In the Garden–a Quilt by Kim Lapacek

I’ve been holding out posting this quilt for a bit now.  I had dreams of showing it at Quilt Festival but to be honest I have no idea how to get it in there and I think enough “peaks” have been shown already that if one of the requirements was it not being shown publicly first, it wouldn’t qualify.  So – today is the day that I’m revealing one of the coolest quilts I have made to this day.

Introducing … “In the Garden”

I was also holding out for some decent pictures.  My first round of pictures were on an overcast day with a brown pre-spring background.  The photos today are on my deer fence with no editing necessary … the lighting was absolutely perfect!

I designed this quilt myself and it was inspired by the illustrations in the book “The Biggest Story” by Kevin DeYoung, Illustrated by Don Clark.

This page in particular really caught my eye.  I love the saturated colors, the mixtures of shapes, and the whimsy in the design.

From this I just started to make blocks using gelato ombre fabrics with a print or two mixed in here and there. 

I created a large 8.5” x 11” triangle block and used ThermOWeb’s Stitch n Sew EZ Print Quilt Block Sheets to make these triangles accurately.  I chose the 8.5” x 11” size for an obvious reason – it was the largest sheet I could put in my printer. 

After the triangles, I started to make strips of ombre circles.  ThermOWeb’s Heat N Bond lite was essential for the raw edge applique.  To cut my circles perfectly I used the OLFA Rotary Circle Cutter.  It worked like a charm!  Since I put the fusible on the strip before I cut out the circles I was left with the strips of fused fabric with perfect holes set in them.  Instead of throwing these strips away I put them over ombre strips creating a sort of raw edge reverse applique effect. 

Color Girl Quilts asked me to edit and test her Mermaid Quilt Pattern.  As a mother of three girls, of course I love mermaids and said yes immediately!  Who am I kidding?  Even if I didn’t have three girls I would love mermaids … and fairies …  Anyway!  Back to the story.  I tested her pattern (which is great btw) and used her Classic Curves Ruler to make a few of the scales.  These blocks were a perfect addition to the quilt. I surrounded them by some Scrappy Trip Along blocks and of course a bit of improv blocks as well.

When you make the curve blocks using the Classic Curves Ruler you have some fun left over orange peel blocks.  Of course I couldn’t throw those away so I created a fun new block using some of the orange peels.  I put two of these into my quilt.

I also made some smaller scaled triangle blocks using the Tri-Recs ruler.  I do have a love of houses too so I had to throw a few houses into the quilt.  There is so much happening in this quilt that you have to stare at it awhile to take it all in. 

It’s classic “Kim” busy and I knew I needed the right quilter to quilt it for me. I love Frank Palmer’s quilting style so I sent “In the Garden” up to him in Duluth, MN, to work his magic. I gave him no instructions other than “Do what you want.”  He let the quilt talk to him and it told him what to do and it is absolutely perfect!  The random linear quilting is simple yet interesting.  It’s not too much and really helps sort of settle the quilt.  I could not be happier! I just finished adding the hanging sleeve and label to this quilt.  It’s heading up to Minnesota for the 2018 Annual Show on June 14th – 16th in St. Cloud, MN.  I won’t be able to attend the show so if you happen to see it hanging I would love it if you could send me pictures!

Well – there she is.  My baby is officially out in this world. I  would love to hear what you think!  I guess good or bad, but if you don’t like it try to say it in a kind way

!