Pet Beds

Since the cats love to lay around in my fabric, I've decided to make a few pet beds for them. I've found a couple tutorials online, and hope to try my hand at one (or 8) this weekend.

Here are my two favorite tutorials:

The first is from Lori Marie over at Pretty Little Things

The second is from Martha Stewart, and as expected is a bit more "frou frou" (even her cat has 100 times more class than all of mine put together:) !!! )















I also love these pet beds over at Amazon, which I think I could figure out how to make without a pattern....

Quilting with Cats...

I've been getting back into my quilting (mostly finishing projects I stopped midway...) but its proven to be somewhat difficult since the cats decided the best place to sleep was on whatever quilt I'm in the middle of sewing. I have to admit, I've been almost shocked by how little they care about the sewing machine, or the fact that they keep drifting closer and closer to it as I try to move the quilt through the machine.

I'll make no comment on how hard it is to lay out a quilt on the floor with a small army of cats nearby...

why I've been so bad....

It's not that I've been slacking off on sewing, it's that I've started a small cat rescue in my house. We're now up to 7 cats (minus 2 - one that we had to put to sleep that broke my heart, and one that we had to release back outside but that continues to stay in our backyard near the people, but not too close).

This little guy (which later turned out to be a girl) is Oliver. She was very, very sick when we rescued her... 6 months old and didn't weigh two pounds. She had a lot of problems, not the least of which was leukemia, so sadly the vet decided the best course of action would be to put her down. She was given much much love in her final days though, and went to sleep purring as loud as she could. She also inspired a massive kitten rescue operation, so I like to think her brief little life was worth more than she could know.

This is Madeline. She was about 5 weeks old when we rescued her (2 days after we lost Oliver), and was already pretty sick (although fortunately cancer free!!). She had a heavy regime of antibiotics, and now is a crazy little kitten. She also makes a weird turkey gobble sound when she purrs, which only added to the long list of reasons why we needed to keep her as our fourth cat:)

This little guy is Jasper. He's one of three that was rescued New Year's Day (along with his two sisters and mom). Of the bunch he was the most sick.... couldn't open his eyes because of a respiratory infection. But today you'd never know he was anything but a super charged 8 week old kitty. He's also turned into the biggest lover of the bunch, never wanting to be away from the people! Anyone want to give him a good home???? We're currently accepting applications:)

This is Jasper as the base to the Maddie & Emily pyramid, snuggled between their people.

This lovely lady is Arianna Fluffington. Her extreme fluffiness makes her hard to capture on film (or iPhone camera), but I can assure you she's a total diva.

So yes, I haven't been sewing much this month, but I think rescuing kittens is a good reason why!! Although I may need to try my hand at my first pet bed sooner than later, with all these extra bodies in the house (and not nearly enough room on the people's bed, as we've learned the hard way).

And Arianna, Emily and Jasper are all up for adoption so please let me know if you have a loving home (preferably with other pets) and would like to take in a new fuzz ball. They're really sweet and loving, and very playful!

Although Emily and Arianna have interested humans... if we can just convince the husbands!:)

Christmas Tree Skirt = New Cat Bed

This is why I can't have nice things

As soon as I put a quilt on the floor to lay it out, Zadie runs over and messes the whole thing up. Apparently the new rule is "only quilt when Zadie's sleeping". She just can't stand not adding her own touch of flair (i.e. crazy)!!

Crafty Cat

Malcolm finds sewing very relaxing.

A torrid love affair

Kitties love quilts...

but sometimes that love is just too much to bare.

Snow Day 2009

NYC received its Christmas present from nature last weekend in the form of a 1 foot accumulated snowfall, and I probably sat by the window watching at least the first 6 inches fall while screaming out updates every 5 minutes!!

Even though I've seen snow enough times to have experienced every level of it (watching it fall, tasting it, playing in the new piles of powder, building things from it, hurling it at other people, sliding around in and on it, etc) I still get 7 year old level of excited every single time!!!!! Honestly, its what makes winter worth it (well, that and scarves and ice skating and soup...). And while Adam was quickly over it all, I at least had Malcolm to act somewhat as amazed by the cold stuff falling from the sky as I was (at least as much as a cat can be amazed by snow).

I didn't get to build any snowmen (too powdery) nor did I get to go sledding (no hill) but I did get to jump around in it for a while:) And it makes me very excited that we're supposed to get more snow this week, on New Years nonetheless, and is part of the reason the 4 degree temperature outside today isn't as bad as it could be!!...

Kitties love Quilts

Malcolm has officially appropriated my scrap test quilt as his own... he sleeps curled up in it all the time, and if you try to take it back he gives you the "what do you think you're doing, I could kill you in your sleep" stare down. He also sometimes thinks he's a people (please refer to adjacent picture). I think I may have to make a special one for him because I really want my couch quilt back!!

Kitties love mistakes...

I was trying to make a little stuffed bird to go along with the dresses for Sofi (the package mails tomorrow...) but I wasn't satisfied with the end result. So instead I added a little catnip and now it's Malcolm's favorite thing ever (next to lettuce, head butts and salt & vinegar potato chips)!!
Emma also wanted in on the action for about 5 seconds, but gave up trying when she realized it wasn't going to be easy to get it away from Malcolm.

Quilting Kitties...

Malcolm and Emma decided they needed to help with my latest quilt... It's supposed to be a "fast" quilt but with all the kitty moving it isn't going very fast at all!!