Tag: villa rosa quilts

Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Angel Face Quilt Tutorial

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

It’s summer time and the living is easy! After last week’s unusual heatwave here in NW PA, this week has been delightfully pleasant! I’ve enjoyed some quality time on the back porch hanging out with my pup, Bailly, and watching our local eagles. Breakfast on the porch? Yup! Lunch on the porch? Double yup!

As I’ve shown in photos before, the little valley where I live, tucked into the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, truly is a little slice of paradise.

I hope you are able to slow down your pace a smidge in order to enjoy nature, too.

I’ve also been getting in some much-needed sewing as well. WHEW! I am so relieved that crazy has settled down a little bit for me in recent weeks! You’ll see some of my industriousness when the new July Rose Card patterns are revealed!

In the meantime, let’s get going on this week’s summer tutorial — Angel Face.

Angle Face VRD Quilt Tutorial

I’ve been a big fan of Villa Rosa Designs Rose Cards since my first Quilt Market in 2010 when I first met the amazing Pat Fryer, but Angel Face was one of the very first VRD patterns I’d seen in one of my local quilt shops way back when as they used it as the pattern for their beginner quilting series. Funny how little memory nuggets resurface, isn’t it???

You can find the Angel Face Print Pattern HERE or the Digital Pattern HERE.

Sew, let’s get this tutorial part started!!

Today I’m using fabric from the Dandelion Wishes digital collection and an 885 Dot Batik companion from our quilting pal, Hoffman. Love, love, love these fabrics — the colors are so so soft and gentle. There are 2 colorways — green and pink — and I used a little of both for this fun beginner quilt project.

Heads up! I did make a slight change to the pattern instructions. The pattern calls for a single main print, but I went with and alternated the 2 prints you see on the left side of the photo because I just couldn’t decide between them. Big surprise, there, huh?

First up is cutting out all the pieces, which doesn’t take because we’re going to do some strip sets, so no little pieces. Easy Piezy!

Let’s sew a couple strip sets together. Press the seams towards the narrow strips. Then we need to subcut our strip sets into units. Bet you can do this with both eyes closed, right?

Our next step is to sew the unpieced strips to opposite sides of our main print (or prints) squares.

Now that our strips are sewn to our squares, let’s give them a nice press. Press your seams towards the center square.

Remember those pieced units we cut from our strip sets? It’s time to sew them to the other 2 sides of the squares. There is a teeny bit of matching seams on the ends, but if you pressed the way I suggested above, the seams will nestle together nicely. Pin if you need to and just take your time.

Good to go! Time to give them a little press.

My next step because I used 2 different main prints is to slap my blocks up on my design wall so I can make sure to alternate the 2 blocks. I really like how it looks with 2 fabrics, don’t you? You could even use 12 different fabrics for the squares if you wanted to. Angel Face is a very versatile pattern.

Now let’s sew the blocks together into a quilt top. Remember, that there is some fidgety seam matching when you sew the blocks together, so pin if you need to and go slowly. I promise you, though, that Angel Face goes together super fast!

You can stop here and call your top finished. This size makes a wonderful baby quilt! Layer, quilt, lable, and bind.

OR, you can add a border to make Angel Face the perfect size for a throw quilt.

I’m going to add a border. In fact, I’m using the lighter of the 2 accent fabrics as my border. I think it will make the mottled purple accent strips really pop!

Go ahead and cut out your border strips for the quilt. I chose to add the top and bottom borders on first because the width of the quilt top is less than the width of my fabric, so I won’t have to piece the top and bottom borders.

To measure my top and bottom border strips for cutting, I found the center of my quilt vertically (up and down) and I line up the end of my 2 strips and then I match them up to the edge of the quilt. I pin everything together to keep the 2 borders and the quilt lined up. Then I smooth the strips across the width of the quilt center and cut them to match the width of the quilt top. No more measuring with a measuring tape or ruler for me when cutting border strips.

Then I find and make creases at the centers of the top and bottom borders and the centers of the top and bottom of the quilt. This little step makes it really easy to match up the centers to assist in keeping my borders nice and square instead of getting all crazy and wavy.

Match up the center creases and pin. Next match the ends of the border strips to the ends of the quilt. Pin.

Sew the borders to the top and bottom of the quilt.

For the side borders, you’ll need to piece the strips. Then measure and cut the side border strips. Crease the centers of the strips and the sides of the quilt. Match them up and pin. Match up the ends of the borders and quilt. Pin some more. Finally, sew the side borders to the quilt.

Isn’t it a really soft and pretty quilt???

Here’s a “beauty” shot on my back porch……….

I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial. Angel Face is a wonderful project. Perfect for a beginner, yet fun and versatile for a more experienced quilter.

Don’t forget to stop and enjoy summer before it’s gone.

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. RELAX. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilt Stories · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Berry-Licious Quilt Table Runner Tutorial

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Hope you enjoyed last week’s post about the quilt show I attended. I’m still smiling. 🙂 If you missed last week’s post, you can go HERE to see the fun slideshow I created with some of the amazing quilts on display at the quilt show.

Before we get to this week’s tutorial, Berry-Licious — which is lots of fun and very timely — let me tell you a little bit about the inspiration for this table runner. In my area of Northwestern PA, we always look forward to late spring/early summer for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorites are the local strawberries, which are only available for a few weeks in June. Yum, yum, yummy!

When I was a kid, my older sister and older cousins (I was too little) all worked at a local strawberry farm, picking berries. They would meet in town at like 6 AM, and someone from the farm would pick up the kids and drive them to the farm outside of town. Horrors! The kids actually road in the back of the truck to the farm! Then the kids would pick berries for hours, and got paid per quart that they picked. My sister only did it once because it was such hard work, but my older boy cousins did it every summer all through high school and were often the best pickers. The work only lasted 2 or maybe 3 weeks right after school was out for the summer. If you were a teen in my area, this was kind of a rite of passage. I don’t remember if when I was old enough to pick berries, kids didn’t do it anymore or if I just wasn’t interested, but picking strawberries was a rite of passage I never did.

Strawberries have always been one of my favorite fruits, though. When I was really little, we even had a tiered strawberry patch in the backyard. My Mom (Hey Mom!) would make the most delicious strawberry jam and we’d enjoy that all winter long. If I close my eyes I can almost taste it and my mouth is watering, just remembering….

Ahhhh, good times.

VRD Berry-Licious Table Runner Quilt Tutorial

Have you made Berry-Licious yet? It’s a fun and very satisfying runner. You can grab your very own Berry-Licious Rose Card print pattern HERE or digital pattern HERE.

In the sample runner on the pattern, I used a fun collection of plaids, dots, and geometrics in delicious bright red for the strawberries.

For my tutorial example today, I am using fabric from the Garnet Glow Batik Collection by our pals Hoffman California-International Fabrics. Fun fact — did you know Hoffman’s been around since 1924???

Aren’t they just delish? The peachy fabrics makes me think of a strawberry not quite ripe yet.

I just love seeing how different fabrics look in the same pattern, don’t you? That’s one of my absolute favorite things about our VRD Facebook group.

Check out these Berry-Licious runners made by Renay Trolinger (Hi Renay!) in our VRD FB group! Aren’t they just too much fun??? I especially love the runner on the left — you know, the one with all the attitude. Great work, Renay!

