I have to cover my projects or put them in a storage box because my male cat, Merlin, likes to knock stuff off the table to get my attention. He can make a real mess so now I either cover what I'm working on with fabric or I store it in a plastic box. If I cover my stuff, he doesn't even know it's there, thank goodness he doesn't have x-ray vision. Both my cats love to play with pins. I've seen them take their two front paws and pull pins out of pin cushions when I made the mistake of leaving the pin cushions out. I'm thinking that pinning stuff to the ironing board probably wouldn't stop Merlin, it would just challenge him.