Susan Bates - Designing the “Ahoy Matey” Patterns for StitchableCards

Above: my moodboard for my ‘Ahoy matey’ designs – some nautical themed designs and ideas.

My latest set of designs celebrates Father’s Day, with the main themes being nautical and “the great outdoors”. The set includes a camp site set in a mountainous landscape, a lighthouse under a starry sky, a jaunty pirate - and for those who prefer to stay in and snack and watch a film with a cheeky box of popcorn.

However, the designs aren’t necessarily gender-specific, so you could stitch them for someone for a birthday card or a thank you card – they don’t have to be specifically for Father’s Day.

To create a nautical vibe the designs use a colour palette of mainly red, white and blue, with some other accent colours included additionally, to create a fuller palette.

Below are some details about the individual designs:

Rectangular design:

For this design I wanted to depict the joys of spending the night outdoors with only the canvas of the tent to separate you from the landscape. A large crescent moon shimmers above a cosy red tent, emphasising how small we often feel when looking up at the night time sky.

Square-shaped design:

Here a striped lighthouse shines its beacon into the evening sky. A lighthouse guides the way for sailors, helping them to avoid the dangers of a rocky coastline, so it’s often seen as a symbol of comfort and hope.  The colours are mainly red, white and blue; complimenting the nautical theme of the design.

Circular-shaped design:

Keeping with the nautical theme a pirate is the subject of my design for the circle-shaped stitchable. The shading is kept relatively simple for this piece. Although it’s meant for Father’s Day, pirates appeal to big kids and little kids, so you could stitch it for a child’s birthday card as well as for adults. The tricorn hat and stripy T-shirt are “de rigueur” for pirate attire, completed of course by an eyepatch! It’s only natural that my pirate is posing in front of a sea view and exclaiming “Ahoy matey!”

Heart-shaped design:

Moving away from the outdoors/ nautical theme for the heart-shaped stitchable shape I created this cute box of popcorn. It’s a fun design and simple to stitch and the wording echoes this fun sentiment. The colours tie into the general palette by being mostly red, white and blue again.

Below - all four ‘Ahoy matey’ designs: