three mousekateers

As soon as I saw Rosie's little mouse-in-a-tin, I pinned it.

I'd planned on making it for Lily for her birthday, but forgot about it.

I made her a wedding dress instead. 

I expect she's happy I forgot ;-)

I was telling my mom the Thursday before our trip

that I hadn't really planned car-stuff for the kids.

We laughed about the contents that Lily packed in her travel bag,

which looked like it could have easily been the trash from cleaning out a vehicle.

Feeling like a heel, I ran to Hobby Lobby and grabbed some supplies

and the kids and I put together some lacing kits 

and zip bags of ocean-themed foam stickers and 5x7 foam boards to create pictures.

They didn't touch any of it

until after we got back home.

Note to self; they rarely play with your kits in the car.

Quit making them!

(This is not the first time this has happened ;-)

I decided on Friday that I was making mice.

We were planning to leave at 2:00 Saturday morning.

I had picked up a couple of tins for the girls from the dollar aisle at Target

and later decided that Josiah would like one too,

(I didn't figure Jeremiah would play with a set)

so I called Tyler and asked him to pick up a tin of Altoids on his way home.

Surprisingly,

neither the mice nor their bedding

got made.

I did manage to pull together some leftover quilt squares,

batting and felt scraps, 

thread,

and a little baggie of fluff.

My own little hand-sewing sewing kit :-)

I never touched it.

The whole way there, it sat its little box.

The entire week of vacation, not a lick of sewing was done.

But on the way home,

I pulled it out.

I made Lexi's first, figuring she could use something new to occupy her...

Her mattress was a tad too small (oops)

and I started sewing her pillow right sides together, so I changed how I was going to make it.

I passed back the tin as soon as I had the mouse, mattress, and pillow made,

then sent back the cover when I got it finished. 

Lily, of course, wanted one asap.

I made each item in the order she requested

(being a whole 5 days later, I no longer remember what that order was...)

and passed back each piece as it was finished.

Josiah's set I made later  in the afternoon.

They were super easy to make  (the fact that they need not be perfect helped ;-)

and I love wool blend felt!

I'm glad I opted to use it for the mice.

I'd never used any felt except the stuff available locally, prior to making Lex's doll.

One touch, and now, I'm a felt snob. Seriously, this stuff is buttery!

The only other sewing I 've fit in this week

(but really it's all that was on my list...)

was more hand-sewing;

I've done 5 or 6 of the red pinwheel blocks in the sort-of-aqua floss,

and now I only have one or two left!!

I've gotten much faster 

and the stitching on the back side has improved. 

of course, there's still plenty of room for more improvement...

I still need to work on the corner blocks and outer border.

And of course, the binding....

I'd hoped to have it finished in time to enter it in Amy's quilt festival

but that's just not going to happen.

In the reading department ~ I read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time in my life..

I thought it was extremely well-written

and a very good representation of life at that time.

I found myself wishing that I would respond more like Atticus did as a parent,

he's a wise one, that Atticus.

I also thought it'd be really nice to send the kids outside to play for the entire day ;-)

to see what others are sewing and reading, visit Elizabeth's