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!!

yes, cats eat threads, dental floss, all kinds of things they think are great. so careful too.

I don't have a cat but my little poodle would love to curl up on my lap and get under the quilt I am hand sewing on. I think she was cold and then she found out it was pretty cozy under that quilt.

I had a little Manchester Terrier (dog) that would sit at the back of my chair and rest her head on the arm rest. She kept my back warm, but I had to be careful not to lean back. She would stay there for hours... Great for guaranteeing my proper posture. :)

No - not a cat but a very large golden retriever dog. Danny Boy has crossed the rainbow bridge now, but if I was sewing he would put his big old head through the arm of my chair and lay his head on my lap. If I wasn’t giving him enough attention he would then climb into my lap, all 85 lbs of him! Often he’d get stuck getting through the arm so I had to stop and help him extract himself before disaster struck! My other dog Shine, an Australian Shepherd, would lay directly behind my chair and between the two of them I couldn’t move. About then I would let them outside and ‘forget’ to let them back in for awhile......

My cat, Sophie, is not a cuddly cat (lynx). But I do have to keep batting away from her, or she'll tear holes in it with her claws. And I keep my longarm covered when it has a quilt on it, so she can't get fur on it. She's pretty well behaved.

My brown tabby Wally hears the sewing machine and no matter where he is or what he is doing he comes running. The area I machine quilt in has no doors. I now keep a decoy quilt on the table so he can curl up on it......instead of the one I am trying to move through the machine. His other favorite quilting activity is sprawling on blocks when I am laying them out on the floor, I really must get a design wall.

My current count is two knee high dogs and one knee high cat. Yes, he's a big cat. They aren't allowed in my sewing room, if I'm not in it the door is closed. If I am in it there is a baby gate so the animals know where I am but can't come in, while the cat could jump the gate I guess that would be beneath his dignity.

We have a small house and I have to do my layout on top of my queen bed. I swear that cat listens to hear when I'm 75% complete laying out a top and then he jumps up on the bed and scatters the pieces around. Now I have to shut the door when I'm doing layout and until the blocks are numbered and picked up.

When I'm on the computer I have a corner desk and there is a large round dog cushion from Costco, the dogs typically hang out there. I have short legs so everyone has plenty of room. Cat is usually on my waterbed at the other end of the house but sometimes hangs out here on the hubby's chair, pretty much ignores me all day and I don't see much of him.

Until the hubby comes home, that cat loves my man so much it is embarrassing!

Mine tries to catch the needle. I would love to know what's in her pea sized brain that makes her think that's a good idea.[ATTACH=CONFIG]611116[/ATTACH]

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My cat Mumu's favorite spot.

When I am sewing, cleaning my two little dogs stay in their kennels (cages) and my cat Tarby is in her room. I have to stack two baby gates in the doorway or she will jump out. That was how they were contained when I worked and they still want to do that now that I am retired. Works out really well for me and them also.

Cats and Quilting!
 

Wilson is the grey cat. He has boundaries in the sewing room. He has a quilt to curl up on while I sew. He also loves to play with yo-yos I leave in a basket. He thinks he is being nice to let me in his play room to sew. :) Now he has a brother Simon to keep him busy. No going near the sewing machine is the rule...only on the day bed or looking out the window.

Yes, my dear little pussy cat loves to snuggle under the quilt I am working on ..... while I am free motion quilting. My avitar is a small example of our deep friendship and how she gently pushes the limits. (Or maybe she is gently pushing my buttons, yuck, yuck, yuck.)

Here is a photo I found of Scout the Quilting Cat doing her best to slow down my quilting.....[ATTACH=CONFIG]611146[/ATTACH]

Mr. PK Boo
 

Attached to my hip and needs to be with me every waking HR.
He does have boundaries, no sewing table when sewing. Never near anything gifting, he has his quilts, all others off limits. I make a nest of batting and left over fabric for him to sleep on in the sun, he knows that's his spot while I sew the day away. Of course he does have that built in alarm clock at noon for lunch and quitting time at three for a snack.

Mr. T, 20 pounds of orange fluff only comes into my sewing room when he wants attention. He has four small quilts I made for him. I call his name and we go to one of his favorite spots, put a quilt down, I scratch his cheeks and he goes to sleep. Then I get back to my sewing room.

Husband and I rescued a stray cat on our property this year at night when it was -30 outside. His poor feet were frozen with ice. After seeing the vet and having treatments he's on his way to a good recovery. As for the sewing room....he'd rather sleep on the adjoining office couch in the sunshine. No problems sewing so far. His name is Mr. Sammy.

No cat but a Jack Russell (Sofi Jean) that has to be by me all the time.

my cat always helps me cut and sew. i have to be careful when cutting because she tries to play with my hands

My tuxedo cat (Boots) does the same thing. I can usually put her down and she will go get on top of the large totes of fabric I have in my sewing room.

I hate to say it to all the cat lovers......but cats shed massive cat hairs. They get all over my quilts when I sew at my quilting friends house with 2 cats!!! It's very unappealing to have tons of cat hairs on my quilt. Sorry.
My friend is an immaculate house keeper.

Loved the cat photos and stories about everyone's cats. My story is not so good: my cat had to have surgery because she swallowed thread, so please be careful. She didn't learn her lesson either. If she's near fabric she tries to get threads off the edges. So she's a very expensive alley cat!

Aw, similar happened to my guy too... he just has a *thing* for crunchy stuff. He loves lettuce and, apparently organdy ribbon. I had to have a ribbon extracted from his belly, poor thing! He can't be trusted around my sewing room. I have one gal who does stay in my sewing room, with really no interest other than getting brushed in between my rounds at the machine.

Yes, there's fur on my quilts, but I'm not competing anywhere...and if I gave one away, I'd be sure to wash it.

When I house sit for my daughter I take my machine and set it up on her kitchen table. Her BIG cat sits behind it and watches me sew. When he decides I should stop (to play with him), he crawls thru the harp to stare at me. He can only get part of his big body thru it - but it works! I must stop and give him my full attention!

My yellow and white Persian ate enough string to stop her up. The vet that took it out kept it in a jar as a souvenir. Cost $250.00 back in 2002. My cats today don't eat it.

If I place a towel on the floor and carefully lay it out, I will get an immediate inspector. So I decided where I wanted them to lay in the sewing room, and bought a cat bed at Dollar General. I made a big deal out of placing it just so where I wanted her to sleep. It works:
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Love Mr. P.K. Boo. He looks almost exactly like my Simba. He also likes to sit in my lap when I am doing hand sewing and on the back of the sewing machine when I am stitching. He watches squirrels.

Thank you...Boo is a lap cat too...can't sit without him looking at me waiting for the ok come up....he's sleeping right now on my legs...

That is such a precious photo, Hobbykatt! Thanks for sharing. What a sweetheart!

I have four cats and no door on the sewing room. They love to lay on the fabric. So far, I have been lucky that no one wants to sit on me while I am sewing.

Love all the pictures.

I have a basket with a quilt in it for Mr. Peach in my sewing room. There is also a twin bed where he can nap. He is not a lap cat so it works well. He loves to be in there with me. In fact, he loves it so much he tries to “herd” me in there. There is no measure for how we love our sweet cats and dogs.