January | 2021 | Lori Miller Designs

I had the best kitty in the world. His name was Cookie Cat and he was special. A lovely gray and white tabby, he was gentle and kind and he smelled like cotton candy. He was my quilting companion and he had my heart.

He would follow me downstairs to my sewing room and just stay with me while I sewed and quilted. Whenever I started quilting, he would appear and try to help. I would look away for a second and he would be…right..THERE. LOL

I had this little rolling cart and I finally put his cat bed in there and I would just roll him around the room with me.

In 2017, I designed a quilt in his honor with a big block and his sweet face on it and I called it, Cookie cat.

I thought it was adorable and versatile, four blocks for a baby quilt and one block for a pillow.

We have a little black kitty named Oreo too and to not be left out, I made some Halloween pillows in the pattern for him too.

But this sweet boy was my little shadow. At the beginning of 2020, he was diagnosed with cancer. I was glad to be home due to Covid to take care of him. He was spoiled rotten and got anything he wanted.

He started to just come and want to sleep in the bay window in front of my sewing machine. He could see the birds and squirrels. He would still follow me downstairs and just be with me while I quilted and sewed.

He passed away just after Thanksgiving and it hit me hard. I still miss him. I decided that I would do something to honor his devotion to me and celebrate that pure love he gave to me.

I have updated my Cookie Cat pattern with his picture and I have reduced the price in my shop. You can find it HERE!

This year, 2021, I am going to give the proceeds from this pattern to my local humane society. A tiny way to give back to the place where I rescued Cookie cat to begin with and a way to honor and grieve him in a positive way.

I appreciate your support of my charity this year and wish you too will experience the joy and unconditional love of a pet.

Warm Wishes,

Lori

I am pleased to share my Cool Waters Quilt that is published in the January 2021 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. This throw size quilt is a block full of triangles. It is easy to piece and I love the calming color way.

This is the cover of the January issue to look for. It is packed with great projects to sew this winter.

Here is the full Cool Waters quilt in all its glory. I loved the way a secondary pattern appeared in the design as the blocks were sewn together. By limiting the fabric choices, I think it seems crisper and simpler even with all those triangles.

I designed my quilt with EQ8 Quilt Design Software. It is a regular pieced quilt block. It makes it so easy to try different fabrics and combinations of colors. I could add or remove blocks until I got the size of quilt that I wanted.

Here are all my stacks of pieces. EQ8 gave me a handy rotary cutting guide to help cut all the patch shapes. I print it out and scribble all over it as I cut things out and take notes.