AROUND THE FRAME

Cats and Quilts 

June is here and once again the ASPCA celebrates “Adopt a Shelter Cat Month.”

There is nothing more endearing than a shelter cat sitting alertly on a quilt- in -the -frame batting at the thread as it’s manipulated through the fabric, before exhaustion overtakes it and they nap under the warm glow of an Ott light; the quilt now sagging in the frame under their weight creating a hammock. How content they must feel to have found such a great forever home and a great job to boot!

Many of my quilting friends have feline fur children. Fabric designers, acutely aware of this Phnom, design whimsical, classy, abstract and just plain cute cat fabric. Not as popular as Christmas fabric, but certainly an enduring genre.

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Quilters often design their own cat quilts. Since I lack drawing/sketching skills, it is easier for me to start with a pattern, and add my own creative twists to it. Kind of like those baking contests where the cake mix company wants you to start with their basic mix and make something unique from it, so they can sell a lot of cake mixes.

Fortunately the Web is full of sites offering free cat patterns. Judy Heim compiled websites and created the world’s biggest cat pattern database. Check it out at www.catswhoquilt.com/ Along with a pattern data base, she markets her book “Cats who Quilt” and offers sewing room safety tips for pets.

Now that the “hot quilting days of summer” is here, enjoy this free melon kitty pattern at www.blockcentral.com/qb-melonkitty.shtml

Whether you create a single block or an entire quilt, share your result and it will be posted to the Born Again Quilts website.

Take a moment too and check out all the feline fur children looking for forever homes at the Allen County SPCA at www.aspca.org/

Lois Eubank can be reached at 260-515-9446. Please leave a message.