A Piece Of … Ocean Dreams by Kim Lapacek and a Giveaway

Welcome to the dreams of the ocean!  I’m excited to share with you the quilt I created for the Island Batik “A Piece Of …” blog hop.  I call it “Ocean Dreams” and it’s created using a pattern I’m working on called Bohemian Dreamer.  (actual pattern coming in 2020!)

November is blog hop month for half the Island Batik Ambassadors (specifically, the half who did not hop in August). Our theme this time is “A Piece Of…..”, open to any interpretation we wish. The instructions given were to make a quilt, lap size or larger, showcasing as many fabrics as possible from our allocated collection. Island Batik Fabrics and Hobbs batting where given to us as part of being an Island Batik Ambassador 2019.

When I saw that I had receive the “Neptune’s Friends” collection back in January as my “secret” fabric I was thrilled!  There are so many great fabrics that I could focus on … but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing yet.  I let the fabric simmer for a bit and then realized it would work perfectly on one of my new patterns – Bohemian Dreamer.  There are some large enough prints that I could fussy cut bits of it to feature.  Also, I LOVE that there is such a great mix of value in the fabrics!  Sometimes when you have to use just one line of fabric it all tends to blend together.  Not Neptune’s Friends!  There are plenty lights, mediums and darks included so it was easy to make the pattern pop where I wanted it to.

Bohemian Dreamer is actually one section that is repeated and rotated four times.  Before I was committed too far into this I quick sewed together a mock up of the main blocks I would need.  At this point I knew that I was doing the right thing  – so much drama and fun!  And seriously – the octopus is the perfect size for what this pattern needed as the focus.

I did not start working on this quilt until August which was probably not the smartest move since I have an apple orchard AND I had a date with my quilter, Kim Van Etten, in October.  While this quilt goes together pretty easily it is a bit tedious at times and there are definitely a lot of pieces.

I used every spare more moment I had to work on it.  I would get the sewing done in the morning or late at night and then work on pressing and cutting in the shop as I answered questions for customers and waited for them to be ready to check out.  The Sue Daley rotating circular cutting mat is perfect for trimming up half square triangles and hour glass blocks.

My Oliso iron and omnigrid pressing/cutting mat work perfect for the pressing job.

I somehow managed to meet the deadline for my quilter, Kim Van Etten, and got her the 84″ square top to her with plenty of time to quilt.  And quilt she did!

I gave her no direction and told her to do whatever the quilt wanted her to do.

The end results are stunning!  She also used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting and the quilt is just so cozy feeling.

Once the quilt was quilted, it was time for me to bind it.  I pieced a binding from scraps of the remaining Neptune’s Friends fabric.  Once again, I brought it into the shop to do the hand binding between customers.  Just before the snow came, I was finished and photographed this lovely quilt on the deer fence in our yard.

GIVEAWAY!  Yes – Island Batik is hosting a giveaway each week to promote this blog hop!  They are giving away a precut bundle of Sand Bar, designed by Kathy Engle for Kari Nichols of Mountainpeek Creations!  You can enter either in the Rafflecopter below or by heading over to the Island Batik blog post HERE.

This drawing and prize is run by Island Batik and is the sole responsibility of Island Batik. The entry form is hosted here purely for your convenience.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are 22 Island Batik Ambassadors doing the “A Piece Of” blog hop this month. Make sure you visit them all to see the fabrics that will be available in December and enter all the prize draws. Here are the blog hop stops for week 2!

Monday, November 11:
Jennifer Fulton
Barbara Gaddy

Tuesday, November 12:
Sarah Goer
Stephanie Jacobson

Wednesday, November 13:
Anita Skjellanger
Kim Lapacek

Thursday, November 14:
Becca Fenstermaker
Carolina Asmussen

Friday, November 15
Blog Hop Round Up Week 2

The fabrics, featured in this Blog Hop, are from the stunning Summer 2019 Collections, that will be coming to fabric stores very soon! Be sure to ask your local quilt shop if they are stocking one or, better yet, all these incredible collections. To find your local Island Batik shop, visit the Store Locator on the Island Batik website, plug in your zip code or state, and your local shop will appear on the map! Super easy and helpful!