Win A Quilter's Dream Vacation

Today we are very excited to announce our Win A Trip To QuiltCon Sweepstakes!

We'd love to send you and a quilt-loving friend on an all-expense paid trip to the first annual QuiltCon, being held by the Modern Quilt Guild, in Austin, Texas, February 21-24, 2014.

The grand prize winner from our sweepstakes will receive airfare for two from any major US airport, accommodations & meals, admission and registration for four days of amazing lectures and selected workshops. Spoonflower folks are planning to be there, too, and are looking forward to a chance to hang out with the winner!

Three second place winners will each receive $150 in Spoonflower credit to create or choose their own custom fabric or wallpaper.

With huge apologies to the many members of the Spoonflower community who do not reside in the US, this contest is open only to people residing in United States (who are at least 18 years of age). Sweepstakes ends November 14, 2012 @ 08:00 pm (EST).

Friday photo

From left to right, Spoonflower help desk staffers David Woodward, Beth Carr, Stephen Beck, and Theresa Rizzuto.

Why is the Spoonflower help team smiling like this?  Must be because they're safely installed at desks now located in the new Spoonflower office!  Our move mission is officially accomplished, and we've got a weekend to rest before finishing the unpacking and beginning the much-anticipated beautification of our new digs.  Happy weekend, everyone!

Attack Of the Zombie Softies

Halloween is one of our favorite Spoonflower holidays, and -- as regular voters know -- plush toy patterns are one of our favorite contest challenges. So this week it gives us special pleasure to bring together softies and zombies for a zombie plush toy contest. Vote. Vote for your lives. 

The participants this week are:

1. Abe Lincoln as the Zombie and Vampire Killer by vo_aka_virginiao 
2. Adorable tattooed zombie little boy by fantazya 
3. Attack of the Zombie by tailorjane 
4. Autopsied Zombie Doll by onestitchdesigns 
5. Bon Appetit my Love by paragonstudios 
6. bunny_blue2 by stella12 
7. Chubby Zombie Shark (cut & sew) by leighr 
8. Contagiously Cute by saartje 
9. corporate zombie by sef 
10. Creepy, but yet sweet zombie doll by katarina 

Cultural Threads: Celebrating the 80s In Embroidery Patterns

Our contest theme this week -- 80s-inspired embroidery patterns -- proved to be the source of much mirth around the Spoonflower office this week, where apparently the era of Atari games and Jane Fonda workout videos is remembered quite fondly. Our winning pattern is from UK designer Laurie Stevens, but be sure to check out the rest of the top ten.

For the curious, the final votes were:

1. 389 votes for invaders by loz76 
2. 272 votes for Micro - waved Media ~ an homage to Keith Haring by retrorudolphs 
3. 271 votes for Eighties Embroidery Portrait by amel24 
4. 267 votes for cross-stitch, the original 8-bit graphics system by weavingmajor 
5. 249 votes for pattern2_80s by milenagaytandzhieva 
6. 240 votes for 80s Embroidery motifs - Wired for Sound! by cherryandcinnamon 
7. 239 votes for Fancy Pony Toy 8" hoop Embroidery Project by nikky 
8. 234 votes for Tape Song: 80s Embroidery Mix by leighr 
9. 214 votes for tetris by kociara 
10. 202 votes for Awesome Rainbows & Unicorns, Balloons & Fluffy Clouds by vo_aka_virginiao 

Upcoming Contest: Win A One-Year Membership to Adobe Creative Cloud

If you haven't checked our upcoming contests page lately, you should know that we've got a couple of amazing prizes around the corner. Our most recent contest partnership is with Adobe, a company whose products have touched all our creative lives, which has introduced a feature specifically for creating repeat patterns as part of their new Adobe® Illustrator® CS6 software. Check out a video on how it works:

The theme of this very special contest will be fabric designs using arrows as a design motif. The amazing piece of all this is that the nice folks at Adobe have agreed to put up a one-year membership to Adobe Creative Cloud™ as a prize. The membership gives you access to all of Adobe's creative products and services, including Illustrator. Apart from the necessity of submitting a seamlessly repeating design (no centered designs, please), this one is wide open for your creative interpretation. You can even explore the new pattern tools in Illustrator CS6 to create your design; a free 30-day trial is available. Entries will be previewed at the scale of a fat quarter (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is Tuesday, October 23, 2012. See our Upcoming Contests page for details on how to enter:

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The Color Revolution Book Giveaway

Each year, with the announcement of Pantone's Color of the Year, I wonder, "How in the world do they decide?" and harumph, "Who made them the color boss?" According to The Color Revolution by historian Regina Lee Blaszczyk, such announcements aren't, as I cynically half-suspected, decreed by a "secretive cabal" of fashion, home-dec, and consumer product executives but rather, the result of a "careful reading of cultural trends and consumer taste," and a sort of organic next step in an unfolding history of consumer color choices and preferences. I've got to admit that I never thought about it that way!

