Week Twenty-Eight: The Chair

One of the steps to becoming a true cat person is coming to terms with the fact that everything you own belongs to the cat (or cats). You can spend a lot of time arguing this point with the cats in your life, or accept it as soon as possible and then spend the rest of your time photographing your cat taking over all the things. I always choose the latter option. It's easier and funner. 

While this week's stitch journal entries did follow a few themes (a focus on shapes and forms, a return to only using one piece of thread, blanket stitches), the real constant of all of this week's entries was Keely taking over a new piece of furniture. A little background for those who may be new to me and Keely: I adopted him in 2018 and we had a very rocky start. He's not a mean cat, but he can be very aggressive, which is the complete opposite of the cat I had before who was a complete angel and sweet little girl her whole life. Keely's different. His first family got rid of him, so I assume they weren't very kind to him. It took him a long time to be affectionate and now we have 4 pm snuggles on the couch every day...but that took two years and a global pandemic to happen. 

Anyway, Keely won't sit on the couch. He'll sleep on my bed and laze about on the dining room chairs, but he'll only sit on the couch in two ways: on my lap or on the back of the couch staring up at the ceiling. I think the second one is about him checking in on the ghost (I guess we have a ghost given the way he stares at a fixed point on the ceiling all the time). I've tried to get him to sit on it alone, but he won't do it. I decided to buy a sleeper chair for my studio/guest room. I finally found one I liked that was in my budget and it arrived in early July. It's great because it can be an ottoman, a chair, a lounger, and a twin bed. I'm not sure it's the most comfortable twin bed, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I wasn't sure how Keely was going to react to a new piece of furniture in the studio. He likes sitting in there at odd times of the day or keeping me company while I'm working on a piece. He's an excellent studio cat. 

The first day he was completely suspicious. He put his paws on it. He sniffed it. He sat near it, but he wouldn't jump on it. He decided to make a cat cave out of it when I set it up as a lounger one day. And then this week, he decided it was his chair. It's his new favorite spot. If he's not sunbathing or in his cat bed, he's on the chair. He'll sit in the room alone in the dark. He'll sit in there while I'm working. He even figured out he can lay on the back of it when it's set up as a chair (the back raises so there's space - he probably shouldn't sit there, but he does). The chair has become Keely's chair. 

This was the first week of this year's project where he sat in the studio with me every time I worked on it. He didn't seem to have an opinion on any of the entries this week, but he would occasionally lift his head to see what I was up to. I'll take that as Keely approved.

Before I share this week's recap, here are some fun pictures of Keely and his chair:

And now the weekly recap:

July 10: One of the things I love about using lines of back stitch is the shapes the lines create. Unlike last year's project where most pieces were planned, most of this journal is not. These lines are the best example of that and I love them so much. 

July 11: Creating a pattern with long back stitches and French knots (two back stitches, one knot).

July 12: I went to the office on Tuesday (wild I know) and came home with blanket stitches on the brain. I call this "A Mess of Blanket Stitches." I love using this stitch in a non-linear way. 

July 13: I struggle with using the stem stitch for anything other than straight lines, maybe with a slight curve, so I wanted to practice curvy lines. I like the end result; it's a graceful line and shape. It reminds me of a dancer or swimmer.

July 14: I'm a little concerned I may run out of usable thread from the 2021 ort jar, so Thursday's entry was a return to using only one piece of thread. It happened to be a very long piece of green thread, but I still only used one piece and I only stitched for 5 minutes.

July 15: I've mostly used French knots as dots or small pattern shapes in the journal, so I wanted to do something more with them. A line of French knots is lovely and this line is perfect.

July 16: I've been binge watching The Great Pottery Throw Down (I'm on season 4), so I've been thinking a lot more about shapes and form. There are definitely some figurative elements in today's entry and the shapes are strong. 

Y'all, I don't think I'm going to have to move the fabric until August. There's still so much space to layer and add new sections. Very exciting.

WIP Update: I started the third section of Abstract 2 that's part of the From the Back Series. This one is all chain stitches using variegated thread. I like the way this part is shaping up. I hope to finish the full piece this weekend. I'm going to take a little break from this series to work on another piece I've been trying to figure out. The best way to figure it out is to put something on fabric, so that's what's coming next. Warning: it involves a spider. I know some of you don't like spiders, but I have come to appreciate them and have a mixed media idea in mind involving a larger spider sticker, a photo from a tree that fell in my friend Kelly's yard, and tulle. It makes sense in my head; let's see if I can make it make something on fabric or paper or both.

Why are chain stitches so soothing to look at?