Fifty shades of Grayson

Graduation from College is a big deal. This past May a dear friend of ours son, who we have know since he was 18 moths old graduated from college. (I'm not even commenting on how old that makes me feel).

To commemorate this occasion I made him an adult sized quilt, since his days of twin extra long beds is now officially over.  (This was also the last of the quilts made for May events). It has taken a bit to get it properly photographed (it's big and doesn't fit on my usual photography place- my fence), hence the delay. Quilts of this size are a several person photo shoot effort. Thank you to Norine (@fivebaht on Instagram) and Leslie and her husband Sam for their help.

Front: photo by Norine Amato (fivebahtelephants)

Details:
"Fade into Gray"- a college graduation quilt for Grayson. (I debated the name for some time. Initially I thought of the post title, 50 shades of Gray, but perhaps that might be a bit too risqué ). Instead I went with something comfortable and descriptive.
Dimensions: 100" x 87"
Fabrics:Solids: Kona snow; Prints all 100% cotton: Quilters Linen Print dots in crimson, Saltwater Sea stripes Aqua, Timeless Treasures Sketch in gray, Riley Blake Honeycomb Reversed dot white/gray, Cats, Bats and Vats Stripe orange, Riley Blake honeycomb dot gray/white, Pretty special Chevron gray, Zig Zag chevron charcoal, Wallflowers Vine gray, Moda weave texture pumpkin, Riley Blake Superheros dots blue, Michael Miller Dino Roars Stitch in green, Botanics Striped etchings ash, Herringbone tonal Gray, Moda shades of black joking around, Jazz jam keyboard gray; and other assorted grays from my stash.
Thread: Aurifil #2021 (off-white) for the piecing and the quilting. I used a TREMENDOUS amount of thread in this quilt, nearly an entire cone of thread, that's 6,490 yards, 19,470 feet or for those of you using the metric system, 5900 meters of thread.

stitching detail, front

Batting: Warm and Natural 100% cotton
Quilting: Modified Bernina stitch #4 used in overall coverage. The wavy lines mimic the improv curved piecing.
Binding- I wanted the binding to blend into the quilt top so I used the same Kona snow as the background. The binding is skinny, cut with 2" strips instead of the typical 2.5".
Back: pieced from top left overs and a darker selection of fabrics, to be complimentary but distinct from the front. Either side can be the "top" although the back has the label.
Original design, 2014.

Back, photo by Norine Amato (fivebahtelephants)
It was an incredibly windy day but I had lots of help!

Grayson had a hand in picking the non-gray colors for his quilt. He did this without knowing a quilt was coming his way. I'd send him random questions via text in which he had to answer with a color choice. He might have wondered at the time what they were all about, but he answered each one in a timely manner.

The graduate and his quilt at his graduation party.