Hello friends,
I have had these photos ready to post since September and keep putting it off for some reason. Well not for some reason, just because it makes me sad to think about it all the time sometimes. However, today’s the day! I have mentioned the cushion before and also shown one photo of the finished cushion in previous posts but not the rest of them. So I’ll just put this here and if you don’t want to read it all, or there are too many cushion photos, just skip to the end. 🙂
I started this cushion in 1998 after spotting a book in a needlework shop in Oxfordshire. The book was called Cats in Cross Stitch. I used to be quite an obsessive cross-stitcher at the time and so when I found this book, I knew I had to buy it and do the project that was on the front cover…
The cat on the cover looked so much like my cat Wombat, just a kitten at the time, and so I bought everything I needed to make the cushion version of the pattern and got to work. The pattern for the cushion is worked in cross stitch on 7 count canvas with embroidery wool.
As usual with cross stitch, I started in the middle and worked my way outwards, so the cat part was completed very early on and I really expected to finish it within a few weeks. Unfortunately due to various RL changes (jobs, houses, health, relationships etc), I didn’t get a chance to get back to it for a few years. Then I did some more of it and realised that I had made a mistake in the counting and the pattern was off, so I put it aside again while I decided what to do about that. More RL changes meant that again the cushion was still not completed and so it sat folded in my knitting bag for quite a while, untouched.
I lost my little Wombat suddenly in 2016, just over a year after we lost his best buddy Roo-Baby. The cushion was still unfinished and I really couldn’t think about it for a long time without feeling too sad to do anything about it. But this year I was determined to finish the stitching and get it made into a cushion that we could enjoy as something to remember him by.
I wasn’t well over the summer and so I pulled out the cross stitch and managed to finish it off while I wasn’t able to do anything else. Then I used this lovely Harris Tweed fabric to make the back of the cushion. After all that time, it was tempting to just cut a square of fabric and stitch it on to the canvas so that it would be finished quickly, but I wanted to do it properly, so I measured it up and put a zip in the middle of it, and added both a Harris Tweed label and my own Empire of the Cat label on to it.
The cushion in the book has red wool tassels on the corners but I didn’t think they would look good with the tweed, so no tassels on this cushion – besides anything with tassels would be too irresistible for the kittens!
I added some extra rows of cross stitch along the sides to make the cushion more square, and for something different I made them green instead of white and ecru like the rest of the pattern, which is why I chose the green tweed for the back. The finished cushion fits an 18 inch cushion insert.
For all the various reasons it took me so long to finish this cushion that I didn’t get to use it while he was around, but now I can look at it and remember him. We had a sad anniversary in July as it marked five years that he was gone, but this month also marks the anniversary of when I adopted them as I got him and his buddy Roo-Baby on Halloween! They had been fostered out together as they both had cat flu. I only wanted one kitten but they looked so tiny and sick and frail from the cat flu that I couldn’t leave one behind, so I took both of them. They were the best of cats. Wombat is below…
Roo-Baby and Wombat…
How spooky to adopt a black cat on Halloween!
T Stands For
For Tea, I wanted to share this card I made a while back for A Vintage Journey tea challenge. Remember AVJ? Really loved their challenges and inspiration. This one was chosen for the top three back in August 2019. It has a tea-stained background, plus some Twinings tea packaging, lots of texture paste Ts across the background and then two mugs of tea to finish it off.
Happy T Day! Let me know what you think in the comments. As always, thanks for reading!
Ingredients
embroidery canvas, embroidery wool, Harris Tweed, zip, stuffing, thread, labels,
Challenges
Altered Book Lover – T Stands for – Time you enjoy wasting is never wasted time though sometimes I feel like I wasted a lot of time when I could have been working on that cushion! Tea-stained cards
Lovely cushion and lovely work. I am glad you finished it and now can remember him when you look at it. Beautiful photos of him, too. Happy belated T Day!
The cushion is just beautiful and the story of how it came to be made so poignant. Thanks for the tea. I enjoy Twinings English Breakfast tea all day long. Happy T Day
Amazing that you finally finished this long, long project!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I was saddened to learn that Wombat and Roo-Baby are no longer with you, but you have more you can turn to, at least. And through solid determination, you completed the incredible cushion, too. This turned out great. I am very impressed with your sewing skills in addition to your cross stitch skills.
What a great card you shared with us. I love the Ts you used on the card, as well as the two mugs. Thanks for sharing that amazing cushion and your adorable tea inspired card with us for T this Tuesday, dear Elle.
Beautiful art and crafting today! The green border on your cushion is perfect and you did such a great job adding the Harris Tweed, it looks amazing ?. Loving your TDay entry too, I loved A Vintage Journey too! Thanks for the happy memories and wishing you a Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x
Wombat and Roo-baby look like they were adorable. It is so hard to lose a pet because they really aren’t pets, they are family. With my 2 dogs right now I don’t think a cat would work, but I would love another. They are very different (as you know) from dogs. Anyhow, you cushion came out great and nice that you finished it. I have way too many unfinished projects…it is NOT good. One of these years, but then I keep starting new projects. It is almost an addiction. Well I hope you are having a nice T day Elle. Hugs-Erika
The cushion is simply beautiful. I know how difficult it is to say goodbye to our pets. They are members of our family and well….. Wishing you a happy day.
a gorgeous cushion!! Sweet memories of your kitties. Always so very hard when we lose a fur baby as much as a human family member…
Beautiful vintage looking tea card. happy T day!
Your cushion is fabulous and now it holds good memories of your precious kitty. thank you for sharing with us Happy T hugsK
Wow! That is one beautiful cushion! And a lovely memory of your beloved cat. I bet you are glad you put all this work in it. I really like the green bits. It makes the middle bit ‘pop’ .
And the card is absolutely perfect for the T party. (Purrfect and perfect, lol)
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca