Friday, March 29, 2024
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Creating With Cats: A Clever Pillow, or Two

swatch from fabric
Detail of fabric, "Cats on Vacation" by Andover Fabrics.

Where do you suppose these two are going? Totally distracted during a conversation, I had to know what this fabric was all about.

I stopped in at Distinctively Different Decor & More yesterday to discuss business and fun with Bonita. As she was pulling swatches of fabrics and beaded trims for her current decorating and upholstery projects in her workroom, I really was distracted by this swatch laying quietly on the other end of her large worktable.

    "Cats on Vacation" by Andover Fabrics.
"Cats on Vacation" by Andover Fabrics.

Partly the combination of bright colors and partly the intriguing arrangement of the figures, the overall look reminded me of one of those colorful cotton tablecloths from the late 1940s printed with fruits and figures and things which I collect, but I also saw cats on it and had to know what Bonita intended to do with it.

tiger stripe envelope pillow
One of Bonita's envelope pillows with lots of trim binding and fringe.

Apparently, it will become two of her large stuffed sofa or floor pillows to add to the collection in her shop, The Studio, where she features gift items of her own creation plus those of other artisans, including me.

Aside from her other talents in textile design, sewing and upholstering, Bonita is the queen of pillows. And while she uses florals and textures and colors to create both simple and highly decorated styles, I always notice the animal prints, especially the stripes and spots as in this envelope pillow made of densely woven fabric that is dimensionally textured along the stripes, with coordinating satin binding around the sides and dense short fringe on the “flap”.

set of pawprint pillows
Pawprint floor pillows.

This flap closes with a wooden button that actually works as all of her pillows are made for use by people with pets and the covers are removable for washing. Bonita lives with six rescued cats of all stripes and colors.

This set of 18″ floor pillows in sturdy pawprint fleece is a little simpler, just a big stuffed square with a zipper closure on one edge, but all pillows are stuffed with an inner pillow that holds the filling so you don’t have the batting popping out when you open it to wash the cover.

decorated lamp
The animal-print lamp.
Detail of lampshade.
Detail of lampshade.

Animal prints aren’t reserved for only pillows as I’ve seen tablecloths and upholstered items come and go, and Bonita was also very pleased to present a project she’d recently finished that was in the planning stages for at least three years, a lamp that she’d custom painted to match the colors in the—yes, leopard print—fabric she used on the shade. For extra interest, this fabric also has a slightly “furry” texture that I couldn’t resist touching. She can’t resist the addition of satin binding here either as it softens the inner angles of the lamp base where the fluted curves meet.

In her support of rescued cats, Bonita also donates things she makes to shelter events, and always has a basket for pet food donations in her shop. It seems many of her customers are pet lovers as well!

donation basket for pet food
Donation basket for pet food.

You can visit Bonita’s website at Distinctively Different Decor & More.

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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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