Let’s get this tutorial going, shall we?

After I cut all the pieces for the runner, I layered my large green and background squares to make Half Square Triangles (HSTs) for the leaves on the stem. Layer those squares right sides together (RST), draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner, sew on both sides of the drawn line, cut apart on the drawn line, and press the HST open (I like to press my seams to the darker fabric, but that doesn’t always work all the time).

Then like magic you get 2 HSTs! You’ll need to make 10 HSTs. Don’t forget to trim off those little dog ears on the corners!

Wait! We’re not done with those HSTs yet. Now we’re going to use the small background squares to make “flippy corners” — yes, I’m using the professional term here — on the green triangles of our HSTs.

Layer a background square RST on the corner of the green triangle. Draw a diagonal line from the bottom left corner to the opposite corner on the background square. (Yup, LOVE my Frixion pens, especially the Fineliner ones. This red one has been my favorite for a while now and shows up on almost everything.)

Sew ON the line this time and cut 1/4″ away from the line. Open and press. Repeat with all 10 HSTs.

We’re still not done with these HSTs! Tehehe……

Now we need to sew a background rectangle to the top of each HST, but we need to make 5 left side leaves and 5 right side leaves (simply turn 5 of the leaves so they are mirror images).

Whew! Last step with the HST’s for now!

Sew a left leaf and a right leaf together with a green stem in between. Strawberry tops are done!

Now we’re going to make our strawberries — yum, the best part of the runner!

We’re going to make 2 small flippy corners on the top corners and 2 large flippy corners on the bottom corners. Repeat for all 5 strawberries.

Now let’s add the stems to the tops of the strawberries! Make 5 blocks.

Isn’t this just the cutest yummiest quilt block ever??????

Now the blocks are done, let’s put them together into a runner. You actually have 2 options — you can flip the second and fourth blocks upside down like I did in the original runner on the pattern front or you could have all the strawberries going in the same direction. Which way do you like better?

Which one do you think I chose?

The flipped block version. I just love how the blocks look arranged this way. Take a look at the “negative space,” isn’t it interesting?

Maybe when I go to quilt it, I’ll play around with those cool shapes created by the strawberries and stems. How would you quilt it? My original version was quilted with loopy loops.

I had some fabric left over so I made this fun little wall quilt or pillow — I haven’t decided yet. It’s about 21″ square, so it could go either way. What do you think?

Well, that’s it for me for this week. I hope you enjoyed this truly scrumptious (anyone know what movie this phrase was in???) Berry-Licious runner and I look forward to seeing yours on Facebook soon.

Come back next week to see my next summer tutorial! Hmmm…..what should I do next???

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Eat Strawberries. LOTS of Strawberries. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Just Quilty Stuff · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

NEW June VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns and a Quilt Show

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Summer is here! Let the good times roll! Get out there and soak up some sunshine! That’s an order!

Sorry….I know I said I was going to do a table runner tutorial this week, but I just had to show off the new Rose Card patterns for June and share my recent quilt show experience with you. We’ll save the table runner for next week, I promise.

What a special day — today is the Thursday after the first Friday of the month. And you know what that means!

Woohoo!

NEW PATTERNS!

New June VRD Rose Card Patterns

Yay! Here they are. Aren’t they fun? I don’t think you’ll go wrong with whichever pattern you chose to make first. They are all equally great.

Get the June pattern set HERE

(sorry, no digital pattern sets)

Want a F-U-N way to get started on a summer quilt? Order a kit from VRD, of course! You can see all of our kit offerings HERE. In fact, some of the new patterns, above, still have kits available. They’re going fast, though, so get yours before they’re gone.

NEVADA in Porch Swing 36″x 45″ (cover of pattern)

NEVADA in Wild Abandon 36″x 45″

S’MORES in Tan 51″x 68″ (cover of pattern)

S’MORES in Kaffe 51″x 68″

S’MORES in Misty Garden 51″x 68″

HOPPY SCOTCH Color Collage 45″x64″ (cover of pattern)

But wait! There’s more! (Sorry, it looks like I’m in an exclamation kind of mood today. I’m not really yelling at you, though, just excited.)

No table runner this month due to technical difficulties, but check out these cute little Buzzy Bee Snack mats! And no stingers, so you can enjoy them safely, even if you’re allergic.

Get your Buzzy Bee Snack Mat physical pattern HERE

or the digital pattern HERE

Now that you’ve seen the new patterns for June, let me tell you about the quilt show I went to last week.

2024 HAAEQG Quilt Show

The HAAEQG stands for Hands All Around Erie Quilt Guild. It’s actually been a couple years since I’ve been to an actual quilt show, so when I saw the poster on Facebook, I was so ready for a huge inspiration shot in the arm. And I wasn’t disappointed. We filled up the car with my 3 crazy quilting cousins (I call them the Cuz Crew) — Kim, Robin, and Lisa — and me (Hi there Cuz Crew!). We headed to Erie, PA (about 30 minutes away) for a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). We found the church where the show was being help, but we decided to find somewhere to eat because I wasn’t quite sure whether there would be food at the show, but of course there was).

The church was a couple streets over from the medical center where I’ve been taking my Mom for her appointments, and we’d recently had a very good lunch at the neighboring hospital cafeteria. So when we ended up by the medical center and hospital, I suggested we eat at the cafeteria. Maybe you think that’s a little weird, but — hey — the food is good and you have a lot of options in the food court. Everyone was game, so off to the hospital cafeteria we went.

Yum! The food was great! 3 of us had hot turkey sandwiches with either real mash potatoes and gravy or a broccoli rice casserole and/or a lovely veggie mix. Wish I’d thought to take a photo of all that food for you, but I imagine drooling on your device wouldn’t be such a great idea, would it?

Yup, now we were all powered up for the Quilt Show and back to the church we went.

Would you believe one of the first quilts I saw was my VRD Rose Card pattern Sisterhood made up in a lovely calming neutral palette.

Here I am with that gorgeous Sisterhood quilt, made by MaryBeth Cook, a member of the HAAEQG.

Here’s the Sisterhood Rose Card pattern in case you can’t really get an idea of the actual design or if you haven’t added this top seller Rose Card to your collection. I love how the neutral shades really change the whole look of the quilt, don’t you?

You can find Sisterhood HERE.

I was so excited and couldn’t wait to share the news with my Cuz Crew, who had already started to wander. A guild member was nearby and heard me. She got really excited, too, and told me not to move so she could get her sister, who had made the quilt.

This is how I met MaryBeth Cook (Hey there, MaryBeth!). What a lovely way to meet a new quilting friend and VRD fan!

Here we are together, posing in front of MaryBeth’s gorgeous quilt, which she made for her daughter. Lucky daughter, indeed! I didn’t get to ask you, MaryBeth, but what drew you to the Sisterhood pattern?

Now, let me tell you about the quilt show. There were somewhere between 350-400 or so quilts on display in every style, technique, and color combination you could think of! They were amazing! I must admit that I was a real slowpoke looking at and photographing quilts. By the time I did a spot of shopping, the Cuz Crew were sitting and waiting for me. Sorry. Not sorry. Meeting MaryBeth, seeing her Sisterhood quilt, and oohhing and aahhing over all the quilts really made my day. My cuz, Robin, told me later that she hadn’t seen me smile so much for a long time.

There were 2 very cool things going on at the quilt show, in addition to the quilts, that made the show experience even more fun:

  1. When you entered the show, you were given a sheet of paper with numbered lines on it for a Scavenger Hunt. Hidden amongst the quilts in the show were quilt blocks from an Underground Railroad quilt. The quilt was on display at the front table for reference. We had to write the correct quilt block name next to each number and then return the completed list to the table to register for prizes. What fun!
  2. Throughout the show quilt blocks were lined up alphabetically depicting a quilter’s alphabet. It was a show within a show!

While I enjoyed each and every quilt, I took photos of some of my favs to make you a slide show. Please note that each quilt’s maker information/story is the slide following the quilt in my slide show.

Why do I include the maker information??? It’s important to share the maker’s name and story not only to celebrate the maker’s accomplishment, but also to acknowledge that they are the creator of that quilt.

So, grab a frosty glass of sweet tea and watch my little slide show full of quilts from the HAAEQG Quilt Show!

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the wonderful quilts on display at the quilt show. I have been enjoying looking at them a few more times myself! There would have been more photos, but on many of them I jerked or moved which resulted in a smear of colors — pretty, but not identifiable as a quilt. Oops! Next time, I’ll take my time and take better photos. Uh Oh, Cuz Crew, I’ll be even slower next time. Just sayin’……..

Huh. Would you believe that I walked out without turning in my Underground Railroad Scavenger Hunt paper before we left? Oh well.

Sending out a big round of applause to the HAAEQG for the wonderful Quilt Show they put on! Look forward to the next one! You can check out HAAEQG on Facebook HERE.

I am now bubbling over with lots of great ideas for new quilts and patterns. Now I just have give myself the time to get to use all that inspiration for good, not evil (Waahaahaa!).

Off to my sewing machine!

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

VRD Dusk Delight Quilt Tutorial

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’ve been thinking about ideas for summer posts and I think I’ll do a series of Summer Quilt Tutorials. Creating tutorials gives me a reason for getting some sewing in AND I have a stack of wonderful kits just waiting for me to make into quilts. The only problem with making a bunch of tops will be getting them quilted. LOL!

I can’t promise one tutorial a week over the summer, but I will definitely try. I may need to alternate tutorials with text posts because sometimes making the top and doing the photography takes me longer than a week to get ready, especially as summers get busier and busier.

Well, let’s get to it.

I chose Dusk Delight as my first summer tutorial because this pattern has been on my mind recently. I’ve done a few “digital” quilt mock ups with it recently and it really resonated with me for some reason. Maybe because of the controlled scrappy look? Or perhaps the vertical arrangement? Whatever it was, I was itching to make this one. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a quilt kit to make one???

Dusk Delight goes together easily, but I will caution you that making a big stack of blocks does take a little time. The assembly is not difficult, but can take some time to get everything put together. I would call Dusk Delight a quilt that you can make in a long weekend.

Read on!

VRD Dusk Delight Quilt Tutorial

Get your Dusk Delight physical pattern HERE or your digital pattern HERE.

Here’s the fabric I’m using for my Dusk Delight quilt. I just love pairing Hoffman batiks with our VRD Rose Card patterns! I’m using an 1895 Watercolors batik for the block centers and the vertical strips and a Bayshore Bali Pop for the blocks. I can’t wait to see how this turns out because I just love these beachy colors!

The first thing we’re going to do is cut all of our fabrics. We need block centers, vertical strips, and 2 sizes of rectangles for the blocks.

Here’s a couple tips for working with batiks:

  1. Start with a new machine needle because a dull needle will only damage the fabric.
  2. Use leaders and enders so that your machine doesn’t try to eat your fabrics at the beginning of a seam. Want to know more about leaders and enders? Check out this post HERE.

For my leaders and enders, I ‘m using a stack of green and white triangle cut-offs from a previous project. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get another little project out of these cut-off triangles.

Okay, let’s make blocks! A lot of blocks….

  1. Sew a small block rectangle to the side of a block center.
  2. Sew a matching rectangle to the other side of the block center.
  3. Take a moment and press your unit so far. This helps to keep the block square as you add the next pieces.
  4. Sew a big rectangle to the side of the unit.
  5. Then sew the last matching rectangle to other side of the unit.
  6. Press your block and voila! One block done.
  7. Now make 39 more blocks! LOL!

Another tip — I made 5 or 6 blocks at a time so that I didn’t get the rectangles too mixed up as I sewed. This went faster than sewing a single block together at a time.

Oh goody! Now one of my favorite things — laying out the blocks. Of course, sometimes this part of the quilt-making process takes me longer than actually sewing everything together. The more I look at the arrangement, the more I move things around. But I do definitely love mixing and matching the colors….

To help me arrange the blocks, I put all the blocks and the vertical strips up on my handy dandy flannel board. It really is handy dandy — I use it way more than I ever thought I would. I have no idea why it took me so long to put one up. The only issue I ran into was that the quilt was longer than my board, so I had to do some creative layering at the bottom so I could see the bottom 2 block rows.

If you’re experiencing flannel board envy, let me tell you how to have your own handy dandy flannel board in a matter of minutes with very little cost. I stole this idea from my quilty pal, Mary Lee (Hi Mary Lee!), who has one up tacked to the top of a set of double doors that lead to her front enclosed porch (which she uses for storage).

Go ahead and get yourself a rectangular flannel backed tablecloth. You will want a heavy duty one with a thicker flannel on the back so that it will grab and hold your fabrics. They do come in different sizes — mine is 50″ x 72″ — so you can choose the one that fits your space. Now that it’s the good ol’ summertime, it’s the perfect time to find your very own flannel backed tablecloth.

There are lots of different ways to put your flannel backed tablecloth up. I use binder clips to clip my tablecloth to the top row doors of my cube storage wall. This way, I can remove it when I need to. If yours is removable like mine, you could even use it as a tablecloth so make sure to pick out a fun pattern on the front that matches your outside decor.

Well, I guess I’ve got the blocks arranged the way I want them…..maybe…….

So let’s sew them together before I change my mind again. LOL!

I’m going to sew the outside blocks together into rows before I tackle the center block section.

Now that the outer blocks are sewn together, I can no longer move them around.

Before I start the center block section, I need to piece my vertical strips together to make longer strips. I don’t want to forget to do this step or else my strips won’t be long enough.

Sew…..sew……sew. Press…..press…..pres…… Yay! The center section blocks are now sewn together. Of course, I had to play switcheroo a couple — or maybe a dozen — times before I sewed them together.

Wait! Which way do I want the center section? Gah! I’m still not done arranging, even though the blocks are sewn together. Which one do I like better — right side up in the left photo or upside down in the right photo. Decisions…..decisions…….

Which ever one I choose, this will be the final arrangement. Of course, I could flip the whole quilt upside down……ARGH!

I take it back, maybe arranging the blocks isn’t my favorite step after all!

Before I can sew the vertical sections together, I need to cut my vertical strips to the right length. Holding my breath here that it will be the perfect length. Of course it will, right?

Time to sew again. I pinned the vertical strip to the inside edge of each of the outer single block sections, matching centers and outside edges before stitching them together.

This part looks easy in the photos but it took me quite a while because my work space is so cramped right now. It was like wrestling an alligator from time to time.

