Tag: quilt finishing challenge

2026 Spring 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge · Just Quilty Stuff · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Quilt Challenge Week 3, Guess How Many Quilts Contest, and Shopping Local

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Welcome to Week 3!

I hope you’ve been spending some time over on our VRD Facebook page, where the inspiration is absolutely overflowing! Every time I pop in, I get completely sidetracked by all the wonderful quilt finishes made from our 700+ VRD Rose Card patterns. My “MAKE” list just keeps growing… and growing… and growing! Keep those beautiful quilts coming—I love seeing every single one.

I want to do a great big SHOUT OUT to everyone who has finished a quilt during the Challenge so far! Out of everyone who joined, nearly half are crossing the finish line—and that’s amazing for a challenge like this!

If you’ve got a quilt that’s this close to done, this is your week—let’s see how many more we can push across the finish line for Week 3!

As I mentioned above, we are now in Week 3 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. And wow… you all have been busy!

  • Week 1: 28 quilts finished
  • Week 2: 26 quilts finished

We’ve completed a grand total of 54 quilts in just 2 weeks! 🎉 TOGETHER! Yay Us!

Isn’t that amazing?? And the best part… we still have Week 3 wrapping up tomorrow, plus three more weeks to go. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see where we land by the end!

Guess How Many Quilts Will Be Finished?

So here’s a little fun idea to celebrate all this amazing progress…

How many quilts do YOU think will be finished by the end of the 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge?

Leave your best guess in the comments on this blog post for a chance to win a little prize at the end of the challenge!

Here’s how it works:

  • One guess per person
  • Leave your guess in the blog comments (not Facebook)
  • Entries close before next week’s post goes live

👉 You’ll find the comment link just below the blog post title (location may vary a bit depending on your device, so you might need to do a tiny bit of exploring).

If you have trouble finding the comments, you can email your guess to tricia@villarosadesigns.com and I’ll add yours to the list. Just be sure I have a way to contact you in case you win!

The person with the closest guess (or exact guess… you never know!) will win a fun little prize at the end of the challenge. 🎁

And yes—our international friends are absolutely welcome to join in, too!

So… what’s your prediction?
Are we headed for 75? 100? Even more? I can’t wait to see what you think!

Remember…..you only have 7 days to get your guesses in the comments (or emailed to me) so put on your thinking caps and leave your best guesses in the comments!

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge Week 3

Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but I just finished the binding right before I sat down to write today’s blog post. But you know what????? When I did it doesn’t matter, though, as much as the fact that I have another finished quilt! WOOHOO!

Please cue the entire marching band – wait where is percussion? And what are the Color Guard doing? And is that the drum major having a meltdown? Oh my, what a catastrophe……

Sigh……I guess we’ll just continue without the band.

For Week 3, I finished my version of Angel Face. Angel Face is another one of my 2024 blog tutorial projects that just never got finished. Hmmm. This seems like a real pattern with me, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what quilt finishing challenges are for, huh? You can find a tutorial for Angel Face HERE.

A quilt design featuring a grid of stylized illustrations of women's faces, accented with pink and black fabric. The title 'Angel Face' and 'Villa Rosa Designs' are displayed prominently.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Here is my Angel Face BEFORE photo:

A colorful quilt draped over a chair, featuring floral patterns and a mix of green and pastel colors, resting on a wooden deck.

You may have noticed I made some changes when I made my Angle Face version. Instead of a single fabric for the large squares, I alternated 2 different fabrics (I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I used them both. Easy peasy.). And I added an outer border using one of the frame fabrics because my quilt needed just a little bit more something. I think it turned out really pretty with the lovely Hoffman digital fabrics paired with a really cool colorful batik.

PSST! You’ve probably noticed I use a lot of Hoffman fabrics here on the blog. In a nutshell, VRD partners with other companies out there in the quilt o’sphere. I work with Hoffman a lot (Hi Sandy!), so I very happily use their fabrics for many of the tutorials for the blog.

My quilty pal, Mary Lee, literally rolls her eyes at me these days (I see you, Mary Lee!) when I make yet another quilt using Hoffman fabrics – particularly their batiks – because in the past I was always very “take it or leave it” about batiks in general while a lot of my friends were totally wild about batiks (including Ms. Mary Lee). Now I get it, Mary Lee.

Anyway, here is my Angel Face AFTER photo:

A colorful quilt with floral patterns draped over a rustic wooden bench. The quilt features squares of various floral designs and is bordered with a gray patterned fabric.

What do you think of the purple striped binding? I’m not sure. Is it too much? I had a really tough time finding something I liked with the soft colors of the quilt so I decided to just go a little bold for the finish. It does pull out the purple in the quilt, that’s for sure.

I free motion quilted my quilt on my domestic machine (Janome 8900) with an allover big meander in a soft aqua cotton thread. I used a fun grey print fleece on the back, no batting. And finished it off with the maybe-too-bold purple stripe for the binding. And yes, I added my label, too, because a quilt isn’t finished until there’s a label on the back. I know a lot of quilters do not add labels to their quilts for a variety of reasons, but I know personally from collecting antique quilts that 100 years from now someone will want to know who the maker was, especially if it’s a family quilt. So add a label and make a little history, too.

