As you might imagine, I spend a lot of time in my sewing room.  Since I am so often there my husband calls my sewing room “The Sweatshop.”  Seldom do I spend the whole time by myself.  Almost always at my side is Tom my Maine Coon cat.  How he knows I’m there I am not really sure.  Perhaps he hears the click of my rotary cutter as I prepare to slice a path.  No matter what attracts him my husband fondly calls him “The Mayor.”

Tom is very fond of selecting my cutting table as the most important place to be.  Maine Coons have long wispy hair.  That long fluffy hair becomes a nuisance when it sticks to my table.  To avoid encounters with deposits of hair I use a deterrent.  The deterrent is a soft and comfy, irresistible pillow.  Tom spends endless hours snoozing on his favorite throne.  In fact we often find him hiding away in my sewing room even when I am not there.

Aside from not wanting Tom’s hair all over my beautiful fabrics there is a second reason for rerouting Tom from my cutting area.  The second reason is my fear of accidentally lopping off portions of his body.  Let me explain.

Several years ago we had a female Tabby cat by the name of Lena.  Lena also had a magnetic attraction to my cutting board.  She just loved laying her head right where I wanted to zip my rotary cutter.  On one very unfortunate day Lena just happened to lay her ear smack dab in the path of my cutting blade.  As I’m sure you can guess a small portion of Lena’s ear was removed by my rotary cutter.  Lena and I were both horrified at what had just transpired.  Fortunately for her the ear healed very quickly and no damage was done to my fabric.  Since body parts do not grow back I was constantly reminded of Lena’s run-in with the rotary cutter because of the missing piece from her ear.

Ever since that episode I am insistent upon no cats laying directly on my cutting table.  If they must be there they must be on the pillow, which is safely tucked out of range.