I matched up the centers and ends of the left section with the left side of the center section. I crossed my fingers that the blocks would be decently lined up across the vertical strip.

Then I lined up, pinned, and sewed the right section to the right side of the center section.

Yay! Top done!

Wowzer! Why was I even worried??? It turned out great and the colors are just so calming. Ahhhhh! Now to get it layered with batting and backing (or with just fleece) so I can machine quilt it……someday!

I’d love to see your Dusk Delight quilts! If you haven’t joined our rockin’ fun and uber cool Facebook Group, please do! You can find the Group HERE. And post your Dusk Delights so we can all ooooh and ahhhh over them!

Back to my summer sewing, what fun! Next week’s tutorial will be a table runner, so stop back next Thursday to see which one.

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Just Quilty Stuff · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

14 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Summer Quilting

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Hey there! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!

My big plans were having a multi-generational family garage sale on Friday and Saturday. I haven’t had a garage sale since before the Pandemic, so I really had no idea what to expect. We ended up with a very interesting assortment of items from the regular household stuff and clothing to antiques and collectibles to automotive items to vintage toys to beautiful collectible glassware and pottery and everything in between (except for quilting stuff, as I’m saving that for a later fabric yard sale). The comment I said frequently during the sale was “We have a little bit of a lot of different stuff.” And, boy, was that true!

While I was at the garage sale, I was thinking about what to write for the blog this week and I was inspired to come up with a fun list of ideas to make the most of your summer quilting because I know how difficult it is to fit quilting in during all the hustle and bustle of summer.

While I was at the garage sale and taking money, I was also working sewing down some binding which was something I could pick up and put down easily. By the way, I bound 3 out of the 4 snack mats I took with me to the sale. Not too shabby.

14 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Summer Quilting

Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card Patterns

You can find the May Pattern Set HERE

OF COURSE, I had to have our VRD Rose Card patterns on the top of the list! As you probably already know, we have around 700 current patterns with new patterns coming out every month from our very talented group of designers. If Villa Rosa Designs was an entry in a dictionary, you know the definition would be FAST & FUN! With patterns for accessories, table runners, baby quilts, small quilts, throw quilts, and even large bed quilts — we really DO have a pattern for everyone for whatever purpose or occasion they need to make a quilt for! You can find our entire catalog of physical Rose Card patterns HERE or our digital Rose Card patterns HERE.

Kits, Kits, and More Kits

NEW Pascali Kit, get it HERE

Kits are a real time saver because the fabrics and the pattern are packaged together. Did you know Villa Rosa has kits galore both in the physical quilt shop in California and in our online shop? You can find our current kit offerings HERE.

Precuts

Grab your favorite 2 1/2″ strip set, 5″ charm squares, 10″ squares, or fat quarter bundle………. VRD has a pattern for that! LOL! Using precuts is a HUGE time saver because some of the cutting is already done for you. AND you can pair your precuts with a great VRD Rose Card pattern.

Small Projects

You can find our Fast & Fun Accessory patterns HERE

Think small in the summertime — place mats, snack mats, mug rugs, small accessory patterns, throw pillows, wall quilts, and table runners are all great options for summer quilting. I personally find that summer is a great time to start working on small fun Christmas gifty items that can be whipped up in little pockets of time.

Easy Piezy Projects

Get Lickety Split HERE

My advice is to save that complicated Double Wedding Ring Quilt for Fall and Winter and focus on Fast & Fun projects for the summer. Selecting easier projects that only take a couple days or even a couple hours to make will keep you moving right along instead of feeling stuck with a single more complex project for the whole summer. Check out my Go-to list for Fast & Fun Rose Card patterns that go together in a snap HERE.

Try a Take-Along Project

Find Quilting On The Go HERE

Prepare a take along project (hand piecing, applique, embroidery, whatever you like) and have it ready to go for summer trips, picnics, vacations, appointments, kids’ events, etc. You might even want to prepare several small projects for on the go, so you can just grab one on your way out the door. You will be amazed at how those little pockets of time will give you additional quilting time. Maybe it’s time to try a little English Paper Piecing with Hexies. Just Sayin’….

Projects in Different Stages of Completion

Image created with Photoshop by moi

Not everyone will agree with me on this one and it might not work for everyone, but this is how I roll. If you have a quilt or 2 cut and ready to piece, another couple that you are quilting (either hand or machine), several that need the binding sewn on or tacked down, along with your take along project (or projects!) — you will never be bored and you can work on whatever project that fits into your current time/space.

On the go? Grab the quilt that needs the binding done (I’m thinking smaller projects here, not big bed quilts) or one of your take along projects — like maybe a hand applique pillow front.

Have an hour or two? Start piecing that quilt you cut out or maybe you can machine quilt a table runner.

Need a project in the evening while hanging out with the kiddos or friends? Maybe one that needs binding fits the bill or perhaps an ongoing project you already started hand-quilting?

Bored with one project? Then work on another one.

Use your time wisely by choosing the project that fits into specific pockets of time.

Try to Keep Your Sewing Space Organized

Image created with Photoshop by moi

You will notice I said “try”? I know how hard it is to keep your space uncluttered and organized from my personal struggles in my own space (which, by the way, looks like a quilt shop exploded). If you can find what you are looking for when you need it, that itself will save you time. Then you can get quilting faster and you may even have a little bit more time to work on your project in between swim practice and dinner if you’re not hunting for your scissors or thread or a new machine needle because you broke one.

Use Your Leaders and Enders to Maximize Your Sewing Time

This is a great idea I borrowed from Bonnie K. Hunter. In fact, Bonnie has written 2 books about this idea — Adventures with Leaders & Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time! and More Adventures with Leaders and Enders: Make Even More Quilts in Less Time! The concept is that you cut out an entire quilt (Bonnie is all about Scrap Quilting) and then you sew the pieces together for one quilt as the Leaders and Enders while piecing a second quilt. You will be amazed at how many more quilts you will be able to put together with this technique.

What are Leaders and Enders, you might be wondering. Scraps of fabric to begin and end your chain-piecing so that your machine doesn’t “eat” your fabric at the beginning of your first unit (bet you know what I mean by this!). Bonnie’s idea is all about making simple scrappy blocks by using the pieces of one quilt as the Leaders and Enders for a second quilt — literally a two-fer! You go, Bonnie!

Schedule Sewing Days with Your Pals

Image by studiogstock on Freepik

Sewing with friends is always a great idea — not only are you quilting, but you’re getting social time with your pals, too. Go ahead and actually schedule time on your calendar to quilt with your posse. Bring a project to work on and something for a pot luck. Why not make it a theme night — Taco Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, or maybe Fast & Fun Friday? By combining social time with quilting time, you get the best of both worlds at the same time!

Take a Quilt Class

Image created on Photoshop by moi

Learn something new or brush up on your skills. You are prioritizing quilting by scheduling it into your busy summer. Make that class even more fun by taking along your best quilting bud.

Join a Quilt Guild

Photo by Levi Guzman on Unsplash

Yup, join a Quilt Guild where all the quilters hang out once or twice a month. Again, you are combining social time with quilting time as well as making quilting a priority. You can even tote a take along project with you to meetings. You’ll enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded folks and you might learn a thing or three from other members.

Maybe you don’t have a guild near where you live? You could join an online guild. Or maybe start a guild in your area!

