I managed to remove her after 20 minutes or so without damage to any of the parties concerned, by dint of distracting her with the measuring tape. But it certainly means I won't be doing any pattern-cutting on the floor. Thus I am required to re-think my strategy for cutting the pieces out, and my new plans will have to account for making use of the much smaller table-top area available to me. Fortunately I think I have arrived at a workable plan.
Cats: the sewing antimatter.