Rachel's First Flimsey

Rachel finished the top of TJ's quilt. She did a wonderful job. I blanked out his last name in the top square, but now you can see TJ's name is Tyler James. Rachel hand embroidered all the cartoon characters. There are all the Backyardigans (TJ's cake will be Backyardigan characters) along with other nickelodeon guys. I will get a better picture when it is finished.So here is what happened. We began to trim the blocks and it seems there were several that would not square up to the size we wanted them. It would have cut off some of the stitching. Yes, it was a mistake that should not have happened (I should have told her), but when cutting the background fabric, we cut them to the size of the design. An easy fix! We (she) framed them all so they would end up the correct size. Blue, the puppy, measured smaller than Tasha, the hippo. When framed in black strips and then checkerboarded, the blocks float nicely on the quilt. Today she will machine quilt and bind it.

I finally started thinking about my Spring quilt for the 4 Seasons Swap. I actually bought the fabric. The pictures do not do it justice. I thought this would be a tough one, because Spring colors are not my thing. I enjoy them, but picking them, I thought would be difficult. With the help of a wonderful lady at the fabric store, I ended up very pleased and am excited to get going on it. Rachel saw them and LOVED them. If she has a girl, I may go back and get these for her baby quilt. The 4 Seasons Spring quilts are popping up all over. I have not seen one that I did not LOVE!

I want to thank everyone for your tips on the cast iron. I plan to try them all til I get my Grandpa's skillet in good condition. I will let you know what worked.

I also wanted to let you know of a Birthday giveaway. Debi is giving away a beautiful spring bag to celebrate her birthday...which is TODAY. Stop over and enter and wish her a happy birthday. Tell her I sent you!