Cat Lady Spotlight: Crafty Cat Ladies

What is your favorite thing about Australia?  Here is what readers have mentioned so far: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, Hugh Jackman,  80's band INXS, the Coral reef barrier and the beautiful sea life (add yours to the list here for a chance to win a copy of Australian Homespun Magazine--giveaway ends tonight).  

Of course my favorite thing about Australia right now is the May issue of Homespun Magazine and Australian Cat Lady Megan Fisher, who is responsible for my one of my cat lady designs being published as a how-to applique wall hanging project in this month's issue. 

Here are some insights into Megan's love for cats, her creative quilting, and her role as Technical Editor at a major needlecraft magazine :

"My husband and I are both cat people from way back. Our preference in recent years has been tuxies. Unfortunately, our once-in-a-lifetime absolutely-the-most-wonderful-pusscat-ever cat died at the age of only 2½ some years ago, and my husband can simply not bear the thought of getting another one, so we’ve been catless for a few years now. 

"My husband and I are both introverts, but this cat – formal name Mozart, nickname, Mr Pooh (as in Winnie-the …) – was the most extroverted cat I’ve ever met. All over everyone like a rash. in your face, on your lap, cuddles, hugs, purrs, kisses on and on and on. Getting out of bed every morning was a real drama, because the 'Welcome back from the Land of Nod' from Mr Pooh took at least 15 minutes – as though you’d been gone for months, not hours. We still miss him.

 "...He was definitely one of life’s little rays of sunshine and optimism, and when you have a face like his, that can be important." -Cat Lady Megan

"I’ve been making quilts for a bit over 20 years. Prior to that I did a bit of cross-stitch, and I still do some from time to time.

"I prefer making scrappy patchwork quilts, with postage-stamp quilts being a particular joy... One of the things that I like about quiltmaking is that I can make gorgeous work without having a strong artistic bent. It’s just about choosing colours and working with value and patterns – I don’t have to be able to draw!

"I’ve been working as a Technical Editor for Australian Homespun for about 10 years. The primary purpose of this role is to ensure that the instructions for the projects published in the magazine are accurate and provide sufficient information for readers to make a project just like the one we show in our photographs. Many designers are highly creative and do absolutely sensational projects for the magazine, but they don’t enjoy what, for them, is the tedium of writing the instructions down in gory detail. So, it’s important that someone who is more analytical, perhaps more detail-orientated, perhaps more of a ‘words person’ than a visual person, reviews the instructions. 

"In addition to checking the project instructions, I also write some of the short articles that introduce the projects, the book reviews (what a fabulous job that is!) and the occasional feature article. I enjoy being playful with language and feel that part of my contribution to the magazine has been to inject some light humour and fun.

"Crafting is an important part of the lives of many of our readers and I feel very fortunate to be able to play a part in bringing such wonderful projects to them in the magazine every month. It can feel somewhat relentless – the team is always working on different aspects of four or five different issues at any one time, and, of course, the cycle never ends, so there’s little opportunity to stop, draw breath and relax. Nevertheless, I always make sure that I have time to tackle some quiltmaking of my own. Even though I’ve had a number of projects published, it still gives me a thrill to see my work in print."

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Cat Lady Teri is another crafty cat lady whose crafty passion is knitting.  Her custom portrait was one of my paintings that inspired Megan's adaptation for "Knit One, Purr Two".

Teri  started a knitting group on Ravelry.com called the Amazing Flying Squirrel Karma Team. Projects have included an afghan for a grandmother's 100th birthday, making gators (kind of a cowl for men) for the soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, making an afghan to be raffled to raise money for RAINN, and making lapghans and afghans for residents of LANDAHAM State Psychiatric Hospital. "I am very proud of this group and the work we are doing!! Members of Ravelry.com are welcome and encouraged to stop by (http://www.ravelry.com/groups/amazing-flying-squirrel-karma-team) and help with a project or offer moral support. "

She also knows how to sew and "did quite a bit when my kids were small.  I have never done any piecework or quilting though." [note: she and I prefer the idea of having Megan make a 'Knit One, Purr Two" wall hanging for us. LOL].  Teri has another talent, which was evident in the recent "You're a Poet and You Know It Giveaway."

Here are her two lovely entries.  As it turned out, she was one of two lucky entrants whose name was drawn at random to win a mug.

opening tuna can 

tuna juice for my kitty cats
sandwiches for me

ZuZu and LeeLou
napping on the back porch
spring sunshine for all 

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THE GIVEAWAY: It's not too late to throw your hat in the ring for a chance to win a copy of the May issue of Australian Homespun magazine. Just visit this post: http://365catladies.blogspot.com/2012/05/fun-collaboration-and-giveaway.html and in the comments section, tell us something that you like about Australia.  

GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT, Friday May 11 at 8 p.m. Pacific Daylight Saving Time, I will draw one name at random to receive the copy of the magazine (a $9.95 value in Australian Dollars!)

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