**VALENTINE'S CRAFTING RE-RUN**PART 1** Crafting With Cats Valentine's Special ~ How We Made A Valentine's Heart Crinkle Mat

Welcome to

Supurr Furbulous Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for our supurr fun Crafting with Cats re-run. Today, we thought we'd get a head-start on the Valentine's Crafting, as the big day is only a couple of weeks away, so if mew want to make anything we share mew should have plenty of time! 

Stay tuned for more epically epic crafty fun!

If mew missed any of our previous CWC posts, stop by the Crafting with Cats Page and see all our previous projects, and mew don't have to be an expert in anything to make any of them. Plus we offer workarounds and no-sew projects for those who don't like to sew.

*    *    *

**Purrlease Note**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil 

*     *     *

This week we're making a pawesome 

What We Used:

Fabric of your choosing, ours is red

Wadding/padding

Lining fabric

Plastic shopping bags ~ yes we're doing our bit and recycling

Sewing machine

scissors - cotton - pins - needle - tailor's chalk or similar - ruler

Optional Cat ~ Smooch was today's Snoopervisor

First, we suggest measuring one of your kitties to see how big your fabric needs to be, as not all kitties are the same size.

Take your fabric and give it a quick iron.

Fold it in half and draw half a heart shape directly on the fabric with your tailors chalk, so your heart is symmetrical when mew open the cut fabric out. It's so much easier than trying to draw a complete heart on the fabric.

Cut out your heart.

Cut out two pieces of lining fabric and one piece of your padding using your furst heart as a template.

Take your plastic bags and see how many mew need to fill the size of your heart.

We used 5.

Optional kitty for testing if there's enough rustle! MOL

Pin your padding between your main fabric and one piece of lining fabric, pin together and sew around the edge.  We used a zigzag stitch.

Your heart should now look like this.

Take your ruler and tailor's chalk, then mark your quilting lines.

Mew don't have to do this, but we think it looks really nice.

Sew along your quilting lines. We sewed larger squares as it looked better, and your heart should look something like this. Use a piece of fabric off-cut to rub any tailors chalk off the heart - it should come off furry easily.

Next, take your quilted heart and place it and your second piece of lining fabric 'right-sides together' pin and sew all the way around the edge with a straight stitch leaving about half an inch / 1cm seam width.  Leave about a 5" or 13cm gap so mew can turn it the right way out and stuff the bags inside.

Position the bags inside the heart so they aren't lumpy or bunched up together, then hand stitch the remaining seam closed.

And mew should have something that looks like this:

It took approximately 90 minutes to make from start to finish, as we always make it up as we go along. We have an idea of what we want to make, and then we just dive right in. So we think it shouldn't take more than an hour to make with our instructions!

And here's Smooch testing it, watch for Pandora's total eclipse! MOL

All in all, each of The B Team has had a try, and give it all paws up!

In fact, Fudge, much to Smooch's chagrin, got himself on it and then refused to move! MOL

*    *    *

And that furiends furry sadly brings us to the end of the first Valentine's Crafting With Cats post, we do hope mew liked it 

And if there's anything mew'd like us to make, leave a comment.  

Epically crafty purrs and don't forget to...

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable for any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com  

**VALENTINE'S CRAFTING RE-RUN**PART I** Crafting With Cats Valentine's Special ~ How We Made A Valentine's Heart Crinkle Mat

Welcome to

Supurr Furbulous Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for our supurr fun Crafting with Cats re-run. Today, we thought we'd get a head-start on the Valentine's Crafting, as the big day is only three weeks away, so if mew want to make anything we share over the next couple of weeks, mew should have plenty of time! 

Stay tuned for more epically epic crafty fun!

If mew missed any of our previous CWC posts, stop by the Crafting with Cats Page and see all our previous projects, and mew don't have to be an expert in anything to make any of them. Plus we offer workarounds and no-sew projects for those who don't like to sew.

*    *    *

**Purrlease Note**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil 

*     *     *

This week we're making a pawesome 

What We Used:

Fabric of your choosing, ours is red

Wadding/padding

Lining fabric

Plastic shopping bags ~ yes we're doing our bit and recycling

Sewing machine

scissors - cotton - pins - needle - tailor's chalk or similar - ruler

Optional Cat ~ Smooch was today's Snoopervisor

First, we suggest measuring one of your kitties to see how big your fabric needs to be, as not all kitties are the same size.

Take your fabric and give it a quick iron.

Fold it in half and draw half a heart shape directly on the fabric with your tailors chalk, so your heart is symmetrical when mew open the cut fabric out. It's so much easier than trying to draw a complete heart on the fabric.

Cut out your heart.

