This project turns leftover fabric into comfort: quilted cage pads for the cats and dogs waiting for homes at the SPCA of Monterey County. When an animal is adopted, the pad goes along to the new home. The maker says the pads are comfortable for the animals, more tempting to visiting adoptive families, and a real improvement over what usually sits in a cage.
The build leans on generosity and thrift. Quilters in Salinas, California contributed excess materials, and the pads combine assorted scraps of floral prints, batiks, solids, stripes and novelty prints over inner batting for insulation. The layers are secured three different ways: machine topstitching, channel quilting, or hand-tied knots in thread and yarn. The first batch was made in the summer of 2018 and left at the county shelter without any warning.
The details are what win me over. Every pad is designed on its own terms, some carrying appliquéd fabric hearts and others showing embroidered lucky cat motifs. The maker reports the shelter was thrilled to receive something nicer than a worn-out towel.
One thing I would love to hear more about is laundering. The maker expects quilts like these to come through many washings, but there is no breakdown of how topstitching compares with tied knots after repeated trips through the machine. That is my only open question, and it does not dim the charm of the idea one bit.
Project by Joe Truskot. Watch it on their YouTube channel: