Hi everyone, and happy Wednesday! I hope the weather is being kind to you wherever you are. Here we have had non-stop sunshine and mid-20s temperatures, I think tomorrow is expected to be 27C. We rarely get nice weather in the actual summer season, for the last few years we have had nice weather in April/May and then it rains for the rest of the summer. It’s been years since we’ve had a July like this one – do you suppose after all the lockdowns and lack of industry last year, we have reset out weather patterns? Either way, I will never complain about the heat as we just don’t get enough of it here, and I hate the cold. This is a cold house and in winter it’s very, very cold even with the heating on, so it’s been really nice to be able to walk around barefoot and not need socks, and not need to be wearing three jumpers inside the house! It’s a shock to the system for sure to have decent weather here but in Australia people would be laughing at our “heatwave”. I remember having to go to work one day and it was 40C outside – you were allowed to go home if the temp reached 42C! We were all willing that to happen but unfortunately we all had to tough it out all day as it never quite got there, and then I had to drive home in a really hot car as I had no A/C in my car, it must have been 50C in the car! But at least there was a fan in the house and A/C in the living room… and the beach nearby…
Anyhoo, today I am sharing this before photo of my desk with the WOYWW gang, and with the Tea Gang over on Altered Book Lover’s site. I was unavoidably detained last week and didn’t manage to link up to anything. Looks a little different to usual desk layout, right? That’s because I had an urgent project that needed to be done ASAP and although it was planned for last week, I wasn’t able to do it, so it was in danger of being late! I was going to ask you to guess what I was going to make but I’m guessing the title might be an enormous clue, so I won’t bother lol.
Before I get started, here are some highlights from the last week that you may have missed:
- My blogiversary was on the 16th July – sixteen years of blogging
- The kittens had their fifth birthday on 19th July – yes they are a bit old to be called kittens but I have my reasons and it’s just easier all round
- I am Guest Designer over on Try it on Tuesday for their Feathered Friends challenge – join in if you like
- My latest batch of ICADs are completed for days 37-45.
So this little machine is my baby, I have had this sewing machine for a long time and out of all my machines (yes there are more) this is my go-to even after all these years and all the advances in sewing machine technology, this is still the best machine I have ever used. Computerised machines might be able to do fancy stitches and tricks but they will also refuse to sew things if the chip is not happy, whereas a manual machine is more accommodating and will let you get away with a lot more! I’ve always serviced my machines myself, a bit like fixing my computers, I wouldn’t trust someone else with them lol. Anyway the machine is out for a very special reason…
I also had a helper at my feet – he’s lying on the sewing machine cover! Perhaps he thinks I’m making something for him?
He might be right! In the on-going neverending process of switching the contents of two rooms, I rediscovered this gorgeous faux fur. They are remnants that I bought some years ago and never used. I had been wondering what to buy the kittens for their birthday, and I had been looking around at new cat beds but really they are all a bit dire, mass produced, imported rubbish, or like this one, they are very nice but also very expensive ($169 !!!) and I do after all have a room full of fabric! So I decided to make my own using this lovely stuff. Three remnant pieces that cost about £30 in total and are varying sizes and two different patterns.
The problem with the kittens is that one of them, Mr G, is enormous, here he is trying to squeeze himself into a regular cat tree bed.
His sister, Miss Lily is half his size.
If he wants a bed, he will push her off or out of it so I knew there had to be two of them. And as I said, he’s enormous (nearly 8kg) so they needed to be BIG. I drew up a circle that measured 24 inches and cut it out of Burda tissue paper, this will allow for seam allowance and will result in a decent sized bed.
Cutting this furry stuff is a right pain, it goes everywhere. I had to spread it out on the wooden floor to cut it so I could sweep up all the little fluffy, furry bits more easily. It was also going up my nose and in my mouth – no wonder the cats get hairballs! I cut a long strip from my remnants to match the size of my circle and then pinned and sewed them together. Then I repeated the process with what would be the bottom of the cat bed – this I made out of some eco-friendly felt (made from recycled plastic bottles) and I made that circle about an inch smaller.
Then I sewed the two ends of the middle piece together, leaving a gap in the middle for stuffing and turned it the right way out so it now looked like this…
What was needed now was the stuffing. I didn’t want any stuffing or padding on the base because it’s not needed since the base is a layer of felt and a layer of fur, but also because there are places in the house where the central heating pipes run under the floorboards and the kittens like to lay there, not surprisingly, as it’s very warm, so putting these beds on those places, would allow the heat to rise up into the beds with no padding to block it. I ended up making a very long calico sausage using the same measurements as the side panel and some stuffing and fed it through the gap in the side and around the bed. Once it was inside and in place, I stitched the sausage together to make into a circle and then hand stitched the gap in the fur side closed, just in case I need to wash it at some point. Now we had these lovely, cosy beds…
Yes, they were “inspected” but then they were ignored! It took me four hours to make them and they were ignored! Can you believe it? Well if you have cats, then yes you probably know this feeling too well lol. So instead of sleeping in their lovely, custom-made beds, they are sleeping here, on the dining table…
Not here in this luxury bed!!!
Later, they were sleeping here on the couch, but only after I removed the cat bed! You can see the size difference between them in this photo, Miss Lily is on the left and Mr G is on the right.
It’s been three days and the beds are still being ignored. I’m thinking my other cat might like one or both of them, she would be more appreciative I think, and a lot less spoiled (she was a feral stray) and lives in a different part of the house because she does not like other cats. Or people… Maybe once it gets colder they might warm to the new beds or they could just become really big cushions on the sofa?
I hope you enjoyed following along with this little exercise in futility lol. Oh and I have a question for you, do you prefer blogs about one subject or multiple subjects? I am still considering merging some of my other blogs with this one so I’m curious. Let me know what you think in the comments. As always, thanks for reading!
Ingredients
various faux fur remnants, eco felt, stuffing, unbleached calico, thread, sewing machine, ungrateful kittens
Challenges
T Stands For Tuesday – T stands forcool ginger beer on a hot day of futile sewing (I’m number #19 in the linkup)
WOYWW – #633 – What’s on my desk (I’m number #19 in the linkup here too!) Happy WOYWW!
You might also like . . .
Maybe the weather has something to do with it, mind you, knowing cats – probably not! Christine’s idea of catnip may work! Good Luck with that!!! Well Done for 16 years blogging too! Belated Happy T day, Chrisx
Sorry I’m late.
Love the cat beds and as for them being ignored…… Undo a bit of the seam and put a pinch of catnip inside. Give the bed a good shake before you put it back down for them.
I closed my separate blogs down and now just use the one. I find it a lot easier, although I have not been blogging very much recently.
I follow blogs for the stories. I enjoy some quilt blogs, do not quilt and don’t intend to BUT I share in all the mundane snippets of life cats, gardening etc.
Enjoy the rest of the week
Christine. #11
Oh Elle I roared with laughter at your kitty bed saga! How absolutely typical. Ours are exactly the same. A little while back I was tempted to make them a felted cat cave but I knew what the result would be, so I didn’t waste the time, materials or effort. I’ve got an absolute classic photo of them when we first got them as kittens. The old kitten bed was worn out so I bought a new one. It is on the chair, and the two kittens are squashed right up between the bed and the arm of the chair! NOT in the bed. They only used it about twice. You’ve done such a superb job making such luxury beds for your babies and they are Very Naughty to spurn them!! This week, throughout the heatwave, Ruby has decided her latest favourite place is one of the little houses on the cat tree – an enclosed, fur-lined space. No accounting for taste, is there! My hubby and I have a saying, “There’s no accounting for kitties.”
Happy belated WOYWW and thank you for giving me such a good laugh!
Shoshi x #15
Love the cat photos! I am from the TSFT gang, and missed this post. Sorry I am so late. I will check out the TIOT challenge. I forget to do that! 🙂
What a lot of lovely photos Elle!
I was so impressed with your last lot of ICADs!
Happy WOYWW!
Stay safe and keep well!
Susan #5
<a href=”http://susanrenshaw0404.blogspot.co.uk/ “>Calling All Crafters! – My Blog!</a>
I was in awe of the two cat beds you created. They are beautiful, but it may be too warm for the cats to appreciate them right now. However, Squiggles was given a very plush bed and he refuses to use it. He wants to be next to me all the time unless I go outside. I think your kitties will appreciate them this winter.
BTW, Squiggles was 5 on July 17 and I started my blog in July, 2005, too. Sadly, I didn’t get really involved with it until the next year, but I really enjoyed reading about your blog and how different it is from my blogspot blog. Yours was a different journey, too. I always had blogger and never considered any other blog. I heard of LiveJournal. I started in a couple of Yahoo groups and eventually took over as administrator of one. I gradually moved on to my blog and haven’t looked back. Unlike some, I am only a blogger. No Facebook, Instagram, nothing except my blog. Turns out, if you are on Instagram, you need a cell phone, something I still refuse to buy.
I like the look of your ginger beer sitting on your cutting mat. It looks refreshing. Thanks for sharing how you made the cat beds and the great tutorial, along with your ginger beer you shared with us for T this week. Sorry I’m so late visiting, though.
Now isn’t that typical, you go to all that work and they ignore it. I have to say the dogs are just the same sometimes. Can’t help but love them though.
I like multi subject blogs by the way. A belated happy WOYWW Angela #12
Those cats! I am not really a cat person but my son has them and shares his two cat’s antics sometimes so I guess I have developed an appreciation for how amusing they can be 😀 Congrats on 16 years. It’s a hard slog some days tho’ isn’t it? And I am quite amazed at the variety of faces on your ICADS. From one who struggles with faces a LOT I have often thought a project like yours might help me get better but I always stop short of actually doing it. One day, maybe….
Happy (last) Hot Day Desk Hopping!
Mary Anne (1)
It’s been far too hot here over the last few weeks but the children break up this week and that’s when the weather usually changes and then when they go back in September we usually have a few nice weeks then too. So for us this weather is pretty typical though not usually quite as hot as this. The cat beds look lovely. Just ordered some cooler mats for Maisie and Stan but whether they will like them or not we’ve yet to see. Keep cool and wishing you a very productive woyww, Angela x13x
Mid 20’s is the most I can cope with – any more I just melt. I quite like winters! hope the cats enjoy the beds when it’s cooler. Helen #2