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Crystal Lake...

Crystal Lake...

Written by: 
cnelson

Crystal Lake by Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson...

As I was getting the quilts and patterns ready for this collection, it was summer in Michigan, and it was heating up in my studio. Polly and I are both Michigan girls and we love our home state so many of our collections have that theme.

Image from of Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan from Crystalana.com.

Crystal Lake practically abuts the much larger Lake Michigan and it is well, just beautiful. Clear blue water and and an endless horizon shaped by golden dunes.  We hope you like how this beautiful part of our beloved Michigan inspired our new collection.  

As we shared in our Blue & White book, I love blue and white quilts, especially when they are a very scrappy mix of blues, creams and whites.

These quilts are all shown in the book. They are clockwise from upper-left - Austin Bluebird in Blue / Irish Chain Variation / Martin Place / Blue Garden. 

The three shades of blue in Crystal Lake - ranging from a mid-range blue through to dark Indigo - show the variety of value I love.

While many antique two-color quilts were made with just two fabrics, I've always thought that the most successful scrap quilts need variety.

The tans and creams in the collection help me achieve as the variation in the density of the print, an the colors used, provide a range of options.

 As always, these creams and tans mix beautifully with the lights from other collections, including Farmhouse Reds.

This is Rolling Stars - the twelve big stars make a statement!  The star is pieced in segments attaching a circle piece to a star point, and it can be done by hand or by machine. The large circle that is then appliquéd to the background, also by machine or by hand.

Rolling Stars finishes at 76" x 86".

Cobblestones features what I like doing most with quilts, a pieced center surrounded by an appliqué border.  With this quilt, the birds and flowers are large-scale and in a folk art style. 

This quilt is fat-quarter-friendly and measures 56" x 74".

The two mini quilts I made for Our Best Friends are made in the opposite way - an appliqué center surrounded by piecing. Both the dog and cat are included in the pattern.

This is Sweet Kitty. 

And this is Good Boy.  (Aka Gibby.)

Both Our Best Friends mini quilts finish at 20" x 20".

I hope you enjoy Crystal Lake as much as we do.

Laurie

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