Here’s a close up of the quilting and my purple striped binding. Meandering is totally one of favorite machine quilting patterns!

Close-up of a quilt featuring a textured gray fabric with a swirling pattern, edged with a pink and white striped binding, alongside a patchwork design of floral and textured fabrics.

How about a winner now?

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Week 2 Winner

Kat S. in Indiana

YIPPEE!

Drop the balloons from the ceiling now!

Congratulations, Kat!

Here’s Kat’s Week 2 Quilt Finish:

A colorful quilt featuring various shades of blue, green, and purple fabrics arranged in a patchwork design, with floral and geometric patterns.

Kat’s awesome quilt is the Honey Bouquet pattern. (Did anyone notice that it’s blue??? Anyone??? Blue and white is one of my absolute favorite color combinations in case you didn’t already know that.) Really, I use a random number generator to pick the Weekly winner, I promise you. It was just kismet that it was blue.

As you take a look at Kat’s quilt, you might notice that she used a different layout than the sample quilt on the front of the pattern. And it’s really fun – I love the movement in her quilt. Way to go, Kat!

Colorful quilt design titled 'Honey Bouquet' by Villa Rosa Designs featuring various floral and geometric patterned fabric squares.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

So what quilt are you finishing for Week 3 of our Challenge??? You have until Friday, 4/24 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!

You know…..if you signed up but life’s gotten in the way of completing quilts so far for the Challenge, maybe this will be your week! We’re in this together!

Shopping Local

Last Friday, I had an errand to run to one of our local quilt shops, Sew Frannetastic. SewFran is a very unique quilt shop located outside Woodcock Township (near Saegertown) in good ol’ Pennsylvania. It’s unique because it is a quilting and sewing consignment shop – YES! You read correctly – it’s a sewing and quilting consignment shop!

When Franne and James opened a few years ago in a different location, I’d never heard of such a thing, but was of course intrigued. Who wouldn’t be? Now I’m a regular customer and every time I go, I find some wonderful treasures I would have never found anywhere else.

A display of neatly arranged fabric bolts on wooden shelves, showcasing a variety of colors and patterns, including greens, blues, and neutral tones, in a fabric store.
Image from Sew Frannetastic on FB

The exciting thing is that the shop is currently expanding because they are simply bursting at the seams with merch. And it’s not just sewing and quilting – you can find yarn along with crochet and knitting patterns and supplies as well as paper crafting and I hear that painting will be coming soon, too. When our local Jo-Ann’s closed last year, our community was left in the lurch for crafting supplies. And several of our local quilt shops have closed, too. So it’s really exciting that SewFran is creatively filling the quilting/craft store void. And we quilters and crafters couldn’t be more thrilled!

A colorful illustration of three cheerful women sitting in a red Jeep, promoting quilting with signs. The background features a quilt shop with a vibrant outdoor setting and directional signs for various quilting-related activities.
A little AI magic……..

I mentioned I had an errand to run out to SewFran and of course it was a great opportunity for a little quilty road trip – a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). All of a sudden, I had Robin riding shotgun and Mary Lee was ensconced in the back seat of my li’l red Jeep and we were on our way. The 3 of us did some serious damage to the banking industry while we were there, then of course, we just had to grab some lunch because shopping makes us ravenous.

We went to lunch at a small locally owned restaurant in Cochranton, PA called Parkside. The food was good and the company was even better.

A plate featuring a sandwich filled with beef, melted cheese, and sautéed onions, accompanied by a side of golden French fries.
Image from Parkside’s FB page

After lunch, we rounded out our local shopping event by heading to an adorable little gem of a shop in Cochranton called HennyPenny’s that had a little bit of everything tucked into cute little nooks and crannies. I grabbed a few new-fangled tea bag holders that perched on the edge of your tea cup for my Mom as well as some books and a quilt magazine. The shop featured new handmade items, gift ideas, clothing, housewares, cookbooks, collectibles, books, and more. Oh, by the way, it has a super fun chicken theme!

Interior of a quaint retail shop featuring vintage and decorative items. A round table with a pink checkered tablecloth is in the center, surrounded by shelves filled with various goods. Chandelier lights hang from the ceiling, and 'LOCAL' is displayed on the wall.
Image from HennyPenny’s FB page

If you’re ever in my neck of the woods here in Northwestern PA, you should check out these super friendly and fun locally owned businesses.

What local gems do you have in your community?

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’m off to do some quilting for Week 4.

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

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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 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

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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.

A colorful quilt design titled 'Busy Bee', featuring various fabric patterns including floral, geometric, and handwritten text, set against a light green background. The quilt is bordered at the bottom with a decorative design and includes the logo 'Villa Rosa Designs'.

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):

  1. You may show the front of the pattern, but never the back where the instructions are
  2. 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 – Week 2 and an Accessory Challenge

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Hello Quilty Friends!

How are you this fine Thursday?  Getting some quilts finished, I hope?

I’ve been having a great time checking out the finished quilts for Week 1 of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge.   It’s almost like, in 1 week, I’ve completed a lot of quilts!  Yay!  But I didn’t actually have to do all the work.  To me, that’s a perfect scenario!

So, if you finished a quilt for Week 1, pat yourself on the back and get ready to repeat this week!

And our Week 1 drawing winner is…………… Jill S.

Want to get in on the action?  It’s not too late – just email me at tricia@villarosadesign.com to join for the remaining 5 Weeks of the Challenge.  

You can get all the info HERE.

Now let’s jump into Week 2 of our Challenge.

6 Quilts in 6 Weeks:  Week 2

I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of extra time this week, so I decided to tackle one of my table runners UFOs for Week 2,  Steppin’ Up.

Cover image for the 'Steppin' Up' quilt pattern by Tricia Lynn Maloney, featuring a colorful quilted table runner with various patterned fabrics, displayed against a porch backdrop.

Don’t have Steppin’ Up yet?

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

My Before Photo (layered and ready to quilt):

A quilted table runner featuring a colorful pattern with autumn-themed fabrics, pinned and layered, ready for quilting against a backdrop of soft fabric.

My After Photo (Done and Done!):

A colorful autumn table runner quilt displayed hanging from a tree, featuring diamond shapes in shades of red, orange, yellow, and green with a floral border.

I made this Autumn version of Steppin’ Up a few years ago when my Friday Quilt group did a whole year of VRD Table Runners.  Of course, I made the top as a class sample and never finished it.  I don’t remember the name of the collection anymore as the fabrics were left over from another project from way back when.  Of course, if you want to make an Autumn version yourself, now’s the time to gather up a gorgeous selection of warm fall fabrics.

I backed it with a neutral backing fabric and a layer of thin cotton batting.  I free motion quilted it with an allover loop design (one of my absolute favorite designs which also quilts up really fast – you can see how I do loops HERE).  I machine stitched the brown tonal binding on and guess what – it actually turned out pretty well.  Last, of course, I added a label.

Have you ever made Steppin’ Up?  It’s a really fun one if you haven’t.  You can actually arrange the blocks in a lot of different ways to make your runner your way.

So, what are you finishing for Week 2?  You have until Friday at midnight to email or post your before/after photos of your Week 2 projects to be entered in our Week 2 drawing.

October VRD Accessory Challenge

Speaking of my Friday group, this past week for our October meeting, we had a group challenge reveal – VRD Accessory patterns.  Have you ever made any of our really fun Accessory patterns?  You can find all of them HERE.  I’m excited to tell you that we are going to be adding NEW Accessory patterns going forward.  In fact, I’m working on a few ideas right now.

So, my quilty pals rose to the October Accessory Challenge.  Check out their makes, below. Of course, they all rolled their eyes at me when I started snapping pictures because they just knew I was going to show off their projects on the blog. Sorry, not sorry…….

Gaynel made the Olivia Jane pattern.  Gaynel discovered that Olivia Jane was the perfect tote to hold a 12”x 12” rotating cutting mat.

A woman holding a handcrafted patchwork bag, displaying various fabric patterns and colors, in a sewing space filled with quilting materials and supplies.

Mary Lee made Catrina Jane, a 2 Pocketed VRD Rose Card Pattern Keeper. You can’t tell in this photo which shows the inside, but her outside fabric is a really cool African batik, which is more like an embossed fabric than the usual batiks we are familiar with.

An open 2-pocket pattern card holder made from colorful autumn-themed fabric, showcasing a floral design, next to the pattern cover titled 'Catrina Jane'.

Robin made the Dinner Party Place Mats.  She did alter them a bit by making 4 identical mats instead of swapping the fabrics in each place mat. Find the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE.

A stack of finished dinner party placemats with festive fabric featuring Santa Claus and holiday decorations, placed on a wooden table next to a beverage bottle.

Donna made not only 1, but 4 tote bags using the Tabitha Jane pattern.  Here is the one she made herself.  The other 3 will be holiday gifts. Good thinking, Donna!

A woman wearing a floral shirt and a gray cardigan is holding a colorful tote bag with a scenic design, smiling at the camera.

Kim made a set of these uber adorable Buzzy Bee Snack Mats.  You can find the digital pattern HERE and the print pattern HERE.

A person holding a quilted item featuring bee patterns and floral designs, trimmed in yellow.

There would no way at all I could choose a favorite from their projects because in my book, they are all winners because they finished their projects, so everyone got to pick out a fat quarter as a prize.

I hope these fun Accessory projects will inspire you to make some of your own – HEY!  You could even make some as part of our 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge – we have 4 more weeks to go yet.  You could make some great holiday gifts, or maybe a little something something for yourself.

Okay, time to get back to work on your Challenge projects.  And mine too.

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

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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!

Logo of 3 Aunts Quilt Shop featuring a stylized bee and ants on a bright blue background.

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