Designing the Cross Lake Pattern was a bit of a different process for me! It all started with the idea of making a pattern with a star design, and it just kind of came to me. I created the design quickly, and fell in love with it just as fast!
Sometimes when you know, you know.
Check out the Cross Lake PDF and Paper Pattern here.
I wish I could say there was a deep and special meaning behind the name “Cross Lake”. But if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s just because the pattern looks like a cross!
Cross Lake is a large lake in Manitoba on the Nelson River, north of Lake Winnipeg. For those of you who may be new to my patterns, you should know that naming them has become one of my favourite parts of the design process. I love camping and spending time outdoors, so I choose pattern names based on parks or towns in Manitoba!
I made my first Cross Lake Quilt with four colours using Essex Linen from Studio 39:
For the backing fabric, I used Sprinkles from the Special Delivery collection by Lemonni for Figo!
I released the pattern in March 2019 with two different options - one with four colours shown above and one with six colours. I knew I wanted to make the six colour option next, so I made a baby-size for the cover quilt using different shades of blue and grey!
The Kona Cotton colours I used were:
I am so in love with the backing fabric, which is Sweet Dreams from Sleep Tight Animals (in grey) from Cotton & Steel. So cute, right?
When creating my next version of the Cross Lake Quilt, I made a conscious decision to go out of my comfort zone. I tend to stick to mostly natural or more muted colours with my quilts (and my home design), but I wanted to tread lightly into… neons. Yup, you read that right!
I walked into KTR, one of my local fabric shops, and grabbed the brightest fat quarters that I could find in stock. It was the perfect way to baby step into brighter colours. However, not TOO far out of my comfort zone since I would call these colours “muted neons”!
Now, I am a self-proclaimed lover of both naturals and neon - and not really much else in between!
I created a neon wall hanging using the Kona Cotton fat quarters in these amazing shades:
I felt like this one DEFINITELY needed a background fabric with a fun 80s feel, so I chose Sprinkles from the Special Delivery collection by Lemonni for Figo again!
Next, I hand quilted another baby-sized quilt with a subdued colour palette - back to my comfort zone! I pulled all of these fabrics from my stash:
- Kona Snow
- Mixology Tonic by Camelot Design Studio in Brown Sugar
- XOXO in Natural from Cotton & Steel Basics
- Rifle Paper Les Fleurs in Queen Anne Peach
I used Lucky Charms Fingers Crossed from Figo for the backing!
For my best friend’s birthday that year, I made a navy and peach version of the Cross Lake Quilt. She is a huge fan of Rifle Paper, so I knew I had to use Garden Party from the Wildwood Collection (in navy) for the backing.
For the Kona Cotton, I used:
I used a reclaimed cotton chambray for the lighter blue, but the closest fabric I would recommend is Dresden Blue Kona Cotton.
The pattern testers I was able to work with for the Cross Lake Quilt were, once again, awesome! Check out their versions of the Cross Lake Quilt below:
From Rachel @wren.collective
From Jennifer @penelopehandmade
From Sarai @sarai_hobbies
From Fran @cottonandjoy
From Donna @xoxsew
From Kelcey @kelceyquilts
From Meesh @meeshquilts
To see more amazing versions of the Cross Lake Quilt, search through the hashtags #crosslakequilt and #blanketstatementpatterns on Instagram!
Have questions about this pattern or any other ones in the shop? Please reach out to hello@theblanketstatement.ca and we’ll help you out!