Quilter's Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways

Hello there, I have been very busy and have not blogged in a very long time.  It is time again for a Blog Hop, so what better time to get back at blogging!  With Christmas almost here I am sure everyone is busy decorating, shopping and cooking.  I will be decorating and baking later today.
To be eligable to win my prize you should follow my blog and answer my question.  The question is
"What are your favorite home made cookies?", now this is a hard one for me as I have never met a
cookie that I didn't like!  I think my favorite is shortbread, the ones made with brown sugar, my friend Debbie makes the best!  My second favorite is molasses crinkles, I love these and may make some today.
If you would like your name in twice, go to my fanpage on facebook and like it.  I will be having a contest starting later this week.
This contest runs until December 16, that is one week.  I will ship internationally, remember to check out all the blogs at The Quilting Gallery, the link is below.

My prize is 2 patterns, Achy Breaky Hearts and Little Bits, and a bag made from my Bits & Bites pattern.  Good luck to all!  Check out all the blogs at:  http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/

Cool Cat Creations- I Have A Website!

I am very excited to anounce that I now have a website.  Thank you Alyssa Cudmore!  I have been working on several new patterns, and they will be added as soon as they are in print. 
It is a very, very rainy day here, so a good day to work on patterns.  We do need the rain, it is an unusually dry summer here in New Brunswick and the farmers are dancing with joy today!
http://www.coolcatcreations.net/#!home/mainPage
www.alyssacudmorephotography.com

Quilting Retreat with Gerri Richards of Cool Cat Creations

I am pleased to be hosting my first quilting retreat, it will be at the retreat house Villa Madonna, in Rothesay N.B.  The retreat will start at 9:00 on Wednesday morning, Sept. 26 and go until Friday morning 11:30 Sept. 28.  All meals and snacks are included, and I have heard from many ladies who have attended retreats at The Villa Madonna that the food is fabulous!  All rooms are private.   Come, bring some wine if you wish, leave your pj's on, and quilt!  You don't have to do anything but have a good time with good company and good food.  One of the books, your choice, is also included with your registration.

There will be lots of demonstrations, and lots of give-aways, games and prizes, we are in for a good time!  You must pre-register, do so by contacting me my e-mail is coolcatsandquilts@hotmail.com  or you may call me at 506-849-1827.  Hope to see you there!

Easy Peasy Quilt by Jessica

Here are some pictures of the beautiful quilt that my youngest daughter, Jessica, made for a wedding gift.  She used my pattern Easy Peasy from Cool Cat Creations.  Ty, our male cat also seemed to love it, he wouldn't stay off of it!  The wedding is this Saturday with a gift opening on Sunday, I am anxious to hear what their reaction is.  Jessie has made a couple of quilts in the past, but not for a long time.  She says she didn't mind doing it, and she loves it and wished she could keep it.

Annabella Bag & Bella Wallet Samples for Spring Market

Here are some pictures of the Annabella Bags and Bella Wallets made for Spring Market.  I got both the bags and both wallets from the one Bali Pop.  This is from the new Bali Pop which will be released in the fall.  The name of the Bali Pop is Brown Sugar, the flowers and leaves are extra fabric.

Achy Breaky Hearts - New Bali Pop

Here are a couple of pictures of a quilt made using my Achy Breaky Heart pattern and the new Bali Pop - Macaron.  My friend Cherry made this one and it was also sent to Quilt Market to the Hoffman Fabric Booth.  Thank heaven for Cherry's help in doing the samples, I had less then a week from the time I received the new Bali Pops to the time I had to send them for the opening of the show in Kansas

Samples For Hoffman at Spring Market

Here are some pictures of some of my designs made with the new Hoffman Bali Pops that will be realeased this fall.  First is 4 bags made using my pattern Bali Bags, and with the leftovers from the Bali Pop named Parfait there was enough to make the 3 piece wallet set from my pattern Bits & Bites.

