Friday, April 29, 2016

Keepin' up!

This is the end of the 5th week, so here's the 5th design reversed.




That's means I have 10 of the 12 blocks completed for the quilt. Next week will be the last design....cookie and quilt block for the Kitty Cookie Quilt. And I think I've saved the best for last!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Week 5

Time is rollin' on, and here we are at week 5 with the 5th cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt.




I don't have a cute name for this one. I'm just calling it 'Smiley Cat' for now, because in the Kingdom of Coco, all the cats are happy. They all have homes and warm beds, good food, and people who love them.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Congratulations!



It's that time of year. I made these cookies for a good friend whose son is graduating from university. I also shipped these by Canada Post half-way across the country. Only the 2nd time I've tried to do this, and things are looking good! There was very little breakage in either package. I could easily see these in pink for a girl graduate, couldn't you?  (Apparently, gender stereotypes persist! even in the Kingdom of Coco!)

Thursday, April 21, 2016

I was SO close!

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison


I have this great idea that I'll make dog cookies. Real cookies for dogs with dog-friendly ingredients. (No sugar. No salt. etc.) I'll decorate them, and they will be fabulous. I thought I had it nailed. Last night, before I went to bed, the cookies were dry to the touch, and they looked terrific! This morning, they had cracked like the desert sands, and the colours had faded, but that's OK. I could live with that. However, the 'icing' seems to be flaking right off the cookies. I will have to keep experimenting.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

May Flowers, the quilt block




This is the 4th design, making this the 7th block (out of 12).

The border fabric is a little bit of some fabric I bought when we were on a family vacation in Maui several years ago. The entire store (and it was BIG) was full of tropical colours. I felt right at home.

Here's the link for the drawing, if you're working on your own Kitty Cookie Quilt. Don't forget when you print it that you need to be sure your printer isn't scaling the design to fit your page. The square should measure 8 inches.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Happy Birthday, Max!

Someone's birthday is today!!



Max is 10 today!!  Happy Birthday, Max!





And, for your guests, some cookies, of course!


Thursday, April 14, 2016

Raindrops reversed



Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (Reversed). I think there's a theme emerging.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

More raindrops



The cookie was more complicated than the quilt block. This one is pretty simple. Now, to do it reversed.

You can find the .PDF for the quilt block HERE.


Monday, April 11, 2016

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head!



The next cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt. Or should that be Kitty Kookie Kwilt? I kinda like that.

The umbrellas in this one are inspired by the fabulous cookies of   http://funkycookiestudio.com/ . I've been following her for a while now. I feel like I'm taking a course with her, but she has no idea.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Everything's Comin' Up Roses! - the quilt block

So, OK, I got a bit excited, and accidentally did the reversed image first, and then had to do the first image before I posted them here. Or else, I'd confuse myself even further. Here, then, are both appliqué blocks for the Kitty Cookie Quilt.





And here is the .PDF for anyone who is stitching along with me.

Next week, another cookie and another block. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Image No. 2




This week's cookies for the Kitty Cookie Quilt are Everything's Comin' Up Roses!




Monday, April 4, 2016

On a roll!

My mother used to say, "It's a poor workman who blames his tools."  That's probably true, but the opposite is also true. You need good tools to do good work.



My brother just made me a really good tool. He's a woodworker. We share the creative gene. We just prefer different media.

The rolling pin he turned for me on his lathe is made from zirocote (the central dark brown part) and the handles are made from maple. The maple comes from a tree that we both know. How cool is that?

The centre part of the rolling pin has a special feature. It is recessed by 1/4 in. When you roll out your cookie dough, you can easily get it uniformly thick, just by rolling until the rings at the ends touch the counter top. Cool, or what?

Now, I have no excuse. All my cookies will be the same thickness. And I probably owe my brother a few dozen cookies.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Kitty Cookie Quilt - Block 1



The Kitty Cookie Quilt begins. Here's the first block, April Showers.

I'm fusing the appliqué pieces to the background, but I'm only fusing the edges, so it's not too stiff. That just means I'm trimming the centre out of the fusible web before I iron it onto the fabric. Then, I cut the fabric patch on the outline I traced for that purpose.

I'm zig-zagging around each patch with machine embroidery thread, but I'm working on the block with it already layered onto the batting. It gives it stability, and the only downside I've found is that the backing needs to be a good quality fabric, so that all the stitching lines and thread ends don't shadow through.

Batting. I really like Warm and Natural.

Fortunately, we (the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project) were given some fabulous fabric by Arlene Massey (who is a big friend to us and to the Gananoque & District Humane Society and to cats everywhere!). There was a lot of high quality flannelette in the bag she gave us, and I've used that on the back of this block. It will make the finished quilt extra soft and warm. Each block will be backed with a different fabric, so the back is as scrappy as the front.

Next up: April Showers reversed!
Remember if you'd like to work along with me on this, the .PDF for this block is available in the previous post.