

Morning Tea

Tea With Mara

I had an idea………

Quilt Finishing Challenge – 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks

With my teetering stacks of unfinished quilt tops (or flimsies), I decided some kind of serious intervention was required. What if I challenge myself to complete one quilt a week? What if I make myself accountable by posting a before and after photo each week?

It sounds a little daunting to me, but I’m up for a new challenge this fall. After all, in the last 6 weeks, I made 6 new flimsies, so maybe I should make a plan to finish them, right?

Now to decide how many weeks I think I can manage…….hmmm, how about 6 weeks? Sounds reasonable, I think. I hope. Fingers crossed.

The Dates:

Week 1 – 10/9

Week 2 – 10/16

Week 3 – 10/23

Week 4 – 10/30

Week 5 – 11/6

Week 6 – 11/13

The Rules:

Each week for 6 weeks, I will post a photo of the unfinished top as well as a photo of the finished quilt (quilted and bound [by hand or machine]) on the blog and on the VRD Facebook page.

All quilt tops must be VRD patterns – this is the VRD blog, after all.

No size requirements (I have flimsies from snack mats up to large throw quilts).

Wanna join me in this challenge?

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

Each week, I’ll draw a name from those participants who posted before/after photos to win a little quilty surprise. Might be from me or from one of our lovely quilting partners.

Before/After photos must be posted by each week’s date, listed above, so your name goes into the weekly drawing.

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

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

I think that’s all the important info.

So who’s with me? Send me your info and I’ll add you to my participant list. Then get sewing! And don’t forget to have some fun!!!

Now that our Challenge is LIVE, let’s take a break for some reading. Am I procrastinating already? Maybe…..

Great Quilt Mystery Reads

Mysteries are my favorite book genre, and recently while I was perusing available mystery ebooks at my online library to find my next read, I found a promising title called Quilt City Murders by Bruce Leonard, so I decided to give it a try. Here’s a brief description from Amazon:

Quilter Hadley Carroll thinks her life can’t get any worse after being demoted from reporter to newspaper courier and having her fiancé, Matt Ackerman, dump her without explanation. But then, while chucking a sack of newspapers into the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky—known as Quilt City—she finds Matt’s body snagged under the transient dock. She knows she’ll never find peace if she doesn’t figure out why he left her and who killed him, so she gets to work.
As QuiltWeek Paducah, the largest quilting event in the world, approaches, then fills the small town with 30,000 textile connoisseurs, quilters turn up dead. Paducah’s mayor tries to instill calm as citizens panic, protests flare up, and visiting quilters flee by the thousands.
Despite grieving the loss of Matt, Hadley perseveres, strengthened by her troubled upbringing and aided by her weekly quilting group. She uses her investigative skills and impressive intellect to solve the murders, to bring peace back to her hometown, and to get a good night’s sleep—finally.

Book cover of 'Quilt City Murders' featuring a woman holding a colorful quilt by a riverbank with a dog nearby, highlighting the title and author.

Quilt City Murders on Amazon

I was intrigued by the cover as well as how a male author would approach quilting. And it won a Best Mystery Award in 2022 from NIEA, which stands for The National Indie Excellence Award. I checked it out.

It took me a few chapters to get into it, but when everything started to roll, I simply could not put it down and I raced right to the end – whoa! Reading this book was like being on a train picking up speed while going downhill, seriously!

The characters surprised me by how realistic and well-rounded they were. I especially connected to the narrator, Hadley Carroll, because she is an imperfect character with a lot of baggage, just like the rest of us. And of course, Hadley has a dog named Trapunto (don’t you just LOVE this name???). As well as a quirky weekly quilt group.

Such a good read, so I couldn’t wait to check out book 2, Panic in Paducah. Even better than the first book! Actually held my breath in a few places, not kidding. Love how the characters keep surprising me, just like real people. I also find Hadley’s personal struggles to be realistic, especially when we all live in a world of imperfect people.

Book cover of 'Panic in Paducah' featuring a hand holding a lighter with a flame, set against a textured background. The title and author's name are prominently displayed.

Panic in Paducah on Amazon

Then I couldn’t wait to check out book 3 – Measure Once, Cut Twice

Oh no! Things just keep getting more and more complicated for Hadley in the third book. And Hadley is under more pressure than ever before as she races to help everyone with everything without losing herself to the chaos.

Cover of the book 'Quilt City: Measure Once, Cut Twice' by Bruce Leonard, featuring prescription bottles and scattered pills on a quilted background.

Measure Once, Cut Twice on Amazon

And then I went on to read Book 4 – Proving a Negative. Only the first 3 books were available at the online library, so I eagerly downloaded Book 4 and 5 from Amazon. I just finished this book yesterday and it was an amazing read, just like the first 3. I burned right through it in a couple days, reading every spare minute I could – the past few days have been busy ones, too, with me driving parents to their appointments here and there.

I will say each book is getting more intense than the previous one, which is probably why I can’t put them down. I’m really hooked. The author, Bruce Leonard, is fantastic! I love how quilting is woven into the story, but the story isn’t necessarily centered around quilting. I find the story lines to be realistic and relevant. And I absolutely love how the characters are evolving in each book.

Cover of the mystery novel 'Quilt City: Proving a Negative' by Bruce Leonard featuring an illustration of Benjamin Franklin on a hundred-dollar bill with a magnifying glass.

Proving a Negative on Amazon

Up next is Book 5 – Safety Second. This is the 5th out of 5 books, so I’m not sure if it’s the final book in the series or else just the most current. I hope the author continues writing for this series, because it’s really one of the best I’ve read for a while and I’ve read A LOT of mystery books over the years (if you didn’t know, I was a librarian for 11 years).

I probably won’t start it today because I’m writing the blog and doing work stuff today, but hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to dive back into Hadley’s Paducah. Now that I’m starting Book 5, the characters are like old friends and I can’t wait to see what everyone will be up to in Book 5. If this is the final book of the series, I wonder if Hadley will get her happily ever after…….or not.

Cover of the book 'Quilt City: Safety Second' by Bruce Leonard, featuring a wooden mallet against a textured gray background.

Safety Second on Amazon

Look for these books at your local library, ask for them through Interlibrary loan at your local library, purchase them at your favorite bookseller, or use the Amazon links above.

By the way…….there’s even a companion Cookbook – Quilt City Cookbook. What fun! I haven’t ordered it yet, but I probably will after I finish Book 5, Safety Second. I love that the cookbook is even talked about in the books as Hadley writes it and then utilizes the recipes.

Cover of the cookbook 'Quilt City Cookbook' by Bruce Leonard, featuring desserts including ice cream cones, cookies, and a slice of cake, with a warm orange background.

Quilt City Cookbook on Amazon

Don’t forget to email me your name and email if you want to join my Quilt Finishing Challenge – 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks.

Ready…..Set…..Go….Quilt!

And it’s okay to take a reading break now and then. Tell ’em Tricia said so.

See you next week for my first Before/After photos for the Challenge.

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. Read. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD