Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Are you ready for another fun Accessory pattern project for Week 3 of our December Sew Along? I really hope that you are sewing along with me. These accessory Rose Card patterns are not only fun, but fast, too! Of course, I’ve only picked 5 for this Sew Along, but there are more. You can find all of our current Accessory patterns HERE. Don’t forget that we are planning to add more Accessory patterns in 2024, so you’ll have to stay tuned….

Did you order your set of 5 patterns for the December Sew Along yet? There’s still time for you to jump in (you’d better get cracking,though!) and sew along with me.

Or you can save the projects for when you’re ready to do a little fun sewing after the hustle and bustle of December. I will add the December Sew Along to the right side of the blog so you can find the posts whenever you’re ready to sew. That’s definitely one of the cool things about an online Sew Along, you can do it anytime you’re ready, even in the middle of the night wearing your pajamas and eating a bowl of ice cream.

Get your pattern set HERE.

If you missed the December Sew Along projects so far, you can find them here:

Amanda Jane

Savannah Jane

Catrina Jane

VRD December Sew Along Week 3

Catrina Jane is a scrap saver, but more importantly, she is a scrap user. Quilts are just not complete until you use at least 100 different prints in them. One background fabric??? Absolutely not -- when 57 are better! Catrina Jane dove into her stash of scraps and small pieces and whipped up a dozen of these delightful little Pattern Card Holders! Now to decide which quilty pal gets which one. Decisions....Decisions.... And of course, Catrina Jane plans to slip a few Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards into her cute little Pattern Holders before gifting them.

Your Sew Along Challenge this week is to make your very own Catrina Jane Pattern Card Holder.

That’s right — this week, for Week 3 of our December Sew Along, you need to have your pattern pack in hand. Grab your supplies and create your own one of a kind unique 2 Pocket Pattern Holder.

Please make sure to join us on the Villa Rosa Facebook page to share your project this week and to check out the projects of your fellow VRD enthusiasts. The “social connection” is what makes sew alongs SEW much fun! Show us your fabrics! Any tips or hints for construction? Anything you need help with or don’t understand? Did you customize your project? Maybe you’re making 10 of them for Christmas! Please share because we ALL want to see your Sew Along “sew and tells.”

Villa Rosa Designs Facebook Page — you can use this link to take you to the VRD Facebook page. Make sure you are signed into your Facebook account and on the VRD page you can “like” us to join in the fun. The more folks that join in, the more fun it will be!

Tricia’s Catrina Jane Sew Along Project

Like Catrina Jane, I perused my own oversized stash and settled on these fun fabrics. The red and blue floral is an older Minnick and Simpson print. Then I added a tonal red and a creamy white to the mix. Yes, you can make a Pattern Holder out of a single fabric, but also like Catrina Jane, I love a scrappy but coordinated look. 

Now to cut out all the pieces and get sewing!

After I made my tab, I centered it on the left side of the main print. Nope, I didn’t measure a thing! My secret to finding the center of pretty much anything is to fold it in half and make a crease at the center. Then I just line up the creases and done. Easy Piezy!

Once I centered the tab on the main print, I placed the pocket fabric right sides together on top on both sides of the main print. If needed, go ahead and add a couple pins to hold things in place. Then I stitched the sides. I pressed my seams towards the main print on the back and voila! My tab ended up in the right place. Whew!

Now let’s place the lining fabric right sides together with the main print/side pockets. I learned a great little tip a while back at my quilt guild — at the corners, instead of trying to make them 90 degrees, pivot and stitch a couple stitches at the corner to gently round the corner instead of making a sharp corner. It makes a much nicer, smoother, and sharper corner than turning 90 degrees! Try it sometime. Don’t forget to leave an opening for turning your Pattern Holder right sides out.

I turned my Holder right sides out and used my handy dandy chopstick to gently push out the corners. I also like to run my chopstick along all the seams on the inside to help the seams to behave.

Time to fold over the pockets and sew. The directions called for using a zig zag stitch, but I chose to use a straight stitch on mine. Do the same if you like, or maybe you’ll explore some of the million embroidery and fancy stitches on your machine. 

Instead of velco, I decided to put a cute little red snap to secure my Pattern Holder. Fun, fun, fun!

The very last thing to do is to fill up the pockets with cards!

Wouldn’t this be a great little gift for your favorite quilting friends? Add a couple Rose Card patterns inside and instant swoon-worthy gift. The Pattern Holder takes around an hour to make, depending on your finishing options, so it truly is a great last-minute gift idea.

Some Fun Ideas to Personalize Catrina Jane:

1. Add ric rac, buttons, or other embellishments.
2. Add a monogram or initials to the front cover if your machine can do that.
3. Try a fun button as a closure instead of velcro or a snap.
4. Add a few small pockets to the front cover and/or inside to stash cash, a credit card, or even more Rose Card patterns.
5. Make it bigger to hold more cards — with 4 pockets instead of 2. You would need to basically double the width of the lining and main fabric while keeping the length the same. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll try this idea sometime.
6. Shrink it down and use it to hold business cards.
7. What else could you stash inside the pockets? How about handmade note cards? Wouldn’t that be a sweet gift to yourself or someone else?
8. Add a layer of fleece or batting to make a firmer Pattern Holder.

Okay, now it’s your turn!

Time to get your Pattern Holder made this week (between Thursday December 14th and Thursday December 21st) and share it on the VRD Facebook page. I’ll see you there and I can’t wait to see what you make and hear your Catrina Jane sewing story! Let’s add where you’re from, too! It’s lots of fun to see where all our VRD friends hail from!

See you next Thursday for Week 4 of our December Sew Along.

(PSST! If you’re one of those work ahead kind of folks — our Week 4 project is Olivia Jane which will officially begin next Thursday, December 21st. Feel free to have at it, but please don’t post any of your photos or progress on Olivia Jane until after next week’s blog post. Between now and then, let’s focus on Catrina Jane. Thank you!)

See you on the VRD FB page!

Sew. Laugh. Ho. Ho. Ho. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD