Thanks folks. The mom was vague about colors, just that she preferred pale, low volume colors like white, cream, and gray. As for the binding, sometimes I use a three step zigzag, but the feather stitch is my favorite. It is very forgiving. I also do a number of Quilts for Kids donation quilts. Their rules are no hand stitching, including the binding, so I have a lot of excuses for no hand work.