Gramercy & Friends Finished

Gramercy & Friends, finished, quilted, and bound

 

Tah-Done! Gramercy & Friends is finished and bound. I really like this quilt. It started as a value study, inspired by a FQ bundle of Gramercy by Leah Duncan for Art Gallery Fabrics. I added friends from my stash and a few new fabrics: coordinating lights, mediums, and darks. One of the fabrics came from Iran, a gift from a Paducah hostess friend.

Gramercy 12" blocks on design wall

The blocks are 12" and 24". Some are from EQ's block library; some are popular blocks from the Web such as Swoon and  x & +, and some are original.

Jane Coons of St. Louis MO quilted Gramercy and I couldn't be happier with her design. We talked about keeping it modern, geometric and masculine, and she nailed it. She uses a Stattler Stitcher and designs all her own motifs. Each of the 12" blocks has a unique quilting design. The swoon block and the other 24" block are the only two with the same quilting, for unity and cohesiveness. I love how she stitched the frames around the large blocks.

Gramercy & Friends, quilted

 

Gramercy & Friends is beautiful in real life (if I do say so myself) but it is extremely difficult to photograph. The actual colors in it are creams, taupes, and blacks, but it tends to look too grey in photos. The photo above was taken in bright sunlight which shows off the quilting but washes out the clarity of the block piecing. The photo of the unquilted top below was taken on an overcast day and looks too grey but shows the blocks. I'll have to keep trying for a better photo of the whole quilt.

Unquilted top

I gave Gramercy to my DH as a late Father's Day gift. Earlier this year he was whining commenting that baby grandson CJ has more quilts than he has, and he's been around longer. Gramercy was already in work and I knew I wanted to keep it, so I've given it to DH with the understanding that I'll enter it in a show in October and then he can cuddle in it after that.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts.