Wow! was this ever challenging -- had to practice over and over again -- but so worth every second.  I am extremely grateful, Helen, for your in-depth pen tool tutorial, and for those shortcuts.  Thanks to you, I finally understand the pen tool!

I had loads of fun playing with patterns, gradients, different scale amounts, etc.  In the end, I chose to stay with this craziness... (need more practice with the cat's eye :)