Showing posts with label Tricia Maloney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tricia Maloney. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2024

HOORAY! Time For the 2024 Villa Rosa Designs Fast & More Fun Blog Hop -- Today is My Blog Day!

 

Hello There Friends! 

Welcome to you, both old and new friends!  

I'm sew glad that you are here.  Today is my day on the 2024 VRD Fast & More Fun Blog Hop and I'm thrilled to be part of the 2nd Villa Rosa Designs Blog Hop.  

If you've come for the prizes -- I'm happy to tell you that you will be able to register for prizes at the bottom of this post.  But before I give you all the prize info, please read on and enjoy my post celebrating Villa Rosa Designs.

A Little Bit About Me

If you've already recognized the writing style, you're not imagining things -- I am also the blog writer over at the Villa Rosa Designs (VRD) blog, Villa Rosa Quilts. Yep, it's me Tricia @ VRD.  LOL!

I met Pat Fryer, the owner and Rose Queen at VRD when I attended my very first Fall Quilt Market in 2010 (which, incidentally, was Pat's second Quilt Market promoting her new company, Villa Rosa Designs -- kismet, I think) in order to promote my first quilting book, Orphan Block Quilts.

                                                       Orphan Block Quilts: Making a Home for Antique, Vintage, Collectible and Leftover Quilt Blocks by [Tricia Lynn Maloney]
 

Sheesh!  2010 -- that seems like ages ago now.  Pat and I met up at every Market I attended after that and in 2017, I became part of the VRD family of designers.  Mostly I design the table runner patterns, but I also create patterns for baby quilts, throws, large quilts, and some smaller accessory patterns, too.  You can check out all my VRD Rose Card patterns HERE.

In 2021, I started a new life-changing position working for VRD as a virtual assistant -- virtual because we are located on opposite sides of the US -- Pat and VRD in California and me here in Pennsylvania.  Writing the weekly VRD blog, Villa Rosa Quilts, is just one of the fun and cool things I get to do.  I also write patterns, do graphics, work closely with fabric companies for cross-promotional purposes, and whatever else I can do to help Pat and VRD.  BEST.  JOB.  EVER.

VRD Fast & More Fun Blog Hop 

Now that you know a little bit about me, let me tell you all about the Blog Hop.  I hope you are having fun hopping from blog to blog to see all of these amazing quilts, meet the cool quilt bloggers, and to register for awesome prizes which were donated just for you by our wonderful sponsors (see below). 

Today is Day 5 on the Hop, so if you haven't visited blogs for the first 4 days, here's the schedule so you can.  Go for it -- the more blogs you visit and register for at, the more chances you have to win.

Blog Hop Schedule:

Thursday, March 14
Villa Rosa Quilts — https://villarosaquilts.com/ 

Friday, March 15
Kathleen McMusings — https://kathleenmcmusing.com/
The Morning Latte — http://livelylatte.blogspot.com/
Homesewn By Us — https://www.homesewnbyus.com
Pieceful Thoughts — https://www.piecefulthoughts.com/
C & T Publishing — https://www.ctpub.com/blog/

Saturday March 16National Quilting Day!
Needle and Foot — https://needleandfoot.com/
MMM Quilts — https://www.mmmquilts.com/
Texas Quilt Gal — https://www.texasquiltgal.com/
Time 4 Stitchn — http://time4stitchn.blogspot.com/
SIY (Sew It Yourself) — https://blog.siysewityourself.com/

Sunday, March 17Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Quarter Inch Capers — https://quarterinchcapers.blogspot.com/
Norton House Quilting — https://www.nortonhousequilting.com/blogs/news
Quilting Gail — https://quiltinggail.com/

Wazoo! Newsbits — http://wazoonewsbits.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 18
With Strings Attached — https://withstringsattached.blogspot.com/
Jaftex/Scott Fortunoff — https://scottfortunoff.com/
Cocoa Quilts — https://www.cocoaquilts.com/ 

Quilt With a View — http://quiltwithaview.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)

Tuesday, March 19
Shout 4 Joy — https://shout4joy-shouting.blogspot.com/
The Darling Dogwood — http://thedarlingdogwood.blogspot.com/
Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting — www.knitbug2.blogspot.com
Something Rosemade — https://somethingrosemade14.blogspot.com/
Quilts of Valor Foundation — https://www.qovf.org/

Wednesday, March 20 — First Day of Spring!

