Thursday 30 April 2015

Mouse Picnic Mini Quilt

I've had a little girl present to make this past week, and after a bit of thought decided to make another Mouse Picnic. I've had a thrifted miniature picnic hamper sitting in a cupboard for quite a while, and a separate thrifted bundle of tiny cups, saucers etc too, all waiting for the right occasion. Perfect time to empty a little out of my cupboards rather than the more usual reverse process. So I was all set and just had to provide a mini picnic mat and the mice...




It is really a lot more 'square' than it looks in this photo, I promise! It's just that there's some very long, uneven grass underneath!


Although the squareness isn't an issue in the flesh, there were several niggles with this make. First up, I was going with a rainbow approach to work with the bright cups, but you might notice, as Venetia did, that I've got my violet and indigo back to front. Unfortunately she only noticed once it was finished!
Then I did think it would be a great idea to try and quilt a sunshine on one side and a cloud with rain coming down on the other. But it really didn't work as I'd imagined it in my head! My 'sun' turned out very weird, and the whole thing is just far too much on top of each other, you can see the failed attempt more clearly on the back.

Ditto with the long grass!
Happily, I don't think it looks 'bad' on the front, just not what I wanted, and not as good as other designs could have been.

And lastly I did actually start off making a completely different mini picnic mat and mice!


But I didn't consider the tea set in question when I was making it, and when it was finished and I put the really bright cups etc with them, it all looked terrible! And these mice are very particular mice who really don't like clashing tea sets! So now they're suffering for their pickiness and are a little sad that they have been put back in said cupboard, and are waiting until I find another tea set for them...


And another little girl of course!

Sally.

11 comments:

  1. I love both of these, but particularly the paler picnic mat, gorgeous

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just awesome my friend. Such a lucky little girl to receive such a thoughtful gift.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think they're both gorgeous but I can appreciate the need for mice to have none clashing cups!! What a treat for a little friend:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my goodness, the second set of mice look so cute and sad that they had to go back in the cupboard! I hope they get a matching set of tea cups and little girl soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally adorable! What little girl wouldn't just love to receive that as a gift, so perfect! X

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really like them, they would make the perfect set for a little girl xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh that's just adorable, I wish my 16 year old would still play with tea sets.........

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, what a perfectly charming gift idea! I like the quilting - it might not match what was in your head, but it is actually quite wonderful. Is it weird that I feel sorry for the mice that have to wait in the cupboard? Hurry up and find them a match and a girl, please! Or, tell them to not be so particular and send them out into the world with a not-so-match. They would be happier in little hands than in the dark, waiting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. How adorable! A perfect present and OOOOH! You know how I love your mice!!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. So sweet! Remind me not to have those particular mice to tea, they may poo poo my color coordination! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an awesome present for a little girl, Sally!!! You were right to put the bright tea set with the rainbow mini quilt - perfect. Now to find a pastel set for the second mat. Those mice are adorable.

    ReplyDelete

Please post a comment, I love to hear from you!