Mary Graceland: A quilt

At the beginning of December, having decided not to go through with my book, I found myself freed up from commitments and decided to make a few Christmas gifts. I don't know about you, but I find that as I get older, it is very hard to come up with gifts for my parents that they want let alone something that they need. I can almost always find something for my mom, Mary Grace, but this year I didn't have anything that I was excited about giving her. So, as these things happen, she moved to the top of my handmade gift list and I knew that only one thing would do: a quilt.

While I had some time, I didn't have a ton of time so I knew that it would have to be a fairly fast sew. I also wanted this quilt to live at my parents' house in Telluride, where we spent Christmas and where we have so many great family memories. I landed on the Proverbial Quilt by Denyse Schmidt, spelling out the nickname one of the carpenters gave the house when it was being built years ago, Mary Graceland.

I wanted the quilt to be classic and simple so I limited myself to just three fabrics: one for the background, one for the letters (and backing) and one for the binding. I bought all three at Purl Soho when Fatty and I were in New York. The background fabric is a Robert Kaufman chambray and the letters were pieced with Liberty of London John in Navy. The binding is also Liberty - Agandca in Navy.

The back, shown here horizontally, was pieced out of necessity. Otherwise known as bad math on my part. That said, I love how it came together. I improvisationally pieced the 2014  (thank you, Denyse, for showing me how to do that!) and made the rest of it work, using almost every little bit of Liberty and chambray I had. I imagined it would be used to cuddle up on the couch with and it ended up being a good throw size - about 57" wide by 70" long.

I used a cotton batting that I had on hand (I think Warm and Natural) and quilted it with free motion loops in navy thread. I don't think I will ever tire of this style of quilting. It has interest and movement without being too busy for such a simple design. I did wash and dry this quilt before giving it to my mom. The chambray and Liberty combination is a winner: it is super soft with lovely drape and a good amount of crinkle. Cozy!