Grace and Peace Quilting — https://www.graceandpeacequilting.com/
Happy Cottage Quilter — https://happycottagequilter.blogspot.com/
Joyfully Tracie — https://joyfullytracie.com/
Patchouli Moon Studio — https://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/
Electric Quilt Company — https://doyoueq.com/blog/

Thursday, March 21
Villa Rosa Quilts — villarosaquilts.com 

The VRd Blog Hop couldn't even happen without the amazing support from our sponsors.  Thank you Sponsors!

https://hoffmancaliforniafabrics.net

https://modafabrics.com

https://www.ttfabrics.com

http://jaftex.com

https://electricquilt.com

https://www.northcott.com/home.aspx

http://benartex.com

https://www.hancocks-paducah.com

https://foxchapelpublishing.com

https://www.ctpub.com

https://www.pbtex.com

I am honored that 2 of my Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns made it into the 5 patterns selected for the Hop:  Clover and Twinkle.  Did you know that you can purchase a set of the Blog Hop patterns???  You can go HERE to get your own set.  Or maybe you'll win a set....

Blog Hop 2024 SET of 5 CARDS

 

 Okay, now that we've got all that out of the way, wanna see my quilt???

Twinkle, My Blog Hop Quilt

When I designed Twinkle in 2019, I was torn about what fabrics and colors I should choose.  I decided to use a white background and some fun bright 5" squares.  It turned out really fun and flirty so I went with it.

 



In the back of my mind, though, I always wondered what it would look like with a black background.

Fast forward 5 years and I decided to answer that "what if" question for my Blog Hop post by creating a brand new Twinkle quilt featuring a solid black background paired with a great selection of 5" squares of Batiks.  


I am really pleased with how it turned out!  The Batiks shimmer and really pop on the black background, don't they?

 When I went outside to photograph the Twinkle top (not Toes -- LOL!), it was really nasty -- the temperature dropped, it was very windy, and then snowflakes were swirling around as I was trying to catch a quick photo when the wind stopped blowing for a second.  Just one teeny second was all I needed. It took me several tries as you can see below in my "windy" photos, but I finally managed to get a decent photo. 

What was really cool while I was taking photos is that way up high soaring on the wind was our neighborhood eagle!  Sure I was freezing, but it never fails to take my breath away to see our eagle (or eagles, last year we had 4 -- 2 parents and 2 youngsters), no matter how many times I see him/her (not sure which one it was today). I hope we get eaglets again this year!

Here are my "windy" photos. Seriously, I wouldn't have gone outside today to do photography if I hadn't wanted to get a good clean image for my blog post.  If I hadn't gone outside, though, I wouldn't have seen the eagle soaring on the wind up above.  Simply beautiful....


 

Maybe you noticed that I didn't add a border....yet.   I'm not entirely sure what I want to do about the border.  It needs something, but I'm not sure exactly what.  

I will say I was really inspired by Cheree over at The Morning Latte last Friday with her gorgeous pieced border for her version of Gypsy, so maybe I will go that route.  I just don't know.  What do you think?  Aha!  I think this question will be my question for the prizes, below.  I am SEW open to ideas!

Now, how about some PRIZES??!!

Blog Hop GIVEAWAYS

I know you've all been waiting for this!  Here's your reward for reading all the way down my blog post -- thank you!

And thanks to our Sponsors, we have some really awesome prizes up for grabs!  Here they are:

1)  1 set of the Blog Hop patterns, donated by Villa Rosa Designs (each blogger will give away a set)

2)  3  chances at 3 of the Grand Prizes (you will need to register to win the EQ8 download on the Electric Quilt blog, beginning on Wednesday, March 20th) donated by our rockin' Blog Hop Sponsors (each blogger will choose 3 people to go into the Grand Prize drawings)

3)  3 Individual Sponsored Prizes (each blogger will choose 3 winners)

But wait!  There's more!

I'm adding some fun prizes to give away here on my blog too!

4)  A signed copy of my first book, Orphan Block Quilts 

5) A mystery set of my Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns

You have up to 2 chances to win the above prizes here on my blog!  International Friends are welcome to register for prizes, too, as some of the Sponsors are able to ship internationally.  Winners will be randomly selected following the Blog Hop.  Winners will be announced after all winners have been contacted.

Here's what you need to do to be registered for prizes here on my blog:

1)  Leave a comment on this blog post and tell me what you think I should do for borders on my Twinkle quilt.

