Quilt top done

I have been working off and on all summer for a gift for someone special for our family, the lady who watches my kids while we work. She is so good to the kids and to her family. She had it hard when she was raising her own kids, and now she gives back to them by watching her grandkids while the parents work. We're not family, but we're close enough in my book. It was a tearful day when I decided to take my oldest out of that setting and into a pre-school.

I have finally finished the top to the quilt. I am planning on quilting it over the next two weeks or so, so I can finally give her the quilt. I had hoped it would be an end of summer gift, but life got in the way of the final finish.

Each hand represents a child had in her house this summer. The age group is very large, so the older kids helped with the younger kids. I hand embroidered each one's name under their hand.

When summer started and most kids were back to school, I asked her if it was too quiet. She said it was nice, but she did feel like a lot of her help left!

As for the fabric, I bought a jelly roll of the Flutterby line for the strips. The brown is croduroy. I am hoping the contrast in fabric type will work ok. I think it offsets the hands nicely. Anyone had experience mixing fabric types in their quilts? I'd be interested in knowing how it turned out.