Back on the Donation Bandwagon

I finally crawled back on the donation bandwagon. This isn’t an organized donation project, just my own personal desire to be of service. Part of my problem was missing too many BAMQG meetings, but also I had too many other projects and keep forgetting to sew the Patchwork Wheel blocks together. I still haven’t sewn them together, but I have a goal of getting them together before the next BAMQG meeting. The illness in February didn’t help things either.

My scrapbag runneth over
My scrapbag runneth over

I had to do something, though, because my scrap bag had reached critical mass and was overflowing. I even got a larger one to accommodate all the scraps I had accumulated since December. I still couldn’t cram any more scraps into the new, larger bag. I use the scraps, as you know, to fill the Cat Beds Amanda collects for the Homeless Cat Network. Often, because I had been sewing one to two cat beds per month, I didn’t have enough to fill an entire cat bed. I would just put in as many as I had and Amanda would fill up the rest of the cat bed to ultimate comfy-ness.

This time I had tons of scraps. I created a lot of scraps in December, January, February and part of March with all the projects I worked on. Remember? I was off over the holidays.  I was almost able to fill up an entire cat bed. I’ll give it to Amanda and let her decide whether the scraps I put in are enough. She has tons of scraps and can fill up the bed to capacity, if needed.

Sewing this cat bed together was exciting, because she used some very soft and slippery fabric for the sides. It is like Minkee, I think, but I don’t know if it is actually Minkee. It was a little fuzzy, too and got everywhere. That was no problem, because now I keep a masking tape roller in my workroom and that tool cleaned me and all the other Minkee-ified surfaces right up.

Cat Bed March 2013
Cat Bed March 2013

I sewed it almost as soon as I got home from the meeting, because the magnet holding my scrap bag to my cutting table was not designed for the weight of fabric and it kept falling off.

See how fat and comfy it looks? I am sure it will make some cat very happy.

You can see the pattern for the cat beds in a previous post.

Author: Jaye

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

7 thoughts on “Back on the Donation Bandwagon”

  1. Jaye that is awesome! We have been making cat/dog pillows with scraps for a long time too! I must try a cat bed like this. I’ll let one of our “kids” test it out…LOL.

  2. That looks really cute, Jaye and will surely make a kitty very happy! How large are the scraps you’re stuffing? They look pretty big to me.

    1. Most of the scraps are shreds. There are a few batting strips stuffed in the top that I added at the last minute, but I usually cut them up into smaller pieces. I do something I call mosaic piecing, so I can use very small pieces. I really only put what I absolutely cannot use into my scrap bag.

  3. I have made two of these so far. 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.

    1. 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. I can get you in touch with Amanda for tips, if you want.

  4. Hi all – Jaye asked me to leave a comment about stuffing questions, although she did a really good job answering the questions! (PS Jaye – thanks for making cat beds – you are awesome!) 🙂
    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.
    Hope that helps!
    Amanda

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