You say pierogi and I say piroghi -- but we all know what we're talking about: those delectable filled dumplings that pop up at church festivals and on grandmothers' tables throughout the region.

But have you ever seen a pierogi cake?

Look no further than "Icing on the Cake" at the PPG Place Wintergarden, where you'll find Canonsburg artist David Watts' "Comfort Cake," constructed of three dozen fat, dough-colored felt perogis laced with yellow ribbon bows that represent the onions and butter they're traditionally cooked in.

The exhibition, part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, celebrates Pittsburgh's 250th birthday with a variety of non-edible cakes made by members of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. But none of the others elicit the response Mr. Watts' does.

"People are constantly saying, 'It makes me hungry,'" he says with delight. "They asked, 'What's in them?' and, being an artist, I said, 'Polyester filling.' And they said, 'No -- potatoes or cheese?'"

He says, "We always had pierogis growing up," homemade by his Rennerdale grandmother and stuffed with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut or cheese, and sometimes prunes.

He helped his grandmother make them by cutting out the dough circles and crimping the dumplings with a fork after they were filled.

So he's of Eastern European heritage? No. His grandfather is English and his grandmother French-German.

"But I think it's because we lived in Pittsburgh."

Which is one reason pierogis so naturally came to mind when he thought about what to make for the Associated Artists' recent "Pittsburgh Through AAP Eyes" show at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

His "Pierogi Lounge," three oversized felt cushions, was an instant hit, as were the dumpling-sized pins he'd made for some of the Associated members to wear at the show's opening.

Interest in the pins was so great that he's now making them "by the dozen" to sell at the Center, the Mattress Factory, Borelli-Edwards Galleries and Amy Epstein Jewelry and Accessories, a new shop at 433 Graeme St. B off Market Square, Downtown.

Their $5 cost barely compensates Mr. Watts' time and materials expense, but he says he keeps the price low so people can afford them. "It makes me happy to see people wear them. And I have!"

Mr. Watts has since donated pierogi art to the Persad Center annual auction and exhibited his "Pierogi Stole" in a Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh exhibition at Borelli-Edwards, where it won the purchase award.

While he doesn't make his grandmother's pierogis, he uses another skill she taught him, sewing, to create imaginative costumes for his drag persona Tinsel Garland, as whom he performs in East Coast cabaret circles.

"I'm working on a pierogi dress. I want to call it 'Putting on the Pounds.'"

"Icing on the Cake" runs through Sunday when a closing party with edible cake will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. ($10, purchase tickets at www.artsfestival.net or 412-456-6666).