A Quilt for Jessica

Here are some pictures of the quilt I am making for my daughter Jessica.  The fabrics that I used are Terraine designed by Kate Spain, this fabric is just so beautiful.  Jessica fell in love with the fabric as soon as she saw it and wanted me to make her a quilt with it.  I saw this spiderweb quilt in a magazine, and since I love spiders and spiderwebs I thought this would be a good design for the fabrics.  I started out with the size of the blocks that they used in the magazine, then I felt I would like larger blocks, so I enlarged the block.  Then I made a practice block with pink strips that I had left over from another project, I did not want to waste the Terraine Jelly Roll.  I will make the smaller blocks into toss cushions for the bed.   Jessica is very happy, she says that this quilt is her favorite quilt I have ever made.  It is not finished yet, I will post a picture of the finished quilt when that time comes.

Bag Class

These are pictures of the bags that I will be teaching in a class next Saturday.  The little one is from an Atkinson Designs pattern called Lollipop Bags.  The second is one of mine, Cool Cat Creations, I have designed it from the left-overs from the first bag when starting with 3 fat quarters.  The second bag is a much larger size and great for a cosmetic bag, the Lollipop bag is perfect for carrying a few essentials, and this size is popular among young people right now.  Lots of people are afraid to put a zipper in, so this is a good opportunity to try, both bags have zippers.  The main fabric that I have  used is a gorgeous Laurel Burch fabric.

My Aunt Anne Sent a Picture!

Well, I have waiting awhile for this picture, but my aunt Anne has finally sent me a picture of herself with the bags that I sent her.  She tells me she loves them both, so I am happy about that.  I have 3 students that have made the large quilter's tote, and I have made 3 now, making small changes along the way.  I am now ready to publish the pattern. 

Blog Hop Winner

We have a winner, and it is Bright Angel.  Please contact me, I have sent you an e-mail.  Thank everyone for the great response to this contest, and also a thank you to Michele at The Quiltting Gallery.  Some of the colours that were suggested for the mugs I had not thought of!  It seems red, pink, turquois, orange and lime green are popular colours.  I will let you know what I choose.

St. Patrick's Blog Hop Give-Away

I am happy to be participating  in my second blog hop hosted by The Quilting Gallery.  I look forward to hopping around all the blogs, great fun! This bog hop runs from March 17 until March 23.  My dad is Irish, so we always liked St. Patrick's day.  Our church always hosts a St. Patrick's Day Tea, it is fantastic!  Along with the tea, little sandwiches and lots and lots of sweets, there are hand-crafted items for sale.  One of my favorite things is a large tin of home-made fudge, my favorite!  You buy tickets on it, and no, I have never won it!  Probably just as well, I do not need to eat a tin of fudge, but it would be great!  Just in case you were wondering, it is on Sunday, so you can have these things even if you gave them up for lent.
My give-away is 2 of my patterns, The Jessica Bag and Easy Peasy Quilt, I just posted about one of my students' Easy Peasy.  It is a beautiful purple one, love it!  The other is a hand-made pottery mug that David Eastwood of Gagetown made.  The mug has my logo on it, last time Daivid made mugs for me I had them done in lime green and purple, I am getting ready to order more,what colours do you think I should order?  I have a post about David's studio on my blog as well.
To enter, just leave a comment, and if you join my blog or fanpage I will put your name in the draw twice.  Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

St. Patrick's Day Blog Hop

What fun!  Another blog hop hosted by The Quilting Gallery!  I had lots of fun last time and am looking forward to another.  The hop will start shortly make sure to check  it out.

Purple Batik Easy Peasy Quilt

Grace, one of my students just finished an Easy Peasy quilt on in purple batiks, the pictures do not do it justice at all!!  This is so beautiful, and would go nicely in my house, but she dosen't want to give it to me!  It is a queen sized quilt and she says it looks great in her bedroom too.

Disappearing 4-Patch Tutorial

Well, here goes, I hope you all understand this tutorial.  I really like these disappearing 4 and 9 patch quilts, but I do like them with a bit of consistancy, like a background fabric.  The tutorial is on a 4 patch using 5"squares, it would be quicker to use larger squares, and I think I would like sashing and corner blocks.

Start with 4 squares, placed as above.  Sew together to make one large square.  Now, place the 1" mark of the ruler on the seam of the square and cut.  Do the same on all sides of this middle seam.

Now, mix those long rectangles up, then sew back together.  Square, if needed, you are finished.  This block has many possibilities, so have fun!  And remember, press, press, press!!!