2)  Become a blog follower/subscriber and leave a comment on this blog post telling me you are a follower/subscriber (if you are already a subscriber/follower -- thank you -- please leave a comment letting me know).   PSST!  The Blue "Follow" button is at the bottom of the Followers box on the top right side of the blog.  You can also Subscribe with Netblogs, My Yahoo!, and Atom.  I think I'm on Bloglovin, too.

 Please make sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win! If there isn't an email address, I will move on to the next commenter.

Remember, you have until Sunday, March 24th to leave a comment to register for the prizes above.

That's it!  Really!  Easy Peasy!

Good luck to each and every one of you!  

Enjoy the Hop (socks are optional)!

                    Best,

Tricia 

P.S.  Please stop back soon to see what I'm up to....

 

 



Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Villa Rosa Designs Fast & More Fun Blog Hop

 Hello Friends!


Today's the day for the kickoff to the 2024 Villa Rosa Designs Fast & More Fun Blog Hop!  I hope you are as excited about it as I am.  

 Here is the Blog Hop schedule with bloggers links:

Thursday, March 14
Villa Rosa Quilts -- https://villarosaquilts.com/

Friday, March 15
Kathleen McMusings -- https://kathleenmcmusing.com/
The Morning Latte -- http://livelylatte.blogspot.com/
Homesewn By Us -- https://www.homesewnbyus.com
Pieceful Thoughts -- https://www.piecefulthoughts.com/
C & T Publishing -- https://www.ctpub.com/blog/

Saturday March 16 -- National Quilting Day!
Needle and Foot -- https://needleandfoot.com/
MMM Quilts -- https://www.mmmquilts.com/
Texas Quilt Gal -- https://www.texasquiltgal.com/
Time 4 Stitchn -- http://time4stitchn.blogspot.com/
SIY (Sew It Yourself) -- https://blog.siysewityourself.com/

Sunday, March 17 -- Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Quarter Inch Capers -- https://quarterinchcapers.blogspot.com/
Norton House Quilting -- https://www.nortonhousequilting.com/blogs/news
Quilting Gail -- https://quiltinggail.com/

Wazoo! Newsbits -- http://wazoonewsbits.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 18
With Strings Attached -- https://withstringsattached.blogspot.com/
Jaftex/Scott Fortunoff -- https://scottfortunoff.com/
Cocoa Quilts -- https://www.cocoaquilts.com/ 

Quilt With a View -- http://quiltwithaview.blogspot.com/ (You are here)

Tuesday, March 19
Shout 4 Joy -- https://shout4joy-shouting.blogspot.com/
The Darling Dogwood -- http://thedarlingdogwood.blogspot.com/
Vicki's Crafts and Quilting -- www.knitbug2.blogspot.com
Something Rosemade -- https://somethingrosemade14.blogspot.com/
Quilts of Valor Foundation -- https://www.qovf.org/

Wednesday, March 20th -- First Day of Spring!

Grace and Peace Quilting -- https://www.graceandpeacequilting.com/
Happy Cottage Quilter -- https://happycottagequilter.blogspot.com/
Joyfully Tracie -- https://joyfullytracie.com/
Patchouli Moon Studio -- https://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/
Electric Quilt Company -- https://doyoueq.com/blog/

Thursday, March 21 st
Villa Rosa Quilts -- villarosaquilts.com

 As you can see from the schedule, I won't be blogging for the Hop until Monday, but I thought you might like to have the blog links before then!

And here are the awesome Sponsors for the event.  There will be all kinds of prizes to give away -- 4 Grand Prizes, lots of individual prizes, and  Blog Hop Pattern Sets.  Thank you very much, kind sponsors!

https://hoffmancaliforniafabrics.net

https://modafabrics.com

https://www.ttfabrics.com

http://jaftex.com

https://electricquilt.com

https://www.northcott.com/home.aspx

http://benartex.com

https://www.hancocks-paducah.com

https://foxchapelpublishing.com

https://www.ctpub.com

https://www.pbtex.com

 

Wow!  That's a lot of great sponsors!

Head on over the the Villa Rosa Quilts blog to find out all about the Fast & More Fun Blog Hop!

See you right here on Monday, March 18th!  

                     Best,

                Tricia





Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Let's Have a Blog Hop!

 Hello Friends!


I'm SEW excited to announce that I am participating in the Villa Rosa Designs Fast & More Fun Blog Hop March 14-21. 



