Longboats

I'm excited to be able to share three of last year's quilt finishes.  I've had to keep them to myself since June and I finally have permission to share.  Happy dance!  I think each quilt deserves its own post, so stay tuned for more!

Today, it's Longboats' turn.

Longboats by Canuck Quilter Designs
Made with fabric from the collection Joyous from Island Batik

When I had the opportunity to design with Island Batiks' Fall/Winter 2024 collections in last winter, I initially passed over this beautiful collection.  I wasn't expecting the mix of purply pinks and aqua.  Frankly, I think I was in a bit of a colour rut, attracted to the blue purples, royal blues and bright greens.  I submitted this design for different collections then was asked to revisit it in these fabrics instead.  I'm so glad I did.  It was a surprising colour combination for me so I had to stretch a little, but it turned into a striking quilt that I absolutely love.

Longboats has big pieces and stitch-and-flip corners to make things easy.  The stars are my favourite floating stars, the kind that can't accidentally have points chopped off in the seams.  At 60" x 79 it's a nice sized throw.  You could easily add a few rows and wider background side borders to make it into a twin quilt, but I have more use for throws on the couch, so that's what I designed.

As a fun aside, a short video of me binding this quilt got a bazillion views on Facebook and Instagram.  Well, not a bazillion, but 45 thousand feels like a bazillion to me.  I don't share video often, and none of my other attempts have reached even 250 views.  It cracks me up that this short clip that doesn't even show the front of the quilt garnered so much attention.  I don't know how to add it here, but here's a link to it on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C77RtZbKzgQ/) or Facebook.  I asked my husband to test the links to see if he could view the video without an Instagram or Facebook account, and they worked, so hopefully they will for you as well.

The quilt was quilted by Liz Meimann with some random wavy horizontal lines.  You can make them out a bit in the photo below.  Not a great photo of the whole quilt, but certainly a fun one.  There was no wind until my husband got into position for this shot...  The wind just knows when to interfere!

I think this would be a fun design in primary colors for a kid's quilt, or in Christmas colors.  I'm pretty sure it would look very pretty in florals or reproduction fabrics too.  I'm going to have to go play in EQ and see what I can come up with.

What fabrics would you use? I'd also love to know what color combinations you have used that were out of your comfort level but turned out beautifully.  I'm always up for inspiration!

Happy quilting,

Joanne