Upcoming fabric design contest themes: Medieval, Robots, 1-yard Apron Patterns

In case you've missed the links to upcoming Fabric Of the Week contest themes in our recent newsletters, see below:

Medieval. Submit fabrics inspired by medieval textiles and designs. Deadline is Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

Robots! Submit fabric designs that include robots. Deadline is Tuesday, June 8, 2010.

Apron Patterns. Submit a pattern for a sewn apron that fits onto a single yard of fabric, including instructions. For an example from a previous pattern contest (for a girl's dress), click here. Preview will be shown on a yard of quilting-weight cotton, which is 42" x 36". Deadline is Tuesday, June 15, 2010.

SEE DETAILS ON ENTERING CONTESTS

Tiki Fabric Eruption! Vote in the latest Fabric Of the Week contest

  This week's Fabric Of the Week competition is for Tiki-themed fabrics. We have 76 entries in the running. Vote for as many as you like and we'll announce the winner next week.

With apologies to the designers whose fabrics were pulled for being too far off-theme, the participating artists are:

1. A Bunch of Tiki Trouble! by sarahwalden
2. A Tiki Celebration by lulakiti
3. aloha-ed by opalsns
4. Batiki -3 by lacefairy
5. BlueTiki by bemusedart
6. bluevectortiki2 by beena_singhal
7. Bring on the Sun by leighr
8. c by aghyca
9. Chicago_August_0763 by nancychenoweth
10. Cork Board by creedancelovesyou
11. cute hula by decobot
12. Drums by anika
13. DSCN0177 by stacy@multihues
14. firepit by peanutbearys
15. Flamingo_Tiki by jumping_monkeys
16. Flowers by mandollyn
17. Friki Tiki Family Portrait by sammyk
18. Hawaii2-ch by twoboos
19. Hawaiian Dream by megansly
20. Hawaiian Parrots and Plumeria Tree by stephane
21. hibiscus___tiki_mask by thursday_next
22. Jax T Bunched by jamjax
23. jungle tiki by winter
24. kimo's tiki fabric by mr_s
25. lava_sculpture_at_the_point_in_blues-ch by teerymae
26. lei it on me by tallulah
27. Little Boxes Made of Tiki (Tacky!) by ceanirminger
28. Modern Tribe by karistyle
29. Mudflap Hula by glitteristhenewblack
30. paradise_fabric by designsbyjconrad
31. Passion Island by dreamycatz
32. Picture_009-ed by dreamercz
33. pink-orange-green by trace
34. RoBoTomic TiKi by paragon_studios_one
35. Smiley_Tiki_Mahalo by ddmote
36. SMPtikitile by sandypie
37. tantropic2-ch by rokinronda
38. tiki by melissamelissa
39. tiki by anahata
40. Tiki by leo1220
41. tiki by silverspoon
42. Tiki by eyecontact
43. Tiki 1 by jadegordon
44. Tiki Carved Tropical Seahorses by kdl
45. Tiki Lanterns by jenimp
46. Tiki Repeat by smalltalk
47. tiki spot by scrummy
48. tiki tiki by emmiepeanut
49. Tiki Time by abelingdesigns
50. Tiki Time2 by hunngswifey
51. Tiki Totem and Flowers by kristenstein
52. Tiki Turtles by fuzzy_ort
53. Tiki Two Step by poetryqn
54. Tiki Weekend by acbeilke
55. tiki-tile by antonybriggs
56. Tiki001_KrisKenshin by kriskenshin
57. Tikiflower by chezsuz
58. tikilicious by nonnie
59. tikimask by high_falootin_hooligans_memaw
60. REMOVED
61. TIKISURFLARGE by upcyclepatch
62. tikitiki by rosewein
63. TikiToile2 by kristin_l
64. tiki_1 by kii
65. Tiki_1c by labriseman
66. Tiki_Biki by shannonwingard
67. tiki_brothers2 by victorialasher
68. Tiki_designsunset by hannah_banana
69. tiki_freaks by cynthiafrenette
70. Tiki_Owls_Go_Surfing by deesignor
71. Tiki_Parade by jellymania
72. Tiki_TIme by emchambe
73. tileTiki by ominko
74. TribalTikis by patters
75. REMOVED
76. Yumi! Yumi! Yumi! by mayabella

Fab Fishy Fifties Fabric: Fabric Of the Week Winner is Atomic Fish

UK designer Emma McCann takes the prize in our palette-restricted fifties fabric contest, and as the winner she now has $100 in credit (about €80) she can apply to any of the fabric on Spoonflower, including her own. This was a remarkable week -- as is always the case when we put together palette-based contests. We had over 25,000 votes divided among 116 designs. Thanks to all of the talented individuals who participated! The original palette is here.

