Grandma Coco's Designs

Monday, February 21, 2011

Excitement in Blogland

Similar scenes played out all over the Kingdom this morning as quilters woke to the news. Grandma Coco pleads with her subjects to remain calm and go here for full details.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Grandma Coco’s Fallen In With a B-a-a-a-d Crowd

See this?

Rayon thread.

Yup.

That’s quilters' crack. See how it shines and sparkles. It’s still got its wrapper on. Fresh from our connection.

And who got Grandma Coco hooked on the stuff?

Who said, “Go on, Grandma Coco, just a few stitches.

What could it hurt?”????

Monika. That’s who.

Shop owners, we beg you….If you see this woman

….don’t sell her any more thread. She has a husband who loves her and a sweet calico kitty to feed. For the love of all things quilty, just say “No!”

On a brighter note…..

My Sweet Prairie (that would be Monika) today named Grandma Coco’s Designs as one of 3 Canadian blogs that make her smile. Thank you, Monika. And right back atcha!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Sweater Day

According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) today is Sweater Day when we’re encouraged to turn down our thermostats by 3 degrees and put on a sweater. Remember what Brenda Dayne says when she ends an episode of her podcast, Cast-on? “If you’re cold, put on a sweater. That’s what they’re for.” And right she is. It’s so easy to just crank up the thermostat … but so environmentally irresponsible at the same time.

Some of my favourite sweaters can be found in books. Roch Carrier’s The Hockey Sweater comes to mind. It’s an autobiographical account from his childhood. When he outgrew his old Canadiens hockey sweater his mother ordered him a new one from the Eaton’s catalogue but when it came it was a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater. Horrors! For me, the story always reads in Rock Carrier’s own voice because the first time I heard the story was when he read it on Morningside on the CBC radio. In the good old days. When Peter Gzowski was still alive. And not yet maligned.

The other book I cherish is one I found by chance in a second-hand book shop. It’s another Canadian book…..Amos’s Sweater by Janet Lunn with illustrations by Kim LaFave.

The first line says it all “Amos was old and Amos was cold and Amos was tired of giving away all his wool.” (Amos is a sheep, of course.) I love, love, love the illustrations with all the sheep and the knitting. And I love the story with its undercurrent of concern for animal welfare AND a happy ending. Written in 1988, it won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for Illustration, the Canadian Booksellers’ Association’s Ruth Schwartz Award and the Governor General’s Award for Illustration. Amos’s Sweater would make an excellent gift for any child…even 23 years later.

In honour of the day, that persistent sweater drawing has morphed once more. Now it’s a gift tag. It's meant to accompany the gift of a sweater (hand knit, of course) and has a place on the back for laundering instructions.

You can download the .PDF, if you’d like, and print your own.

Happy Sweater Day!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

What? That was yesterday??? Well, every day is Valentine's Day in the Kingdom of Coco.

The Illustration Friday "sweater" drawing, influenced by the occasion, seems to have a life of its own...

I almost think this could end up being a quilt but for now, Grandma Coco's experimenting with hand colouring prints. What do you think?

**************** Nosey Nelly News Flash *****************

Grandma Coco's chasing a story. Seems there's going to be a big giveaway here....something big! Stay tuned!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Illustration Friday - Sweater

If someone goes to the trouble of knitting you a sweater, you can be sure of 2 things.

1. That person loves you.

and

2. You darn well better wear it. :)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Mittens on her mind

On a frosty morning just before Christmas Grandma Coco went walkabout in the charming village of Cocotown and picked up a bug. Everywhere she went, she saw …

And...

Mittens! Everywhere. Thus infected, her mind began to swirl with mitten ideas. Knitted mittens, quilted mittens. The fever raged. Mittens with puppies. Mittens with kittens. And then….oddly constructed mittens. Oh, those were the worst….I mean, they turned out swell….beautiful, really! A smashing success but they’ve confounded some of the people who offered to test the patterns.

No matter. Grandma Coco suffers still. More ideas. More mittens to come. In the meantime, here are some of the mittens that GC’s nearest and dearest received this year for Christmas.


for Stephanie (who is working on a very special project for us right now and deserves some mitten love)


for Pam (who came so far to be with us this Christmas and who is always welcome in the Kingdom of Coco)

for someone who might like flowers (a lot!)

many mittens.....it's an epidemic!

All sizes....don't you love the sheepdog ones? They're for a toddler.

Like the Cosy Quilted Mittens, these are all knitting/quilting combined. I'm calling them Picture Mittens....'cuz they frame an image....a focus fabric or a pre-printed panel. Grandma Coco thinks they'd really suit an embroidered motif....yes! that's what we need ....embroidery! or cross-stitch! So little time. So many mittens to make.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Happy Groundhog Day

Grandma Coco has declared a Snow Day in the Kingdom of Coco and while the kids are happy, Maurice and Lulu have had to take the day off, too. When you only get one paying gig a year, a day off isn’t such a great thing. Fortunately for them, they’ve invested wisely. They’ll be fine until Mr. Coco’s beans start to sprout in the garden this summer. Their only regret is that they got up early for nothing.