Teach Someone to Quilt

Image created on Photoshop by moi

Have you ever heard the quote: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”? Do you know who said these important words? If you said Ben Franklin, then kudos to you!

So, teach someone to quilt!

Kids or grands need something to occupy their time besides video games and their cell phones? Teach them to make a simple quilt! Know someone who always wanted to make a quilt, but doesn’t know how? Teach them! Or maybe you know an expectant parent or grandparent who wants to make a baby quilt for that special little bundle? Don’t hesitate, teach them! You can even make the same project that you are teaching, so not only are you getting in some much-needed quilting time, you are also sharing your love of quilting with someone else.

Quilting Road Trip

Image from Vecteezy

Yay! Get your motors running! Head on out on the highway — er, on a Quilting Road Trip or FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). Whether you’re going on a quilt retreat, to a quilt show, or hopping from shop to shop, enjoy some quilting R&R with your fav quilty pals. Don’t forget your take along project for the road….

I hope these fun ideas help you to squeeze a little more quilting time into your busy summer. If you have any additional ones to add, please leave a comment to share. Thanks!

Just keep quilting……just keep quilting…..just keep quilting………………………………….

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Just Quilty Stuff · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

What’s NEW with Villa Rosa Designs???

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Happy Memorial Day Week end to you too! What are your plans for this unofficial kick off to summer? For me, I am hustling to put together a garage sale for Friday and Saturday as this is THE BEST weekend all year to have a sale where I live. Fingers crossed that I’m not pulling an all-nighter Thursday to have everything ready for Friday. Wish me luck!

I am SEW EXCITED to share some AWESOME NEWS about Villa Rosa so I’m going to jump right in.

Exciting VRD NEWS!

Our Rose Queen and VRD owner, Pat Fryer, has a brand new fabric collection coming out with Riley Blake Designs! It’s called Bedazzled! and I can’t wait to share it with you! It will be available at your local quilt shops and at our online shop, villarosadesigns.com, in December! So mark your calendars now AND ask for it at your local shops.

Bedazzled! is a batik collection and is part of the Riley Blake Expressions line. It has 26 fabrics in rich saturated eye-popping colors! It’s fun and whimsical too!

Here is the entire collection:

Here are some larger images of each different pattern so you can see just how yummy the fabrics are:

Of course, Bedazzled! will be available in precuts — 5″ squares, 10″ squares, 2.5″ strips, and fat quarter bundles, so the collection will shine in lots and lots of VRD Rose Card patterns!

Speaking of VRD Rose Cards, here are the patterns Riley Blake Designs has selected to showcase with the collection.

Get The Lady in PRINT or DIGITAL
Get Baby Zip Tease in PRINT or DIGITAL
Get Lazy Goose in PRINT or DIGITAL
Get San Julian in PRINT or DIGITAL
Get 2M in PRINT or DIGITAL
Get Sugar and Spice in PRINT or DIGITAL

And if that’s not enough — Riley Blake Designs has created a SUPER SPECIAL Rose Card Pattern Storage Tin! Finally!!! We’ve talked about storage ideas for your Rose Card collections many times in the past here on the blog and I know the topic comes up frequently on the Facebook group.

Thank you Riley Blake Designs for creating a solution for storing our Rose Card collections!

I am really excited about this tin and can’t wait to order several. I imagine we’ll carry them at villarosadesigns.com, but make sure you request these tins at your local quilt shop! I think they’ll go fast, so make sure you get yours in December.

Are you getting EXCITED yet???? Remember, Bedazzled! will be in stores in December, just in time for Christmas! I know what I’ll have on my Christmas list this year. Just sayin’ . . . .

One More VRD Update For You

Do you watch (and shop) Pat’s Fry-Day VRD Live Shows on Facebook? Or maybe you didn’t even know we had a weekly Live Show and Sale.

Here’s the info:

FRY-DAY HAPPY HOUR

Join us every Friday at 4pm PST on our Facebook Page for our Fry-Day Happy Hour.

Watch as we show new fabric and last-chance items – and comment to buy directly from the video.

I just wanted to let you know the show will now be available on the website due to some changes with the platform. We’re trying a few different things out right now in order to pick the new format that will be easiest for you, the shoppers and fans, so please be patient with us.

For now, you will be able to find the Fry-Day VRD Live Shows under the Live Shows tab at the top of the website. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Well, I guess that’s it for me this week. I’m off to work on getting my garage sale ready. If you find yourself in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, stop on over — I’d love to meet you in person.

Take care and be safe this Memorial Day Weekend. Don’t forget to kick back and relax, too.

Until next time —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Curated Rose Card Pattern Lists · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

GREAT Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card Patterns for Beginners or When You Need a Quilt in a Hurry

rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I can tell summer is coming fast, can’t you?

My days are getting busier and busier and I have less and less time to spend quality time with my sewing machine and I don’t even have kids at home. What about those of you who do? College kids are graduating. Younger kids will be off for summer vacation soon. And so on and so on. . .until school starts up again in August and September. So what’s a quilter supposed to do???

Or maybe you’re a new quilter just learning how to sew a 1/4″ seam and how to safely use a rotary cutter? Sometimes it’s hard to find patterns that match your developing skills.

Or maybe you want to teach someone how to quilt? How do you pick out a project that will be satisfying but doable? Something fun and not boring?

I’m glad you stopped right here at the VRD blog because I’m going to show you a curated collection of Rose Card quilt patterns perfect for the beginning quilter as well as the super busy person who also happens to be a quilter (yep, I mean YOU).

I haven’t created a curated list of Rose Cards for a while so I thought it would be fun to share some of the fastest, most fun, and satisfying projects in our Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card collection.

Here’s my criteria for this curated list:

  1. Only squares and/or rectangles
  2. Simple design with easy execution
  3. No more than 2 different simple blocks per project
  4. No more than 5 pieces in a single block
  5. No sashing
  6. No borders

Here goes!

Get Alassio HERE
Get Ascot HERE
Get Basket Case HERE
Get Belle Amie HERE
Get Berry Smoothie HERE
Get Biscotti HERE
Get Bunny Hop HERE
Get Charismatic HERE
Get Cherish HERE
Get Child’s Play HERE
Get Cidermill HERE
Get Cobblestones HERE
Get Eden Rose HERE
Get Eureka HERE
Get Evelyn HERE
Get Firecracker HERE
Get Firelight HERE
Get First Night HERE
Get Freedom HERE
Get Friends HERE
Get Fruit Salad HERE
Get Geneva HERE
Get Gilda HERE
Get Gummies HERE
Get Harmony HERE
Get Harvest HERE
Get Highlight HERE
Get Honey Bouquet HERE
Get Hot Tamale HERE
Get Infinite HERE
Get Jubilee HERE
Get Kalinda HERE
Get Lickety Split HERE
Get Livin’ Easy HERE
Get Lovers Lane HERE
Get Lullaby HERE
Get Maid Marian HERE
Get Melinda Jo HERE
Get Midnight Blue HERE
Get Mod Tiles HERE
Get Mod Tiles Too HERE
Get Moonstone HERE
Get Night Light HERE
Get Oakmont HERE
Get Odyssey HERE
Get Oklahoma HERE
Get Ombre HERE
Get Pandemonium HERE
Get Pascali HERE
Get Perfect Trio HERE
Get Pilaf HERE
Get Polka HERE
Get Potting Shed HERE
Get Red Rock HERE
Get Regent Park HERE
Get Rhiannon HERE
Get Rodeo HERE
Get Sahara HERE
Get Salt Water Taffy HERE
Get San Julian HERE
Get Santa Fe HERE
Get Seashell HERE
Get Season’s Greetings HERE
Get Seminole HERE
Get Senior Prom HERE
Get Sorbet HERE
Get Stairway HERE
Get Sugar & Spice HERE
Get Summer Song HERE
Get Sunsprite HERE
Get Surf City HERE
Get Tiles HERE
Get Truffles HERE
Get Tumblebug HERE
Get Tuscan Sun HERE
Get Underline HERE
Get Victoria HERE
Get Vienna HERE
Get Vineyard HERE
Get Weave HERE
Get White Cloud HERE
Get Zelda HERE

