Sew this happened: Quilt company makes a car cosy for a RAV4
East Coast Quilt Co. created custom covering to use in Santa Claus parade
Tuned-up cars and motorcycles are roaring through St. John's now that the weather is more favourable for driving, but there's a different kind of custom build on Water Street, and it's getting looks from locals and tourists alike — without making any noise.
It's a Toyota RAV4 with a quilt cover, custom-made by the East Coast Quilt Co. after one of its employees came up with the idea.
"Our intention is to put it in the Santa Claus parade, and just to help to encourage people to look at different ways to use fabric and have fun with quilts," said company owner Debbie Northover.
Four people, working for a month
Northover called it a radical new idea, born out of a desire to entice customers.
"No, it's not a thing," said Northover when asked if car quilts is some sort of internet trend. "It's something we thought would attract attention, and it's certainly done that for us."
Northover's team needed to make sure that the cover met certain specifications if it was going to be road legal for the big parade. She said it took about a month to make, with four employees working on it off and on.
"This was made as a unit … It's a similar technique as to make a quilt, it's just that this had to be three-dimensional so that it could wrap around the car," she explained.
Cosy and captivating
Northover said it's generating enough buzz to warrant all of that hard work.
"People are stopping and taking pictures, they're coming into the shop and saying, 'What's going on?' So it's getting the buzz that we wanted it to create."
People who want to check out the quilt-adorned Toyota need a little co-operation from the weather, though.
"I guess if it's a sunny day it'll be parked here and it'll have the quilt on," said Northover. "Hope for lots of sunny days!"
With files from Weekend AM