Mending tutorial

Busy fabric-printing mamas sometimes get behind on their blog reading and blog posting, which is why I'm only just now finding a spare minute to post about Diane Gilleland's tutorial on mending a shirt with reverse appliqued scraps of fabric.  The effect is so pretty on her polo pictured, and doesn't use much fabric at all.  Perhaps you've got a lonely Spoonflower swatch and a garment in need of some patchy love lying around?  Diane's tutorial was part of Craft magazine's March Mending Month which--ahem--I confess that I learned about far too late because of aforementioned fabric-printing madness around here lately.  There's still one more day of March left though, right?  Right?  Sigh.  We'll be caught up and current around here again one of these days, I just know it!

Speaking of things being current--or not--many of you no doubt noticed that the fabric of the week contest announcement was mysteriously absent last week.  I'll save the official announcement of the winning design for Stephen, himself a very busy fabric-printing papa.  But we had a whole lot of votes and, I think, a whole lot of excitement about last week's contenders.   I hope you're all as excited about the week's winner as I am!

Things that make you go "Squeeeee!"

Are these booties from Tiddlybums not incredibly adorable?  I'm such a sucker for the baby stuff, even if my baby-having days are behind me now.  Their things are so soft!  So small!  So cute!  If you need a dose of cuteness yourself, browse through the rest of the Bitty Booties photo pool, moderated by Heather Bailey.  Her free downloadable "Bitty Booties" pattern is available on her blog for you to make, too!

Storm over a teacup

Teacups, by the talented Hannah Raeside of Manchester, England, won last week's fabric-of-the-week competition by a landslide compared to the last few skin-of-the-teeth contests. Congratulations to Hannah, whose lovely fabric is available for sale in the Spoonflower Etsy shop for the next few days only.

Final tallies from our most recent voting:

• faux bois 1 by  monica meehan: 8.4%, 159
• yay! by ryan hastings: 14.1%    265
• teacups by Hannah Raeside: 42.3%    796
• pflyingcatalog by Tara Spicer:  8.7%    164
• Liberty by Lee Kerr: 2.4%    46
  
• flower by Katty Neill:   24.1%    453

Thanks to all of the participating designers!

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And in this week's tussle...

The fabric may be soft, but the competition is stiff. This week we have designs from (from top to bottom):

• Yellow Cakes by Mary Helen Mcnally
• clouds  by Valentina Sedda, Milano - Italy
• PearFabric_06 by Lollychops,  Bedford, TX
• animals by suryasajnani
• Favorite Thing Floral Leaf by Sarah
• Heart and Bubbles by Leonor Bautista, Madrid, Spain

Vote to let us know which design you'd most like to buy... and get the results in real time here.

Review the weekly contest rules and/or enter your own design here.

Great After the Dress giveaway!

Gwen over at After the Dress is having an excellent giveaway today in honor of her one-year blogging anniversary.  If you leave a comment on her post today, you'll be entered into a drawing for a $45 Spoonflower gift certificate--enough for a test swatch, 2 yards, and shipping--and $55 worth of design services from Miss Black Pepper.  What a great giveaway, no?  Head on over and wish Gwen a happy blogging anniversary!

Gwen is a newbie to Spoonflower herself, having recently printed up her first order with us.  Her design was a colorful print of rock-climbing gear and Beth helped her work it up.  Nice job to both of you and I can't wait to see what you make out of it, Gwen! 

Lovely lanterns + pigs, teacups, statues, flowers & whatnot

We are late in extending congratulations to Bronwyn Landvatter of Pennsylvania. Her design "Lanterns" won the most votes week before last. You won't be surprised to learn that it is now available -- for six days only -- in the Spoonflower store on Etsy.

Final vote count was:

• Hibiscus by Studio Fibonacci: 455
• wheels by Ros Clarke: 209
• snowglobes by min elliott: 182
• willowcarrepeat by J.R. Campbell of Glasgow, Scotland: 252
• fractured_flower_yellow_600 by Lee Thomas: 87
• lanterns by Bronwyn Landvatter: 504

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Vote on a new fabric-of-the-week:

This week's designs are (clockwise from the top left):

• faux bois 1 by  monica meehan,  santa fe, nm
• Liberty by Lee Kerr
• teacups by Hannah Raeside, Manchester - England
• flower by Katty Neill
• pflyingcatalog by Tara Spicer
• yay! by ryan hastings,  seattle, WA

Vote to let us know which design you like the best!
Follow the results as they come in here.
Review the weekly contest rules and/or enter your own design here.

   

This week's contest postponed

With apologies, we're postponing the next fabric-of-the-week contest until Monday. If you followed the results of last week's vote then you probably already know who won, but we'll hold off on the formal congratulations for the moment. Sorry for the delay, but between snow storms, vexing printers and the deluge of lovely designs you've been submitting, we are slammed. A week off can't hurt, right?