It was really hard to choose the above Rose Card patterns even with such specific criteria because VRD has so many pattern that are fast and fun. I really had to make some hard decisions based on difficulty because I wanted to keep the patterns beginner-friendly.

I hope you enjoyed this list — some are oldies but goodies while others are fresh of the press, so to speak. Here’s hoping you maybe found a few new-to-you Rose Card patterns to add to your own growing collection of cards. Pick out a couple patterns and make plans to work on them over the summer. You might just be surprised at how much you can get done when you use one of these VRD Rose Card patterns.

Take care and just keep quilting….

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Copyright and Quilting · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

My Recent Copyright Issue and NEW Villa Rosa Quilts Rose Card Patterns for May

rosecards17 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

What a gorgeous day here in NW PA! I woke up to bright sunshine and happy bird song. I love mornings like this! We’ve had a couple wonderful summery days and it makes me so glad that I have a nontraditional career where I can get outside anytime I want to drink in the lovely weather. Lucky me….

We have so much to do today, we’d better get started.

The Last Blog Hop Prize Update

Hip! Hip! Hooray! I just shipped the last bunch of prizes yesterday — all 41 of ’em! I know those of you who won prizes and haven’t received them yet are probably getting a little anxious by now and today I’m happy to say the last of the Blog Hop prizes will be arriving shortly.

If you won a prize during the Blog Hop and do not receive it within the next couple weeks, please email me at tricia@villarosadesigns.com so I can look into it.

Again, thanks for your patience. I hope all of you winners enjoy your prizes!

Let’s keep moving!

And the Winner Is……….

Congratulations to Barbara in MA! She is our giveaway winner.

Thanks everyone for telling me about your favorite color combinations. Like you, I have lots of different combinations and it’s hard to pick just one. Wink, wink……..

If you didn’t get your own copy of Plan Design Quilt yet, you can find it HERE.

My Recent Copyright Issue

I love being a quilt designer and author, but sometimes things happen that make me so so frustrated. Recently, I had a copyright issue and I’d like to tell you about it.

I’ve talked about copyright and quilters a couple times before and you can find links to those posts here:

NEW April 2023 Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card Quilt Patterns and Revisiting the Copyright Question for Quilters

The Copyright Question for Quilters

I also want to remind you that I am not an expert in the field of US Copyright Law. What I’ve learned, I’ve learned by reading, researching, talking to others, and experiencing issues first hand. If you need expert advice or information about US Copyright Law, please seek the help of a Copyright lawyer.

Recently, a quilter familiar with our VRD Rose Card patterns emailed us with a screenshot showing the back of one of my Rose Card patterns — the instructions — posted on Facebook. The kicker was that the poster actually covered up the copyright information at the bottom of pattern, which indicated the person posting my pattern knew exactly what they were doing. Please don’t assume they just didn’t know that it was wrong or what they were doing was violating US copyright Laws — if they covered up the copyright info, then this was done completely intentionally.

I tried to check it out on FB, using the info on the screenshot to guide me, but I found out that the group was private. Now what? I ended up having to join the group so that I could address this copyright infringement. While waiting for my membership in the group to be active, I was able to look up the person who posted my copyrighted pattern instructions and I wrote a very firm message to them. I also found out that person was — of all people — an administrator of the Group!

When I was finally accepted into the group later the same day, I then posted a super firm comment showing the front of my pattern and telling all 3000+ members that I owned the copyright and I did not give permission to share my pattern instructions and that by doing so AND covering up the copyright information intentionally was a violation of US Copyright Law.

I also found out how to make an intellectual property complaint to Facebook, which I promptly did.

You can find Facebook’s Intellectual Property article which also includes a link to the form for reporting Intellectual Property abuse HERE.

Finally, the original post was taken down in the Group before Facebook even had the chance to do it (which told me that at least one of the administrators of the group knew it was wrong and deleted it before the group could get in trouble from Facebook). But it wasn’t deleted before over 3000 people had the opportunity to save/print/copy/repost my pattern. THEN I got grief from another one of the administrators who not only deleted my public posts in the group about copyright law and my rights as the copyright owner, but also told me that I should contact the guilty administrator and not post to the entire group. Seriously??? Not one person accepted responsibility for this nor did anyone even offer an apology! I am still seething about this experience.

You might wonder why this upsets me so much. Let me explain.

Sure, maybe that person originally purchased my VRD pattern for $2 before posting it on Facebook, but that did not give them the right (legally or morally) to share it with over 3000 people for free. They did not ask my permission to post my copyrighted pattern instructions — I would NEVER have given my permission to post it on Facebook anyway.

Copyright laws are there to protect intellectual property for many good reasons, including a copyright owner’s ability to earn income on their own intellectual property.

I design quilt patterns as part of my livelihood. By posting the instructions of my pattern for free on the FB Group, that person so kindly helped me (and VRD) to lose potential income — possibly more than $6000 in pattern sales, if each of the 3000+ group members had purchased their own pattern at $2 per pattern.

This all makes me second guess my desire to design and publish new quilt patterns. If designers stopped creating new quilt patterns, new quilt books, and new quilt magazine patterns featuring new techniques, new fabric collections, new tools, and new ideas then the quilt world would suffer greatly. Eventually the sale of fabric, notions, tools, rulers, etc. would suffer, which would then hurt fabric companies, publishers, advertisers, quilt shops and other quilt-related businesses. People could lose their jobs and companies and businesses could eventually go out of business. Do you see the domino effect here? Ultimately, it would hurt you, the quilter, who just wants to make beautiful quilts.

Copyright law protects ALL of us.

I appreciate you taking the time to hear my latest copyright story. And now I’ll jump off my soapbox.

Time to check out the NEW May patterns!

NEW May 2024 VRD Rose Card Patterns

Yep, it’s the Thursday after the first Friday in May, which means — NEW PATTERNS!

There are 7 — count ’em — 7 NEW patterns this month — the set of 5 that you know and love along with a table runner and a snack mat. Definitely something for everyone in this month’s patterns.

YAY! Aren’t they Fab??? You can get the set of 5 physical patterns for the special price of $8.95 HERE

I’m sorry, but we don’t offer the set as a digital pattern collection. However, the good news is that each pattern is individually available as a digital format. You can find the patterns by name on our website, villarosadesigns.com.

Here’s a pretty flower runner, perfect to whip up for Mother’s Day or just for spring — I can see you already picking out your favorite colors and fabrics for this one. You can find the runner physical pattern HERE or the digital pattern HERE.