This is the 2nd year for the Hop and I'm thrilled to be part of it again this year.  Do you remember the Hop last year?  It was awesome!  Each of the bloggers created a VRD quilt and revealed them on their blog posts for the Hop.  There will be tons of prizes, too!  And 4 Grand Prize drawings this year -- wow!

The Hop kicks off this Thursday, March 14th, on the VRD blog -- villarosaquilts.com

Make sure you stop by the VRD blog on Thursday to  find out how everything works and how to register for prizes.

The time is perfect!  National Quilting Day is Saturday, March 16th -- what better way to celebrate quilting than to go on a Blog Hop adventure from the comfort of your home.  You can even wear your jammies!


More info to follow.......

                            Best,

                                     Tricia

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Back in the Saddle and Looking Forward to 2023

 

Long time no see!  I'd like to say that I stopped blogging because of the Pandemic, but I dropped the ball back in 2019, so I don't think that excuse will fly.  LOL!  All I can say is that life got in the way and then I just got out of the habit of writing my blog.

I took a very lllllooooonnnnnnggggggg break, but now I'm ready to get back into blogging mode.

So, hello!  Let's start over together.

A lot has happened for me since 2019.  I bet you can say the same, huh?

New Job

First, let me tell you a little bit about my cool new job.  I am now a Virtual Assistant at Villa Rosa Designs, www.villarosadesigns.com.  I started this new job in 2021, after I left the library I had worked at for over 10 years.  

It was time for a change.  Starting a new job is always a bit scary, but I was more excited than scared about my career change.  Now I work from home, which is awesome -- my commute is only down the stairs to my office/studio dungeon in the basement.  I write patterns, do quilt diagrams, create quilt mock ups, write the weekly blog, do tutorials for the blog, and whatever other projects that come up.  Love my job.  I will say that working from home does have a few drawbacks, though.  I am now more physically available so I get more interruptions.  Sometimes it's hard to get to my work because home/family things get in the way.

New Pets

After losing all of our older/elderly cats during the Pandemic, all of a sudden we were the pet parents of one lonely cat, Pip.  I adopted a kitten in late 2021 and this year as in a couple months ago in 2022, we adopted a very energetic and sweet Shih Tzu puppy, Bailly.  We have a super active furry family now with a young cat and a 5 month old puppy, who by the way are about the same size, and Pip who is about as energetic as a snail.

Here are my furbabies:

This is Bailly in her Christmas dress!

Here's my boy, Griffin!


Here's my perfectly plump Pip!

New Books

In 2021, I tried something new -- self-publishing on Amazon.   Luckily, I had already written 3 books the traditional way and published them with craft book publishers, so I had a more-than-average understanding of the world of publishing.  Which was good, because writing, editing, and illustrating your own books takes time and patience.

My first self-published book:


Feed Sacks is a tribute to my love of vintage feed sacks.  I started collecting them a couple years ago and now I have a large growing collection, so it made sense to photograph the different patterns and designs.  Then I put over 1000 of them together in this book.  It's a great Look Book of feed sack designs and patterns along with sections containing historical information and where to find your own feed sacks.
 
You can buy my book HERE.

My second Feed Sack book will be out soon, which will have another 1400+ feed sack designs and patterns!  So stay tuned to early 2023.
 
My second self-published book:

 
                                    
 

I love planners, journals, and calendars!  So it wasn't a hard decision to create my very own Quilt Planner with blank weekly and monthly grids so people can start it when they want to.  But the coolest thing is that my Planner is also a Block of the Month project!  Woo-hoo!
 
You can buy my planner HERE

Well, I guess there's not much more to say right now except:
 

Happy New Year!


Image by callmetak on Freepik


Stop in next week for more information about a FUN event coming in January 2023........did anyone say Blog Hop???

Until next time --

Tricia, AKA The Orphan Quilter


 

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

I'm Famous......Well, Almost!

I was shopping at my local JoAnn Fabrics recently and was surprised to see this Annie's quilt book. 


I just had to take a few photos.  Here's the back of the book:


Yup, that's my table runner in the top left corner.  It's called Jelly Jar and I just love how that one turned out -- it's a little retro and very sweet.

Let's take a peek inside the book now:


There's my Jelly Jar Runner.


Here's my Zoo Review -- isn't it fun for a kiddo?


Finally, here is another one of my table runners called Cut Jewels.

It's a fun book and includes 3 of my quilts.

What?????  You don't have this one yet?

Well, I guess you'll be heading to your local fabric store to get one, won't you?

