Flag Day Farm by Minick & Simpson

It’s always a treat to have Polly Minick & Laurie Simpson on our blog! These two sisters have got Olde Americana down to a T, and yet each collection they come out with is somehow new and fresh and just what we want to see. Flag Day Farm is no exception, and it is fringed with personal inspiration and thoughts. Read on — you won’t want to miss this story! We’ve got some great kits, bundles, and all the cuts ready for you. Also, American P&Q will feature this line in an upcoming issue!

POLLY…
It is always exciting for us when the fabrics are being shipped to the shops! As you can imagine – it is always a “great” day when they arrive at your door – and I doubt the excitement will ever wane no matter what collection it is. Laurie and I work closely on each and every collection and they come from the heart. This collection is special as we were inspired by our grandparents and our great-grandparents farm in Michigan. This was a very typical looking farm of livestock and crops, but their real love was raising horses. We grew up hearing the stories of fun, love, and laughter of that farmhouse. We heard stories of Aunt Babe making their outfits for the coming year of school. So, in gathering our “stash” to pull this together we reminisced over all the stories we had heard.

We heard of the farm and the three houses on the property. The animals, gardens, and yes, the making of the clothing for the school year, and how exciting it was for them to actually go to the village mercantile and pick out the fabrics. We listened how they gathered on the wagon and headed off to the town picnic. It is with these family stories in our minds that we came to this collection and its name. We hope it gives you a trip back in time to rural life in America at the time of our mother’s childhood.

LAURIE…
This collection is our interpretation of a summer day on a farm, long ago. As Polly and I talked about this and bounced ideas off of each other – this specific idea was the starting point of this grouping of fabrics. Once narrowed down to this concept, we thought of a particular summer day and what came back to me is pictures and stories of the farm our mother grew up on. The era was right – early 20th century – and the place seemed right.

What I thought of is all the vintage quilts I have seen that were made in the early 20th century (1900-1920). There were a lot of blue and white quilts; red and white quilts; red, white, and blue quilts; all made from simple calicoes and shirtings. We thought of what might occur on that specific summer day and thought of laundry hung on a line, tending to livestock, aprons worn for housework, making clothes for the upcoming school year, etc. Flag Day Farm in our homage to all of that.

In addition to pretty floral prints, shirting stripes, and reproduction tickings, we have a couple of neat “cheater cloth” prints. One is a bandanna print that would be great for pillows, aprons, skirts, and more. The second is a copy of an antique quilt of Polly’s. This was an antique top that Polly had collected years ago and that I hand quilted about 10 years ago. We love this print and see it as curtains, bed skirts, pillow cases, and table clothes. We hope you love it too.

Polly Minick & Laurie Simpson
Minick & Simpson
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