Tag: Cat Beds

Cat Beds Again

As you saw in a previous post, I am back on the Cat Bed wagon. Some people had some good questions, so I thought I would gather up the information and put it in one place, to the best of my ability.

Schnibbles
Schnibbles

Kati asked “How large are the scraps you’re stuffing? They look pretty big to me.” These are the size that I put in the cat beds.  the little triangles are the ears off 2.5″ and smaller half square triangles, so you can get an idea of how big the shards are. I might be a bit crazy, but I really only throw away tiny schnibbles that really can’t be used at all.  For the longest time I worried about tossing even these tiny shards away. They seemed like they could be used for something. I just didn’t know what. As I read some Victorian novels and ‘rag & bone’ men were mentioned, I kept trying to figure out what could be done with these shreds of fabric. Amanda saved me when she asked for these cat beds.

Cat Bed March 2013
Cat Bed March 2013

One reader said “It’s easy until I come to the stuffing the tube…do you have any secrets to make it easier than having to put my arm into the tube up to my elbow to push the stuffing around? I am going to have to redo the second one because it is too stuffed/firm.” My answer was “I just dump it in and then once it is as full as I want it (about 3/4s full) I just kind of mush it around until it is ok. I think the cat will knead it to the cat’s liking, so I don’t worry too much about it except not making it too firm.” Amanda confirmed when she said “For the scrap pieces, I try to use nothing larger than an approximately 3×3? square. If it is too big a scrap, then they are hard to dry thoroughly in the dryer. You can also you the strippy castoff pieces that are thin but long – those are okay and don’t necessarily need to be cut down as long as they are thin. I think the best stuffing to use is leftover batting scraps – they dry really well, and make the bed nice and soft. But of course, cotton fabric pieces are always good too.

For the issue about the tube – just cut it shorter! When you are sewing the “side” part of the bed onto the base, if it overlaps more than 5 inches, just cut the extra off. You don’t want to have a big overlap because this does make it a pain in the booty to stuff.”

For the short version of the Simplified Cat Bed Tutorial, I am posting it again.

Froggy Cat Bed

Cat Bed #2
Cat Bed #2

When Amanda had the new kits out at the BAMQG meeting earlier this month, I wanted to take them all. There were about 6, but I restrained myself and just took one. These cat beds are really easy to make and as an added bonus, I get to dump my schnibbles into the center as filling when I am done.

I had to do a bit of unsewing on this cat bed, as I put the wrong tail on the outside when sewing. You have to put the end you want to hide on the outside when sewing the middle strip to the ovals so that when you turn the cat bed right side out, the hemmed end will be on the outside. I started to unsew the entire thing and then realized I only had to unsew the ends. I did the unsewing then re-sewed and have another great cat bed for Amanda and the Homeless Cat Network.

Cat Bed #2 Side-ish View
Cat Bed #2 Side-ish View

One of the things I like about this project is that I can put my schnibbles in it.I save, as I have said, the bits that are really too small to save. I used to throw them out, but putting them inside cat beds is better. I had the ends of a quilt (that get cut off after machine quilting) that I also cut up and put inside this one.

The second photo shows more of the frog fabric used for the side. I hope the cat likes it.

Cat Bed #1

Cat Bed #1
Cat Bed #1

This is the cat bed that I made from the kit I got at the last BAMQG meeting. I didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but it went very quickly and in no time I had the thing done.

I had some schnibbles so I put as many as I could inside to stuff it. Amanda will have to stuff the rest of it with all the schnibbles she has collected.

The polar fleece only caused me a bit of pain and suffering, but not much. I am quite pleased with how it came out.

I have to admit that I enjoyed making this. I find satisfaction in making the donation quilts and also in making this cat bed. If you want to make one, Amanda has kindly allowed me to post the revised, simpler Cat Bed Pattern .

Cat Beds

For a long time I have been wondering why tiny bits of fabric couldn’t be recycled. As I tossed out stockings and holey socks, I wondered if there wasn’t something that could be done with them. Reading Victorian mystery novels didn’t help, because they describe ‘rag pickers’, but who wants that job?

How Much Work?
How Much Work?

I have often judged the amount of work I have done over the course of a week by how full my garbage can was. Still, I wished that I could put those bits of fabric somewhere to use without having to store them myself.

A few months ago, Amanda came to the BAMQG meeting and solved my problem! She told us that she and some friends were making cat beds for a local homeless cat shelter. She asked us to save our tiny bits of fabric including worn out clothing (no underwear!) such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. She would use them to fill the cat beds she was making so the beds would be soft and comfy for the cats.

Despite the fact that I had long thought about saving tiny scraps and doing something with them, I thought saving the tiny bits would be too much trouble. Then I remembered 1) all the times I had been reluctant to toss tiny bits; 2) Pam and what what good care she takes of her cats; and 3) how lame I was acting.

Cat Bed Filling
Cat Bed Filling

I got myself a zipper bag and started tossing scraps in. Thread, schnibbles, bits of batting, and selvedges all go into the cat bed filling bag. I was shocked at how many tiny bits I had and how quickly I filled up a bag. I brought two bags of bits to Amanda the first time she collected them!

Trimmings from quilting, e.g. the edges of the quilt sandwich fill those bags up faster. It is another kind of sorting I have to do daily and I haven’t quite found the right place for the bags. I am really happy to do one small thing to make a cat’s life better and to help Amanda, who is doing the heavy lifting on this project. The other good thing is that my garbage can is a lot emptier, which means less stuff going to the landfill.

I am really good at doing one small thing for various projects that all need time, attention and money. In other projects where this has been my M.O. I have found that I can see the difference – how my contribution changes things-when I do one small thing.