And here’s a very spring-y fun Snack Mat pattern. Don’t you just love pinwheels??? They are so fun and happy! You can find Pinwheelies the physical pattern HERE or the digital pattern HERE.

So, which one are YOU going to make first???

Well, I’m off to take my sweet and crazy little Shih Tzu, Bailly, out for a walk to enjoy this gorgeous day. Ta Ta!

Here’s my 1 1/2 year old cutie, Bailly, who needs a haircut and a shave right now….LOL! Don’t you love her happy grin???

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

Blog Hop Prizes Update and a VRD Bunny Ears Snack Mat Quilt Tutorial

rosecards4 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Another week has passed us by and the only things I’ve sewn recently are my samples for this Bunny Ears Snack Mat tutorial. LOL! I hope you had better luck this past week getting some sewing in. I keep gazing at my collection of VRD Rose Cards as well as petting my fabrics and my sewing machine looks lonely across from me as I write here at my desk, but I just can’t seem to find enough time to actually get something going on my machine. Somehow I need to find a pocket of time — maybe I should sleep less so I can quilt more. But, no, that won’t work for me these days as I really do need those 8 hours of sleep a night. Ho hum…..

Update on Blog Hop Prizes

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still working on getting everything shipped to Blog Hop Prize Winners. So far the quilts have been shipped, digital pattern collection winners have received their patterns, and prizes graciously being shipped by our lovely sponsors should be in the mail. Physical pattern collections haven’t yet been shipped but should be going out in the next couple days. I have a stack of prizes that also need to get mailed as well as the Kaffe Collection and the Mystery Box.

You may be scratching your head, wondering why it’s taking us so long to get everything sorted out and to the winners. That, my friends, is a complicated topic:

  1. We had around 28 bloggers in addition to our own blog, which really makes 29. There were prize winners on ALL of the blog post. So that’s a lot of information to put together and organize! To make things even slower, we had some winners who never replied to their winner emails, so then we had to randomly select new winners and contact them to get their information. Egads! It literally took weeks to gets all the winners selected and confirmed. Really, I’m not kidding.
  2. Prizes are being shipped from multiple locations — the quilts were shipped from the VRD shop in CA, physical pattern collections will be shipped from our pattern shipping location in MO, digital pattern collections were emailed by moi here in PA, sponsors are shipping prizes from their warehouses and office locations all over the US, and I am shipping prizes and 2 of the Grand Prizes from my little studio here in PA.

It’s crazy when you think of the logistics involved in our Blog Hop — kind of like dancing Swan Lake en pointe while trying to juggle knifes — very sharp knifes!

Happily, we should have everything out in the mail very soon. Winners hare receiving their prizes. Please continue to be patient as we get everything on its way to you.

Now, how about a fun tutorial?

VRD Bunny Ears Snack Mats Tutorial

Nothing says spring like a pair of bouncy little bunnies with extra-long ears! But before I even begin the tutorial, I need to let you know there is an update on the cutting instructions for piece B — you should have enough fabric left over to cut the updated piece, though. Please check the Corrections Page HERE for the new cutting measurement for piece B. Yes, we do have a corrections section at the bottom of our website, villarosadesigns.com, so if you ever find something on a pattern that doesn’t quite look right to you, please check the corrections page for updates.

Get your own Bunny Ears Snack Mat Rose Card physical patterns HERE or digital patterns HERE.

All right! Let’s make some cute bunnies!

The first thing we need is 2 fat quarters. Yep, just 2 FQs makes 2 adorable little Bunny Ears Snack Mats.

I chose these bright and happy spring prints from Cherry Guidry’s Full Bloom collection for Benartex for my Snack Mats.

Time to cut all the pieces out — we’re actually doing the cutting for both Snack Mats at the same time. While I cut, I’m using my ancient homemade flannel board to keep my pieces from getting lost.

Did you miss my flannel board tutorial last week? You can find it HERE.

PSST! Don’t forget to switch your pieces before your start sewing so the bunny fabric in one block becomes the background in the other!

I know it doesn’t look like much yet, but here are my pieces all laid out for both blocks and ready to sew together. Having a small flannel board is great because I can just take it right to my sewing machine from my cutting table, without dropping or losing a thing.

As all the pieces are cut and ready to go, let’s start sewing these little Bunnies together!

Place a background square right sides together on the top left corner of the Bunny Head rectangle. Draw a diagonal line and sew on the line. Then cut 1/4″ away from the sewn line and press the “flippy triangle” open. Yup, that’s what I call them — “flippy triangles” — you know, I only use the technical terms here on the blog. LOL!

To make thing easier later, press the seam towards the Bunny.

Sew “flippy corner” on the top right corner and press this seam towards the Bunny Head too. Repeat to make identical “flippy corners” on the second mat.

Voila! Now we have 2 cute little Bunny Heads (with a crazy mess for Ears right now)!

Speaking of Bunny Ears, let’s make some! Place the background squares right sides together with the Bunny Ear rectangles, lining up the outside edges at the bottom. Draw diagonal lines as shown — keep in mind you are making mirror images. Sew on the lines and cut 1/4″ away from the drawn lines. Open the “flippy corners” and press the seams towards the background fabric.

Our Bunny Ears aren’t quite finished yet because we have to add some top “flippy corners,” too. The background squares used for the top of the Ears are larger than the squares used at the bottom in the previous step so be careful not to get the top and bottom squares mixed up.

Again, we are making mirror images. Repeat this step for the second block as well. Press the seams toward the background fabric.

We now have Bunny Ears! Yay!

Next, sew the background strip between the Bunny Ears and press the seams towards the center background strip. Repeat for the second block.

Almost there, just a few more steps!

Now sew the Ear section to the top of the Bunny Head for both blocks. If you pressed the “flippy corners” towards the Bunny Head in the first step, above, then your corners should nestle together nicely.

Ladies and Gents, we now have a Bunny, or rather 2 Bunnies!

Do you see how the green stands out and the floral fabric recedes? Aren’t fabrics so much fun to play with???

The last thing to do is sew the narrow background strip to the left side of the block and the large background piece to the right side of the block. Repeat for the second block.

And there you have it — Bunny Ears Snack Mats! Next up would be layering the Mats with batting and backing, quilting them, and adding binding.

Don’t forget to label your Snack Mats!

I hope you enjoyed this super cute tutorial and have fun making your very own Bunny Ears Snack Mats. They are quick and easy to make, using only 2 fat quarters, and are great little something-somethings for all your pals, quilty ones and non-quilty ones alike! Long live cute little Bunnies! Hurray!

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD

Tutorials · villa rosa designs

A Tutorial for Making Your Own Quilt Block Flannel Board, What I’ve been Up To (No Good, Probably!), and a Giveaway!

rosecards37 Comments

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Now that we’re past the middle of April, spring is finally springing around here, although it’s still either cold or rainy. We’ve had so much rain here in NW PA, there is a lake in the field back behind my house. And the fun thing is that a small group (flock? gaggle?) of Canadian geese have claimed it as their very own little oasis! Silly goosies! But I do love to hear them honking out there to each other and it’s fun to see them waddling around. The lake is starting to dissipate, but we keep getting enough rain that it refills, so right now the geese are in luck.