Cut out two pieces of lining fabric and one piece of your padding using your furst heart as a template.

Take your plastic bags and see how many mew need to fill the size of your heart.

We used 5.

Optional kitty for testing if there's enough rustle! MOL

Pin your padding between your main fabric and one piece of lining fabric, pin together and sew around the edge.  We used a zigzag stitch.

Your heart should now look like this.

Take your ruler and tailor's chalk, then mark your quilting lines.

Mew don't have to do this, but we think it looks really nice.

Sew along your quilting lines. We sewed larger squares as it looked better, and your heart should look something like this. Use a piece of fabric off-cut to rub any tailors chalk off the heart - it should come off furry easily.

Next, take your quilted heart and place it and your second piece of lining fabric 'right-sides together' pin and sew all the way around the edge with a straight stitch leaving about half an inch / 1cm seam width.  Leave about a 5" or 13cm gap so mew can turn it the right way out and stuff the bags inside.

Position the bags inside the heart so they aren't lumpy or bunched up together, then hand stitch the remaining seam closed.

And mew should have something that looks like this:

It took approximately 90 minutes to make from start to finish, as we always make it up as we go along. We have an idea of what we want to make, and then we just dive right in. So we think it shouldn't take more than an hour to make with our instructions!

And here's Smooch testing it, watch for Pandora's total eclipse! MOL

All in all, each of The B Team has had a try, and give it all paws up!

In fact, Fudge, much to Smooch's chagrin, got himself on it and then refused to move! MOL

*    *    *

And that furiends furry sadly brings us to the end of the first Valentine's Crafting With Cats post, we do hope mew liked it and feel free to post your pawesome crafty pics and ideas on our Facebook page at:

Bionic Basil & The B Team @Facebook

And if there's anything mew'd like us to make, leave a comment and we'll do our best.  

We'll be back on the morrow with Chapter Twleve in our epic adventure, Claws of Terror, and if mew missed Chapter Eleven, click here.

Epic crafty purrs

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable for any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com 

Welcome to The BBHQ Midweek News Round-Up ~ Smooch Ambushing Pandora on the Millwheel, Parsley's Stink Eye in The Fitness Room and Melvyn's Wearing This Weeks Top Pick Bandana

Epic Wednesday Greetings Furiends

Welcome to the BBHQ midweek news round-up!

How's your week going? 

Last week we mentioned we may plant some seeds if it got a bit warmer, and it has remained relatively nice, so yesterday we got the sweet peas in a little pot of water to enliven them before sowing them, and we also sorted out the peppers too. In previous years, we have also sowed the pepper seeds too late, as apparently they need five months to crop, so we're well ahead of the game this year.

And we don't know about mew, but there are no tomatoes in the shops right now, so we may even start some of those early next month. We grow them every year, and this year we've got a new spot to try when it's warm enough outside to grow them on, so we'll let mew know how that's going later in the season.

This year the beans are going back in the raised beds in the courtyard, as it gets really hot there, and we may try the courgettes there too.

Are mew growing anything this year?

First up in the news 

Smooch Ambushing Pandora on the Millwheel

Pandora was minding her own business as Smooch - see the action shot above - jumped up to ambush her. She wasn't bothered and promptly vacated the millwheel at top speed, and if mew're wonder how fast Pandora is, check out her video here on TikTok.

Next up in the news

Parsley's Stink Eye in The Fitness Room

We don't know what Parsley's boggle was here! 

The P.A. had been cleaning in the fitness room, and he wandered in, sat down and gave her the stink eye, purrhaps it was because he thought she should be working out instead of tidying up! MOL

And finally this week

Melvyn's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick

The winner this week is the White Hearts with Red Glitter Ribbon!

We've got three funky beats to this weeks catwalk run.

Check out Melvyn's videos on:

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Which one is your favourite this week? 

Which one should he model next?

Here's the February selection.

The options from the top left to right, and bottom left to right:

1. Red heart with red tassels

2. Multi-coloured hearts with lilac fringing

3. Red hearts with red fringing

4. White hearts with glitter ribbon

 Melvyn will model the final #3 choice on next week's post, and we'll be revealing the March top picks.

EXTRA, EXTRA!

Check out this week's top videos:

Melvyn and Fudge's Cat Fight - Instagram

Melvyn Say's No To Sharing Catnip Cookies - YouTube

Start Monday with A Catnip Cushion - TikTok

That's us done for today. Amber will be back on Friday with another fab book just for mew and if mew missed any other posts, here are the links:

The BBHQ Best Cat Blogs of 2023

Fudge's Freckly Sunday Selfie

Valentine's Crafting with Cats - The Love Shroom Double Decker Bed

In the meantime

Epic purrs

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post! 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com