LOL!

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Tricia's Favorite Quilt Blocks -- Block 11 FAR WEST

Oh my gosh!  I just realized that this is block 11.  Wow!  This project is fast coming to an end.  Then we'll have to start a new project.  I was thinking something with Christmas.  What do you think?

Our 11th block

Far West



It's actually called by several names (as most blocks are), but I decided to call it by its first name, Far West.  This block is attributed to Nancy Cabot.  Other names include Path and Stiles, Shoo Fly, and Stiles and Paths (according to EQ Blockbase).  You can definitely see its resemblance to our Shoo Fly block, but the center Nine Patch and the strips make it look entirely different.  That is one of the the things I love the most about quilting and designing -- by changing a few little things I can get an entirely new design.

Sew, let's get started making this block, which will finish at 12".

Here's What You Need:

Light -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8", 4 rectangles 1 7/8" x 4 1/2", and 4 squares 1 7/8" x 1 7/8"

Medium -- 4 rectangles 1 7/8" x 4 1/2" and 1 square 1 7/8" x 1 7/8"

Dark -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" and 4 squares 1 7/8" x 1 7/8"


Let's Sew It Together:

1.  Layer a light 4 7/8" square with a dark 4 7/8" square.  Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner.  Sew 1/4" on both sides of the drawn line.  Cut apart on the drawn line.  Open and press to yield 2 triangle squares.  Make 4 triangle squares.





2.  Sew 4 dark, 1 medium, and 4 light squares together into a little Nine Patch as shown.  Make 1.


3.  Sew a white rectangle on each side of a medium rectangle.  Make 4.



4.  Now that you've got all of the sections made, it's time to put them together, just like a Nine Patch block.



Well done!  Bravo!  Kudos!


Stay tuned for Block 12 coming soon and after that, I will provide instructions for my quilt layout which will measure 56" x 74".

Monday, September 30, 2019

Going to the Quilt Show!

Sometimes I get too wrapped up in the business side of quilting and forget why I ever started quilting in the first place. 

If you've been following my blog, then you already know that I took a break from making quilts this summer and had sew much fun rediscovering all of the wonderful antique and vintage fabrics, blocks, and quilts that I have accumulated over the years -- some items predate before I even began quilting.

With that in mind, I decided it was time to go to a quilt show just for fun.  It's been years since I've done this -- it was way overdue.

I went to Erie PA for the Quilting on the Bayfront show. The last time I went to this show was several years ago when it was the first time in this venue and I was disappointed.  It wasn't because of the show that I was disappointed, but because the show sponsored by Millcreek Sewing and Fabric previously had been held at the Chautauqua Institution in NY.

Quilting Around Chautauqua was my favorite experience (yes it wasn't just a show, it was an experience) because three friends and I used to rent a cottage and would spend five days immersed in quilting, the ambiance of Chautauqua, and friendship!  I really miss that.

So when the show changed venues, it made me very sad. 

Fast forward a couple years and I was ready to see the show with different eyes. 

So off I went to the quilt show!

The quilts greet you right after you pay your admission fee in the central hallway.  The backdrop behind the quilts was a wall of windows overlooking Lake Erie.  The ship you see here is the USS Flagship Niagara.



The show was set up in a large single room with quilt displays from area guilds lining the walls and vendors in the middle.

At the back of the room were some awesome quilt displays set up as rooms. 

The first one is a "quilt shop" vignette.  I apologize, but I didn't take a photo of the quilter's name.  Nonetheless, I found it very charming.



This next displays were created by my longtime friend and amazing quilter Marcy Scott, who also works at Millcreek Sewing and Fabric.







I had a wonderful surprise after I started perusing the vendor booths -- I discovered my friend Leslie was there too!  I don't know why we didn't communicate with each other and go together.

Another friend, Cathey, of Cathey Marie Designs, who is the creator of the Y Block Ruler, was there vending for the first time.  She said she did at least 100 demos during the show!  Here she is doing her ruler demo to a group of eager quilters.


Leslie and I teamed up for shopping and egged each other on.  Although she had already made the rounds of the vendors, she humored me and visited them all again.  Along the way, we stopped and chatted because many of the vendors were old friends.  We also met a lot of new friends who were vendors, too.

I had a great time and even picked up some fun charm packs and a wooly sheep pattern (along with an assortment of felted wools).

I am definitely looking forward to next year's show.  Maybe I'll see you there!