Grandson J's Graduation Quilt

Grandson J's graduation quilt, Pathways, is finally delivered. 

You may recall that there were a couple of rejects that I made multiple quilts from (most aren't finished yet). I am delighted with this quilt for J. 

The Pathways pattern is by Lorna Shapiro who has a note telling how she finally figured out there weren't obstacles in her path; her path was the obstacles. I made the pattern a little larger by adding 2 rows and 1 column. I bought the fabric at Quilt Peddler in Fennimore, WI, and had some excellent help getting just the right shades of red and gray. I love that shop and the people there.

Pathways is 64" by 89", a large twin size which should work well for a college dorm bed.

I free-motion quilted this with 40-wt Glide thread using Battleship gray #10430 on the top and Sterling Gray #10877 on the back. This is the first quilt that I basted on my long arm so I could roll the quilt back and forth to stitch. After basting, I wrote the messages in the red areas. Then I used an overall horizontal stipple to fill in the background areas.

Of course, I like everything I wrote on the quilt but I'll share a some of the many quotes/messages I included: 

  Act as if what you do makes a difference because it does.

    When you have exhausted all of the possibilities, remember - you haven't.

    Today is a great day to have a good day.

    Text your grandparents.

You might be able to read some of the text in the pictures.

The back is Midnight Paradise by Bernatex that Ray chose, and it is perfect for this quilt.

It's amazing and perfect that the quilted words don't stand out on the front. Most people who look at the quilt have no idea that there is writing. The quilting is barely visible on the back which is rather busy. 

Grandson J will be leaving for college in a weeks. I'm happy he can take a tangible symbol of our love with him.