Snow Day Updates!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted here!  My only defense is that I've finally succeeded in landing a music teacher job (back in August) so most of my time has gone to that, instead of writing here or creating patterns.
Since today is a snow day, I thought I'd post some of the projects that I've recently finished:

Animal Adventure

One of my college friends is having a baby (really, really soon!) so for her shower, I decided to make her a crib-sized quilt.  Of course, given my time-management skills, I managed to finish everything but the binding by her shower party, so I had to bring in the quilt, covered in pins, and then take it back home!  However, now it is done (including a label) and completely pin-free!

My friend and her husband decided to be surprised about whether the baby will be a boy or girl, so I tried to pick a print and colors that were gender-neutral.  First I found the print (used as the border and the backing) and then I picked a bunch of solid/semi-solids from the print's different colors.  Roughly I ended up with 7 yds of print and 1/4 yds of each solid/semi-solid except for the brown border, of which I had a 1/2 yard.

The pattern is called "streak of sunshine" (I though of it more as a 1/4 trip around the world as I was putting it together) done with 3.5 in squares ( 3 in finished) and 1 in brown border and a 6 in print border.    The binding is a bias-cut green and white plaid (not the most sturdy binding, but just as soft as the rest of the quilt).  For other ideas on the "streak of sunshine" quilt pattern, check out quiltville's tutorial here: http://quiltville.com/streakofsunshine.shtml.

I used my Bernina free-motion foot to quilt a basic stippling pattern over the border, and paisley hearts over the squares.  I tried to keep the pattern fairly loose, so that the quilt wouldn't get too stiff.

For fabrics, I chose flannel because I want this blanket to be soft and cuddly, the kind of blanket where the child sleeps with it until they are 18 and off to college!  (Although I know plenty of college kids who brought their blankie/special stuffed animal with them to school).  Well, I can hope, right?

Heart Table Runner

My man's mother is a February baby, so for her birthday this year, I made her a heart-themed table runner.  (One of her friends made her a darling watermelon/4th of July-themed runner, which she has out all the time.  I figured that she could rotate between the two of them now).  I was really pleased with how it turned out; there is something beautiful about the different reds against crisp white.  Of course, digital cameras don't take solid primary colors very well, so the whites ended up looking kind of pink.  (If I had more time, I would experiment with taking pictures of the table runner with yellow and blue in them as well, to see if I could get a more true-to-life red color).

For the pattern, I took the pattern for the lap quilt,  "Hearty Blend Lite", from Coffee-Time Quilts by Cathy Wierzbicki, and altered it so that I was just sewing the center 4 blocks, on the diagonal, of the pattern.  (I've used the book several times now, and I've always found the directions and measurements fairly good for an intermediate quilter).  I quilted twisty hearts on all the red sections, and a tight stipple stitch on the white sections.  The center hearts are hand appliqued and the binding is a bias-cut plaid.