There once was a young couple named Carrie and Rich. They fell deeply in love and soon bought a brownstone in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Their house was beautiful and full of potential, but trouble brewed in the hourly hotel next door. It was a dark place sporting the slogan “What happens in Brooklyn stays in Brooklyn.” Its backyard was teeming with black-and-white cats. If you looked closely at the hotel’s windows you could see lingerie draped over a lampshade. I could swear the lampshade was made from cat hide! Day and night Rich and Carrie could hear the blaring sirens of the police, alarming even the rats.
Carrie and Rich began renovating their new house, stuffing holes to keep the rats out, replacing windows and floors and planting flowers. Soon their new home sparkled with homeowner’s pride. Sadly, it became clear that the cathouse next door had a kitten factory in its backyard, producing a never-ending slew of sadly homeless black-and-white kittens. A few months after their arrival, the couple found a litter of tiny little babies on their side of the fence. Looking at their markings they could easily trace the kittens back to a couple of strays they subsequently named Papa Cat and Mama Cat. The two often hung out by their windows looking in longingly. Mama Cat was desperately in love with Papa Cat. She always tried to hug up to him, but he would push her away acting all aloof and stuff. All he wanted was an hour in the hotel next door at the most.
Once the kittens were weaned, Carrie and Rich took them in. Some were weak and needed medical attention that cost the couple thousands of dollars. All of them needed lots of love, obviously. Carrie’s cat Hank had recently died, and though Carrie’s heart was still a bit broken, she secretly knew that the litter of kittens was heaven sent. But whenever she asked herself to choose between the kittens, she simply couldn’t make a decision. They were all so cute! Right off the bat Carrie bonded with Lil Mama, who followed her around with a perpetually surprised look on her face. But Rich fell in love with the kitten that had a black heart on her white body. They named her Hartley. Although the smallest of them all, Hartley was also “the sweetest and toughest.”
Carrie and Rich could not tear apart the litter of kittens. How could they part from Cuatro, who was such a great sidekick to his siblings? Cuatro had the perfect side-eye; when they’d call his name he’d manage to look at them without even turning his head! Humphrey was the largest yet the most nervous one of the litter. He loved salmon and would always cuddle up to Carrie, his face pressed tightly against hers. Cuatro loved stealing and eating plants, and Humphrey loved salmon.
Carrie and Rich got licensed in Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) to be able have the other members of the cathouse colony, including Mama Cat and Pappa Cat, neutered and spayed for free at the ASPCA.
And so it was that both Bushwick cathouses lived next to each other happily ever after.
Humphrey found himself on the quilt! Photo by Carrie Villines
And Cuatro did, too! Photo by Carrie Villines
This cat quilt was a commission. It measures 45 inches by 65 inches and, like much of my work, is made from recycled men’s shirts from Goodwill.