Cats are comfort seeking devices, so I make sure there is something a lot more inviting for my little guy than my project. Actually he's content to sit/lay on a kitchen chair that has a comfy old cushion on it. If I put his "throne" about a foot away from my chair he's content to sit next to me and snooze. If I forget to pull out his chair within an hour he's tring to snuggle on my project.
Like others I use a sticky roller to remove fur as I notice it. Fortunately with this cat his fur is very fine and will come right off. In the past I had an orange cat with coarse fur that you had to remove as soon as possible or it would somehow work it's way into the weave of the fabric, and would then become very difficult to remove.