Cats and quilting
 

Do any of you have a cat who seems to have to be by you when your trying to sew? I mean she thinks she has to be right on my lap. Its hard to use the sewing machine peddle when she is on my lap. Or she has to have her head at eye level to the sewing machine so she can see what I is sewing.

I recently began letting my smaller cat (12 yrs old) into my sewing room so she can sit in the window and see out front. she hates it when i leave the room. silly cat! she does sleep on my legs though at night. I would never let her sit with me while sewing. her little paws are so fast, something bad could happen. So teach her now that she is not allowed everywhere. just where you say. good luck.

Pretty Kitty, (my cat) is not allowed in my sewing room. And she knows it! She sets just outside the door and waits for me to come out. Once in a while she will try to sneak in, but gets the evil eye, so runs back out!

Put a cardboard box near enough for her to see what is going on - you'd be surprised at how often it works. The best spot is at your level or higher.

I have a padded sewing stool I put next to me, and one of my cats loves to sit beside me while I sew. I don't have room for any in my lap and use a knee lift so I move my legs around a lot.

When I'm in the office, she also comes and sleeps on the closed sewing machine cabinet I use for a small table next to my desk. When I'm not home, she'll spend time curled up on DH's lap while he's surfing the web. She does prefer to be with me, but knows my lap is not a good place to sleep - I move around way too much.

The other four cats come visit occasionally, and sometimes take a nap, but she's the only one that is pretty much a constant companion.

My cats don't bother me when I am sewing at my machine but they both love to climb on my lap when I am working on hand sewing. They either sit and give me evil looks that my lap is unavailable or they just come on up and crowd me until I either put the sewing down or cruelly put them on the floor.

I do not allow any of my cats in my sewing room or my longarm studio. There is the occasional breach of security but the offending feline is quickly ushered out. Occasionally I will get the forlorn paw reaching under the door. IMHO there are too many dangers from needles to ingesting thread to knocking over the iron off the ironing board or an ill timed jump on to the cutting table while you are rotary cutting. Love them way too much to risk it.

Now my hand sewing I do downstairs in the living room. Yoshi, my Maine Coon is a lap cat and my lap is the only lap worth sitting on, apparently. When he first jumps up I must put aside what I am working on for some greetings and head scritchies. But once he curls up and settles I can sew again. I am very diligent about keeping the pin cushion and all sewing implements secured one of my sewing boxes when not in use.

My dear deceased ragdoll, Rhumba, used to love to crawl under the quilt and get comfy on my lap while I was handquilting.
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Yes always.
I had a cat who no matter where she was in the house, if I was winding a bobbin she would come out of the woodwork and try to catch the running thread.
This is Scooter.

And this Skeeter.....

Cats think they have the right to do anything they want :D
I love cat posts. They are always hilarious. thanks!!