Speaking of April, I know it’s spring when my Friday Quilt group starts meeting again. We skip January and February because those months are historically our snowiest months and usually start up again in March. I didn’t get a chance to mention my group back in March because we were all busy with the Blog Hop.

I know I’ve talked about these amazing quilting gals before and I’m so thrilled that we’re back together once a month again. I want to do a shout out to the Friday Gals — you know who you are — Hey Ladies! (If you want to know a little bit more about these Friday ladies, you can go HERE.)

You might wonder why I am talking about these gals, but for the last 2 years, we’ve been doing Villa Rosa Designs quilt projects. But his year, everyone wanted somethng a little different and everyone agreed that they wanted to go back to a sampler quilt again. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve done a year-long sampler project, so it’s time.

Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet Co. was an easy choice for 2024 because of the fun blocks in both 6″ and 12″ finished sizes as well as a plethora of terrific projects in which you can mix and match blocks. In fact, Lori has 2 other books, Farm Girl Vintage 2 and Vintage Christmas which also use both 6″ and 12″ blocks. And guess what that means??? All the projects are interchangeable among these 3 books! WOW! In addition to some other fun quilt books, Lori has a bunch of super patterns and even a book about scrap quilting called Scrappiness is Happiness. If you’re not familiar with Lori’s designs, you should check them out.

She is a fabric designer for Riley Blake as well as an author and quilt designer. I’ve designed quilts using a few of her collections over the years — they were lots of fun. Very scrap happy and bright with a vintage vibe. You can find out more about Lori Holt HERE.

Beginning last month in March, we are going to work our way through the 12″ and 6″ blocks (as well as the delightful tractor block) in the book by making a mix of 6″ and 12″ blocks each month until December.

Here are blocks from our first get together.

I like to offer my own sampler layout when we do a year-long sampler quilt project, and this year is no different! I designed 2 different settings — one as a throw/twin and one as a full/queen. Of course, the Farm Girl Vintage book has lots of fun projects of all sizes, too, which means everyone has options! And boy, do I LOVE to have options!

I’ll give you a sneak peak at the center of my full/queen quilt (without the borders — I’ll get those on someday!). I chose a scrappy blue and white farmhouse-y color scheme and I really love how it turned out. What do you think?

After making VRD quilts for the last couple years, we couldn’t entirely abandon our VRD projects, of course, so for 2024 I set up a series of VRD quilt challenges. (You know, this could be a great idea for quilt guilds and groups or even quilt shops — just sayin’……)

Anyway, here is our challenge schedule:

June 2024 — Fat Quarter Project

August 2024 — Panel Project

October 2024 — 5″ or 10″ Charm Square Project

December 2024 — 2 1/2″ Strip Project

Of course, there are a few rules:

  1. You must complete a quilt top before we meet that month
  2. You may not use projects from classes 2022 or 2023

I’ll try to take photos when we have the Challenge quilt reveals, so you’ll have to stop back to see what VRD projects the Friday Gals create.

In our most recent meeting, our group made portable flannel boards to accommodate 12″ blocks so I thought I’d show you how we made them because everyone should have a small flannel board. This size is super to carry back and forth from your cutting area to your sewing machine or even to a quilt class, retreat, or sew day.

Make Your Own Quilt Block Flannel Board

Here’s a flannel board I made maybe 15-20 years ago. This board has seen a lot of wear and tear and the corners are all bent up, but it’s definitely stood the test of time and use because the only thing I’ve really had to do is to tighten and re-tape the fabric on the back once or twice. This board is around 12″ x 18″ and is made out of a heavy duty cardboard. It is great for smaller blocks, but doesn’t quite hold the pieces for a 12″ block, so that’s why I had the idea to make one sized for 12″ blocks.

What You Need:

A piece of sturdy cardboard or a sheet of foam core board

A piece of neutral tonal or solid quality flannel fabric as large as the board you want to make plus an additional 3-4 inches all around.

Duct tape.

I chose to use a piece of foam core from Dollar Tree (LOVE Dollar Tree!) which will actually give me 2 boards about 15″ x 15″ and a leftover long rectangle for some other project. Because the boards aren’t exactly 30″ long long, my finished boards won’t be exactly 15″ square, but that’s okay, it’s close enough for jazz. If you want your boards to be perfect squares, go ahead and measure the length of your foam core board and divide that number in half. Use a ruler to draw lines to make 2 equal boards. If you want 1 big board, you can use the whole piece of foam core, just keep in mind it will be kind of clunky to carry back and forth from your cutting area to you sewing machine to your pressing area. But if it works for you, go for it.

One you’ve drawn your lines, time to cut on the lines with a utility knife or scissors. BE CAREFUL! We don’t need any accidents on this step.

Here’s 1 board around 15″ x 15″, which will allow me to lay out the pieces for a 12″ block (or smaller). Now let’s get our flannel fabric ready. I suggest pressing it so the flannel is nice and flat before you put it on your board.

Okay, lay your flannel fabric on a flat surface with the wrong side facing up. Center your board. Then fold one side up and tape it firmly to the board. Repeat for the opposite side. Make it smooth and taut before you tape it to the back of the board.

Next up, we are going to fold the corners in on 1 of the remaining 2 sides and then tape the side to the board. Repeat for the other side, pulling the fabric smooth and taut before taping that last side. I used an extra piece of tape on each side to help keep the flannel nice and tight.

Voila! Here it is — a board block big enough to layout a 12″ or smaller block!

Wasn’t that super easy? Now you know how to make a flannel board, you can make them in any size you want, just make sure that your flannel fabric is 3-4 inches bigger all the way around your board so you have enough to wrap around and tape. (Psst! Flannel boards are great activity and story activities for kiddos, too! Use left over fabric and felt to make letters, numbers, and story pieces to delight any kiddo.)

One More Thing Before You Go…..And a Giveaway!

I’m excited to share some BIG NEWS with you — I just finished putting together my 6th book in print! Yippee! Kudos! AWESOME! (Go me!)

It’s called Plan Design Quilt and it is kind of like a workbook for designing quilts on paper. I do design a lot of my projects using Electric Quilt 8 software, but I also scribble blocks and quilt settings down whenever inspiration strikes. Usually I jot ideas down on snippets of paper, sticky notes, napkins, or whatever, and then I lose them only to find them at some later time after I have already forgotten all about that idea. Kind of disorganized, I know.

So I created this book for myself because it gives me someplace to do my little scribbles and keep them all in one place. It’s kind of cool to create a book that fulfills your own needs and then share it with the world. I tell myself that if it’s something I can use, then there are other quilters out there who might need this too. So I designed this workbook-style book with lots of space to doodle and draw quilt blocks and settings, to jot down notes, try out/add fabric swatches, and more. You can find Plan Design Quilt here. Woo Hoo!

But wait — there’s more!

To kick off this new book, I’m going to give away a copy of Plan Design Quilt right here on the VRD blog, Villa Rosa Quilts. All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favorite color scheme for making a quilt. I apologize, but this giveaway will be for US residents only. I haven’t decided yet if offering this book in ebook format would actually be helpful for people. Your thoughts?

Oh, almost forgot! You have from today, April 25th through Thursday, May 2nd to leave a comment. I will select a winner randomly.

Well, that’s it for me.

Take a little time to quilt this week!

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD