Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cats On Quilts

I just could not resist taking and posting this title and photo.  My hubby actually brought home these quilt books after visiting his favorite used book store,  Mina, of course, saw this as a photo opportunity.

I take so many photos of cats on quilts .. because, really, they are always there and I can't do a thing without them ... or sometimes I can't get anything done with them.  Mina was batting my hand away all the time I was trying to sew the binding on the D9P quilt. 

Then Butterfly had to come and chase her off and roll up in it. 



Despite their best efforts otherwise, I did get the D9P bound and finished.  Here is the promised photo ...



You can see the last of my pansies tucked into the pot on the left.  They are still blooming there since it is a shadier, cool spot in the yard.


I had three leftover D9P blocks, so I covered another small pillow with one and made a runner for my dresser or night stand with the other two and some more scraps.  Here is the photo ... 


 
Mina is saying ... "Thanks.  Just my size. You made this for me, right?" 

Poor Mina ...  it is going into the bedroom tomorrow ... where Butterfly will not let her get near it.  Sorry, kitty.

My cats really are not good about sharing the quilts ... or their people ... or just about anything.  Butterfly is "large and in charge" and Mina is very much "you are not the boss of me."  The fur flys over the quilts sometimes.  Mina tries to stake her claim on every quilt while it is being made in my sewing/dining/living room area, but Butterfly does not let her in my or my daughter's bedrooms. I should explain. When my daughter rescued Mina from certain death and brought her home, Mina took one look at the other cats we had ... and at the time we also had the sweetest, friendliest elderly cat that was pattering right over to bump noses and say "hello!  how nice! a new kitty come to live with us!" Mina took one look, hissed and growled and disappeared into the boys bedroom and under Jon's bed and we did not see her for days.  We heard her though. The most sinister growl came out from under the bed anytime one of us walked by that room.  Matt was away at college at the time so Mina looked to Jon as her "savior"  I always joked that I was packing the cat when he moved out, but he moved to an apartment that did not allow pets. For years she has run to the door meowing when she hears his vehicle in the driveway and scampers after him all the time he is here. She was such an abused and miserable little animal when we adopted her that I always told him he must have done something right in life to earn the love of that scared, scarred little cat.  He just laughs. Just so you do not think poor little Mina has been left quiltless and comfortless, here she is curled up in her very own basket near my sewing machine on a quilt made from the leftover blocks from Jon's batik quilt ...



What would I do without my "cats on quilts" ?

 ... lol ...  ;) Pat

4 comments:

Carol said...

Pat, Mina looks like my dd's Morgan. But it doesn't sound like she's like Morgan personality-wise. lol Morgan is so friendly and curious, almost to the point where it's dangerous. lol She's gotten out of the house once and escaped to the basement once too. We joke this cat has 19 lives!

It's nice to see your kitties in the photos. I truly cannot see you quilting without them. ;-)

Lovely finished blue/yellow quilt!

Carol (NJ)

Dorian said...

LOL Pat, love your post! Your cats are lovely, as is your quilts.

Delia said...

Awww...poor kitty. Bullied by the bedroom cat. ;)

The D9P came out gorgeous.

Scrapatches said...

My kitties and I say "thanks," my friends.

Delia ... lol ... you did get the part where I mentioned Mina's sinister growl? She is the one who was the real problem and would not let Butterfly enter the boys' bedroom from the start. Also, as she gradually came out into the living area, she caused Butterfly, who is very playful, to retreat into the other bedrooms. Butterfly's feelings were hurt, I think, that "her Girl" brought another kitty home; she just finally drew a line at those doorways and would not give more ground. Butterfly is large and strong and uses this to her advantage, but she is a not a fighter. The only time blood was shed was by Butterfly when Mina clawed her paw in the kitchen hallway and Butterfly ran onto the bed and began to shake her bleeding paw all over my nice new king size comforter.

It is amazing how small Mina has stayed because she eats constantly ... and how menacing her growl is. She will walk by the bedroom door in the night on her way to the kitty box in the cellar and she will pause in the doorway and just grrrrrrooooooowwwwlllllll to warn Butterfly away. It wakes me like a nightmare tiger escaped from the zoo and come to pounce me in my dreams. The hair on my arms and neck stands on end. It has the opposite effect on Butterfly ... wakes her up and she slips silently to the top of the stairs and lays in wait for Mina to emerge so she can chase her. Now if Mina would just not make a big deal and not alert Butterfly in the first place, all would be well.

Mina had a nasty habit of scratching anything and anyone when she came to us that she earned the nicknames "The Claw" and "Vampire Kitty". She was named by her previous owner after Willemina in the Dracula books. The cat had a complex. She also must have been kicked a lot ... most likely due to her nasty habit of shreding the furniture and walls.

Butterfly was my DD's baby cat and was the little sister to our other cats, who were always playful, welcoming and well-adjusted. We love Mina, though ... she has mellowed consideraly since we have had her, but it has taken years for her to feel secure.

I have hope someday that my kitties will learn to curl up together on the quilts.