If you're curious to read more about the fascinating history of color and consumer trends, you'll want to enter our drawing for a copy of The Color Revolution. Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this book is certain to deepen your appreciation for the role of color in the things that you see, buy, and use every day.  To enter our drawing, just enter your comment below or on the corresponding Facebook post and do include your Spoonflower screen name or some other means of contacting you in case you're our winner.  Entries will close next Tuesday, 10/9 at 7pm EST and we'll announce a winner on 10/10.  Good luck to you all!

Last week, we gave away no fewer than five prizes to celebrate the launch of Spoonflower's new wallpaper and wall decals.  The five winners of a large-size wall decal were Kirablossoms in Colorado, SEF in the UK, Voxwoman in New Jersey, Tara McGowan/Art Tree Designs in Texas, and Hanahula in (presumably) Hawaii.  Congratulations to you all, and we'll be in touch shortly!

Tutorial: Make a fabric play crown

This week Anda Corrie from Etsy shares a tutorial for making a fabric play crown, a favorite dress up accessory and an instant Halloween costume!

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After making my 4-year-old her first paper play crown, she began entreating me to make them for her nearly constantly. Suffice it to say they are one of her favorite go-to dress up accessories.

As Halloween grows closer, I started thinking about how to adapt our crown making into a more durable version and also use some of the Spoonflower fabric I’ve been hoarding in my sewing room! Need an instant costume? Here’s a quick tutorial for a play crown you can make in an hour or less.

You will need:

two 24” x 6” pieces of Spoonflower quilting weight cotton fabric (either Kona or basic cotton will work well)

24” length of ½” double-fold bias tape

one piece of 24" x 6” card stock

sewing machine

scissors

fabric pen

ruler

stapler, or needle and matching thread

1. Measure your royal’s head circumference. Add 1½” to this measurement.

2. Draw a basic crown shape (straight line along the bottom, pointy triangles along the top) the length you’ve measured on heavy card stock. (Or download this free pattern, print and glue to the card stock and then cut out.)

3. Trace the shape onto the back of your fabric with a fabric pen and then add ½” seam allowance. Set aside the card stock pattern for later use.

4. Cut two pieces of fabric from this pattern, for both the outside and inside of the crown.

5. With right sides facing in, sew a straight stitch ⅜” from the edge of the sides and top points of the crown. Leave the bottom edge open. 

6. Notch the top of the crown’s points and in between each point as well. Turn right-side out and press.

7. Slide the card stock pattern inside the crown.

8. Straight stitch the bias tape along the bottom edge of the crown.

9. At this point, I like to check the fit again on the intended king or queen’s head before closing it up.

10. Finish by hand stitching the crown closed—or in a pinch you can staple it shut and cover the inside staple ends with washi tape to prevent snagging your highness’s coiffure.

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About Our Guest Blogger

Anda Corrie is an American illustrator, Etsy designer, and émigré living in Berlin, Germany with her small family. In her spare time she obsesses over vintage children’s books, makes homemade schnapps, sews tiny dresses that her 4-year-old stubbornly refuses to wear, and draws. Visit her Spoonflower shop for some lovely hand drawn fabric designs and her Etsy shop, Boosterseat.

A New Contest From Spoonflower and Timeless Treasures

Have you ever dreamed of seeing one of your fabric designs mass produced and distributed through independent fabric shops all over? Now's your chance to compete for a shot at licensing a fabric design to Timeless Treasures, one of the leading producers of innovative fabrics for the quilting and crafting markets.

 The Be My Hero contest theme is novelty prints for boys 6-12 years old. You can find a full list of the rules and guidelines for entering on our Be My Hero contest page, but the most important thing to know is that the deadline for entering is October 30, 2012!

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