First quilts of the year

Here's a little quilt show for the first day of the new year. I've been starting a few projects, and managed to finish one over the holidays.

This is the blanket for my MIL my sons and I were working on just before Christmas. My 12-year-old helped me pick the fabrics, and we found about 1.2 metres of this floral stripe. I bordered it with a hot pink/purple, and then with six inches of navy left over from previous quilts. It came out to 60 by 72. My sons tyed it to a medium blue fleece backing, and then I sewed the binding down in the car on the way to grandma's house.

Below are the makings of a miniature quilt for a private swap. I found these three strips in my UFO bin, and I cut them even, and trimmed the black down to make a narrower stripe. I bordered it with a batik, and with six seams, I had a completed miniature top 9.5 inches by 11 inches. I'm going to bind it in black after putting in a few hand quilting stitches this afternoon, if I can find a movie to watch amidst the football.

These are 6.5 inch blocks using all those bricks and squares from Bonnie's Scrap User system. I was looking for a block to make from them, and found this one called Scott's Plaid on a quilt a day calendar (same one used by Shnoodle last year.) I need to ramp up the contrast, but I think I have an idea. The only pieces I have to cut are the 2 by 5 inch strips for on the outside.