Buy 'Atomic Fish'

The voting totals were:

1. 911 votes for Atomic Fish by brightonbelle
2. 859 votes for Nifty_Fifties by snowflower
3. 699 votes for 50sKitsch-en-01 by cynthiafrenette
4. 624 votes for Seeing Spots by sammyk
5. 579 votes for 50s Atomic Wave by kasei_lee
6. 521 votes for atom by luciesummers
7. 510 votes for Rock It by creedancelovesyou
8. 493 votes for Fifties abstract by nonnie
9. 453 votes for Retro Blue by poetryqn
10. 446 votes for 50_leaves_blue by antoniamanda

Fabulous Fifties Fabrics: Vote in the Latest (Palette-Restricted) Fabric Of the Week Contest

This week's Fabric Of the Week contest theme is the 1950s, but with all the designs required to stay within a restricted color palette. Not all of the designs in the contest use the specified colors exactly, but we let slide any in which it seemed apparent that the designer had attempted to adhere to the palette. It's worth keeping in mind that the colors in designs that are uploaded in non-RGB formats can end up looking odd in the preview (white in a LAB color becomes cream in a Web browser, for example), so some of these designers might have used the contest palette only to have the colors shift slightly when viewed in a Web browser. 

VOTE IN THE FIFTIES FABRIC CONTEST

The entrants this week are:

1. 10's polka dot by shannning
2. 1950s by mandollyn
3. 1950s by carlar
4. 1950s_Red_Red by ddmote
5. 1950_01 by jadegordon
6. 1950_fabric2 by cht222
7. 1950_SRetro by mallymal
8. 50 by cbcomito
9. 50's Clock by twoboos
10. 50's Housewife by dentednj
11. 50's Inspired Floral by smalltalk
12. 50's Livingroom by anna_h_
13. 50s by vina
14. 50s Atomic Wave by kasei_lee
15. 50s Flowers by antonybriggs
16. 50s inspiration by kkitwana
17. 50s Madd Pladd by coreydina
18. 50s Spring by halix
19. 50s8 by emmyupholstery
20. 50sCherries by spinja
21. 50scolor-ed-ed by utopio_workroom
22. 50sfabric9 by sticklas
23. 50sKitsch-en-01 by cynthiafrenette
24. 50s_fabric_-_lambreta_2-ed-ed by alive
25. 50s_flowers_on_blue_gingham by victorialasher
26. 50s_tv_time by deesignor
27. 50_fabric by fuzzy_ort
28. 50_leaves_blue by antoniamanda
29. 50_s_fabric by littlelaurie
30. 50_s_Shoes__Larger_ by jumping_monkeys
31. A Roswell Romance by sarahwalden
32. Amp by spellstone
33. atom by luciesummers
34. Atomic Fish by brightonbelle
35. Atomic Shades by bunni
36. atomic stripey time by scrummy
37. Be-Bop by joanne_yordanou
38. Blue by feebeedee
39. Blue Frames by acbeilke
40. Buddy Holly by audreyclayton
41. cestlaviv_fiftiesvase by c'est_la_viv
42. Chairs by meaganpickett
43. cluster by maisie-may
44. Daisy Chain by anahata
45. Days Gone By by whimzwhirled
46. dogs by emmskees
47. domestic_bliss3 by jiah
48. DSC02468 by warmholidays
49. Fabulous Fifties by mayabella
50. Fabulous Fifties Time for a Drink by herartsheloves
51. FIFTIES by autumnrobin
52. Fifties by prettyinpaisley
53. fifties by minitoko
54. Fifties abstract by nonnie
55. Fifties Architecture by kdl
56. Fifties Chick by prettyroses
57. Fifties Femme Dark by mandyd
58. fifties fun by elvett11
59. fifties graphic nature fabric by uzumakijo
60. fifties kitchen by shiny
61. Fifties Wash Day by shirlene
62. fifties wife by rose'n'thorn
63. fifties-phone-koliori by koliori
64. FiftiesDesert by upcyclepatch
65. fifties_fabric by designer41
66. fifties_spoonflower-01 by monda
67. Fifty Fashion Femme by trutorigirl
68. Final_Printed_Fabric3 by deidra_zinck
69. floral by stickelberry
70. formica_50_s by kii
71. fridgesss by spinhandspun
72. Frozen_fifties by Lalaluckypants
73. fun-dots by kelly_ballantyne
74. Grandma's Bathroom Wallpaper by megansly
75. Happy Days by uptown_girl
76. Hoola Hoops, Poodle Skirts and Saddle Shoes by karenharveycox
77. LeafyFifties by thumbsuckers
78. Let's all go to the Lobby! - Blue by lulakiti
79. Let's Rock and Roll! by winter
80. Little weeds by evamarion
81. meet me at the diner by edubgraphicart
82. Modern Living by zeppomarks
83. Nifty_Fifties by snowflower
84. Nifty_Fifties by shannonwingard
85. ochala by p_kok
86. pattern_silver by rebecca22
87. POODLE by uniz
88. PoodleSkirtPassion by tammikins
89. pop_art_poodles by janephilipps
90. Red Poppies by stephane
91. Retro Blue by poetryqn
92. Retro Confetti Bursts (Black/Blue) by pantsmonkey
93. Retro Kitty / kitty bliss by paragon_studios_one
94. Retro Poodle by captiveinflorida
95. retro_rocknroll-ed by scashwell
96. Rock It by creedancelovesyou
97. RocketSpace by bemusedart
98. Rose Wallpaper by shala
99. Rosestripe 50s by michiela
100. Seeing Spots by sammyk
101. Slinky - Do You Remember? by annosch
102. Space Explorer by mytinystar
103. SPOONFLOWER_50_s_SHAPES_FINAL by nyteaqueen
104. Sputnik's Shadow on Earth by kristinhorst
105. SSvege50s by sarah_58CpHMnI
106. Starflower by island_girl_designs
107. Summer Floral by melissamelissa
108. Sunbonnet Sue 1950s Inspired by quiltsmith
109. The Rejects by ceanirminger
110. tick tock kat klock by vo
111. tissu_fifties by corentine
112. Vintage Cruiser Bikes by twobloom
113. vintage_50s by 5u5an
114. Wave of Flowers - a Storm at Sea quilt © 2010 by inscribed_here
115. wow by mandyh
116. XStitch50s by littlebear

Puppet Pattern Winner: Grrr... argh! by Milktooth

 
Congratulations this week to Lisa Mirella of Portland, Oregon! Her pattern for a sewn puppet (titled 'Grrr.... argh!') ended up winning the most votes from a gaggle of delicious designs. You can find more from Lisa on her blog MilkTooth, or in her Etsy shop.You can also see all of the top ten designs on our contest home page.

Congratulations to all of the participating designers for putting up such a great batch of puppet kits I hope you'll all make them available for sale soon! The voting totals were:

1. 811 votes for Grrr...arrrgh! by milktooth
2. 718 votes for Pinkerton the Pirate Cat by melissamelissa
3. 634 votes for Animal Friends Puppets by pixeldust
4. 617 votes for Puppet Heap Knight by puppetheap
5. 559 votes for les amis de la foret by nadja_p
6. 538 votes for Butterfly_Finger_Puppets by jumping_monkeys
7. 513 votes for Matryoshki by vertuta
8. 497 votes for Snow White and Rose Red Puppets by mytinystar
9. 461 votes for monster_puppets by deesignor
10. 459 votes for Three Billy Goats Gruff Finger Puppets by beckarahn

New contest: Choose your favorite fabric puppet-patterns

 

This week you get to choose your favorites from a bunch of really fun patterns for sewing puppets from a fat-quarter of fabric. I like this theme because the patterns offer the possibility of such simple, inexpensive kits. As usual, designers took different approaches to the contest, so you'll have to decide for yourself if the kit is really what the theme called for -- a puppet pattern. Have fun!

Vote for puppet patterns

The participating designs this week are:

1. The Czarina Felina by ceanirminger
2. "Sleepover" Finger Puppets by gurgleturtle
3. African Jewels Puppets by kkitwana
4. Animal Friends Puppets by pixeldust
5. bird by shiny_art
6. Boy Bird Girl Bird by antonybriggs
7. Bronte Sisters Finger Puppets w/Parsonage by sarahwalden
8. Bunny Puppet - suzannah ashley by suzannahashley
9. butterfly-flutterby puppets by ali_c
10. Butterfly_Finger_Puppets by jumping_monkeys
11. Cuddle Pups Puppets by kdl
12. Doll pattern by halix
13. Elephant Puppet by mandollyn
14. Good Twin/Bad Twin Puppets by lulakiti
15. Grrr...arrrgh! by milktooth
16. Hooter Hand Puppet by jadegordon
17. Inner Goddess Puppet by poetryqn
18. Koala Mom_Baby by trutorigirl
19. les amis de la forêt by nadja_p
20. Little Red vs Big Bad by cateanevski
21. Matryoshki by vertuta
22. Maybe Baby - Puppets by annosch
23. monster finger puppet fabric by myers-cho
24. monster_puppets by deesignor
25. My Best Friend by sherrygoshon
26. Naughty Kittens by connielou
27. newnew_birds_on_wire by 5u5an
28. Patty Cakes, Patty Cakes by creedancelovesyou
29. pencilpuppets by rose'n'thorn
30. PH_Knight_Final by baklava
31. Pinkerton the Pirate Cat by melissamelissa
32. pixie by vina
33. puppet by stumptious
34. Puppet Show: I Can Fly by shelley_thornton
35. puppet-ch by mayabella
36. Puppets by dentednj
37. RED_RIDING_HOOD_puppets pattern by daniellehanson
38. Scrummy Monster Puppets by scrummy
39. Snow White and Rose Red Puppets by mytinystar
40. STI_Puppett_Fabric by satippetts
41. The Ultimate All-in-One *Punch & Judy* Puppet Party by sammyk
42. This Little Piggy / Hey Diddle Diddle scaleable gloves by weavingmajor
43. Three Billy Goats Gruff Finger Puppets by beckarahn
44. Tribal_puppets_copy by plaiddragon
45. Yeti and Bigfoot by jordan_elise
46. animal kingdom finger puppets by vo 
47. cestlaviv_gardenparty by c'est_la_viv 

Your morning cocktail fabric - Fabric Of the Week winner SammyK

Congratulations to two-time Fabric Of the Week winner Samarra Khaja, a designer in NYC who appears to specialize in glassware-and-fluid-related fabric designs (she won the Science contest previously). Love this fabric! Thanks to all who participated.

The voting results were:

1. 1039 votes for Just a Splash by sammyk
2. 880 votes for cocktails-01 by cynthiafrenette
3. 811 votes for Garnish! by elvett11
4. 509 votes for Teeny Martinis by twobloom
5. 486 votes for cocktailA-Z by trebligrachel
6. 470 votes for Olive Party by funkynature
7. 405 votes for Proof by sparegus
8. 402 votes for Bunny Bender by milktooth
9. 358 votes for Yay For Cocktails by chesirella
10. 295 votes for shaken by nightgarden

We are temporarily out of organic cotton sateen

All, we are very sorry to have to announce that organic cotton sateen will be out of stock until the end of May. Our supplier is completely out of it. We recognize that running out of sateen is a major inconvenience for many of you. We've done everything we can think of to try to keep this from happening, but have been unable to locate a comparable replacement fabric that could be here in time. More organic sateen should arrive by the end of this month, but until then it will be unavailable. We are very sorry. In more upbeat news, we do plan to announce two new fabrics next week. So stay tuned.

Upcoming Fabric Design Contests: Puppet Patterns, Fifties, Tiki

Just wanted to post a quick reminder about the three upcoming Fabric Of the Week themes we've announced so far. Contest winners receive $100 credit in Spoondollars + a whole lot of love from their Spoonflower peeps!

Puppets. Submit a pattern for a sewn puppet (or puppets) that fits on a quarter-yard of fabric (21" wide by 18" tall). We'd also love to see photos of finished puppets in the Spoonflower Flickr Group. Please do not upload photos of finished puppets to your Spoonflower account. The contest will consist of patterns only. Deadline for entry is Tuesday, May 11, 2010. [Not many entries for this one so far...]

Fifties (palette-restricted). Submit a fabric design inspired by the fabric styles and aesthetic  
of the 1950's. You MUST use only colors from the palette pictured to the right (here). You can use some or all of the colors in the palette, but you cannot use colors outside the palette. Hex codes for the palette are 6C90C4 (blue), C83333 (red), 98D485 (green), 27201D (black), F2F0EC (white). Deadline is Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

Tiki. Think Hawaiian shirt. Think outdoor grilling apron. This is a contest for Tiki-themed designs. Deadline is Tuesday, May 25, 2010.

VIEW UPCOMING CONTESTS & ENTRY DETAILS

Cocktail Fabric Hour: Vote for your favorites from 78 designs

We had 77 cocktail-themed fabric designs entered in this week's contest (including a few less-than-serious entries) and -- unlike a real cocktail hour -- in this contest you can knock back as many as you like. Voting closes on Wednesday, May 12, and we'll announce the winner (who receives $100 in Spoondollar credit) on Thursday.

Vote in the cocktail fabric contest

The participating designs and designers this week are:

1. 1ToooooMany by patters
2. A Pink Passion by annosch
3. BottomsUp by tammikins
4. Bunny Bender by milktooth
5. Candy_Cocktail-ed by mummushka
6. Cent'anni by mandyh
7. Cheery Toast by trutorigirl
8. cherry in the cocktail! (fruit slice wallpaper) by uzumakijo
9. Cock-Tail Hour by winter
10. cocktail by tara_scholes
11. Cocktail Hour by creedancelovesyou
12. Cocktail Party by KiWiCuties
13. Cocktail with your plaid? by kkitwana
14. cocktail3 by ilovesheeple
15. cocktailA-Z-ed by trebligrachel
16. cocktailfabric_copy-PNK by snazzyfrogs
17. COCKTAILNOON-ed by autumnrobin
18. Cocktails by jadegordon
19. cocktails by simplydollicious
20. cocktails by mandollyn
21. Cocktails and Olives by estel
22. Cocktails with the 3 M's by lulakiti
23. cocktails-01 by cynthiafrenette
24. Cocktails-The Classics by lpds1220
25. cocktails5 by stacey_drescher
26. cocktails_-_white_bg by kii
27. cocktails_7 by cht222
28. Cocktail_fabric-ed-ch by nrink
29. cocktail_hour by michiela
30. Cocktail_Lounge by dbastien
31. Cocktail_mosaic by andrea11
32. cocktail_umbrella_entry by vo
33. Cocktel_pattern by waterlily
34. Colorful Bar Drinks by beccalouise
35. Cool and Fresh by vertuta
36. Dirty_Fabritini by emchambe
37. Dreams on the Rock! by dreamycatz
38. drinks, a landscape by dragonflyfae
39. Egads, Jeeves! lg/green by glitteristhenewblack
40. Fabric_1 by myart4me
41. Fancy Cocktails by diversepixel
42. final_cocktail by sammyclaire
43. Fish out of Water... by 2munkeez
44. fruits-coktail by lyly
45. Funky Martini by jennifer_weyenberg
46. Garnish! by elvett11
47. Happy Hour by whimzwhirled
48. Happy_Highballs by deesignor
49. Happy_Hour by charles_josef
50. IMG_8496 by tissabell
51. Infinite Martini Time by latewerks
52. Just a Splash by sammyk
53. limeinthecoconut by opalsns
54. Maine_lobster_party by hbmamma
55. making stripes with the drinky-poos! by giolou
56. Martian Cocktails by squarejane
57. Martini Time by jazilla
58. martini-madness-2 by kimleclair
59. Mom's Martinis by zianessa
60. Neon Nights by megansly
61. Next-ed by Lalaluckypants
62. Olive Knew There'd Be Days Like This by kristenstein
63. --removed--
64. Olive Party by funkynature
65. OliveU by stickelberry
66. Pink Champagne Cocktails and Diamonds by kdl
67. pink_fizz by designer41
68. Prawn Cocktail by tenderlovingclaire
69. Proof by sparegus
70. Rainbow Cocktails by stephane
71. retro Lemon Lime Martini by shala
72. shaken by nightgarden
73. Teeny Martinis by twobloom
74. The Casualties of Bar by ceanirminger
75. Tipsy by flock
76. tropical_cocktails-01 by abelingdesigns
77. Yay For Cocktails by chesirella
78. Summer Cocktails 1 by asset68

Big Brass Fabric - Congrats to our latest Fabric Of the Week Winner

This week's musical-instrument-themed contest was a squeaker. Congratulations go out to Katie, mellophone player, self-described band geek and the creator of MarchingBandStuff.com. Her entry -- titled 'mellophones-blue and green' -- managed to squeeze past 'guitar flowers' by pixeldust by just a few votes. This was the closest contest we've had in a while. Thanks to all of the designers who participated!

Buy Mellophone Fabric

The voting results were as follows:

1. 624 votes for Mellophones - blue and green by marchingbandstuff
2. 621 votes for Guitar Flowers by pixeldust
3. 509 votes for Retro Musique by snowflower
4. 404 votes for GuitarFlowers by upcyclepatch
5. 389 votes for musical_flute_blue by kii
6. 381 votes for Cool Jazz by jenimp
7. 367 votes for Xylo-fun ! by ceanirminger
8. 359 votes for Guitars in Bloom by 2munkeez
9. 355 votes for music in my heart by jolijou
10. 354 votes for Air d'été by nadja_p