Art Deco Collage: Vote for your favorite art deco inspired fabric designs

In this week's challenge we asked designers to produce fabrics inspired by the art deco movement while at the same time restricting themselves to no more than four colors. This was a tough one, but we're really looking forward to printing the winners next week. I'm thinking they'll be perfect for pillows and curtains, or maybe lampshades!

Vote For Art Deco Fabrics

The participants this week are:

1. Art deco Lotus by mariao
2. *Stars* Art Deco by branchaplumes
3. 1920's Paris by fable_design
4. 1ArtDeco by positivenegative
5. 20s Glamour by blboutique
6. 30's Zephyr by holly_helgeson
7. 4-Colour Art Deco Tree by phantomssiren
8. a deco garden by the_collectionist
9. A Sewing Arts Deco Damask by cynthiafrenette
10. alternating_lines by charlene_sawyer

Taking Fabric to the Streets

 

We asked designers in this week's contest to create fabrics inspired by graffiti (or street art, if you prefer). The results are enough to make you to want to reupholster an entire subway car.

 

Vote For Graffiti Fabrics

This week's participating designs and designers:

1. 544_-_Copy by jgmfaux
2. A GRAFFITI LOVE LETTER by karenharveycox
3. A Tribute by vo_aka_virginiao
4. ABC...street by cassiopee
5. Animal graffiti by alexsan
6. arabor by joancaronil
7. Arrow Graffiti by franny711
8. Art Thou Mine? By Rhonda W. © 2012 by rhondadesigns
9. a_round__the__corner_color by leolietje
10. Bad Wolf Street Art - fabric images show closeups by laurels

Vote for your favorite outdated technologies on fabric

Our competition this week centers around yet another topic near and dear to the hearts of geeks, outdated technologies. Whether it's Atari joysticks, rotary phones, cassettes or computer punch tape you remember most fondly, you're guaranteed to find at least one fabric to tickle your nostalgia in this week's design contest.

Vote For Outdated Technology Fabrics

Our intrepid designers this week are:

1. my desk is a total shambles! by mariao
2. Plastic Fantastic!! by inscribed_here
3. 1851 Singer by spiringsdesigns
4. 1951 bulletnose Studebaker by edsel2084
5. 3 1/2" Floppy Disks by robyriker
6. 45_RPM by mammajamma
7. 50s kitchen devices gone mad by kikibaai
8. 70's phone... "Yello!" by luluhoo
9. 70s chic by blboutique
10. 8-Bit Good Times by ravenous

Vote for Cityscape fabrics

In the latest round of competition we asked each entrant to create a fabric design inspired by the cityscape of her or his favorite city. The field displays a few trends -- people really love London, New York and Amsterdam, for example -- but the designs themselves are very diverse. We're looking forward to seeing the top ten on fabric next week.

Vote For Cityscape Fabrics

The full list of entrants:

1.  Paris streetsigns by mariao 
2.  This Is My NY by sammyk 
3.  3 Paris Cityscapes And The Eiffel Tower By Kristie Hubler by fabricatedframes 
4.  55150031-Blue Sky Windows by josephinefletcher 
5.  8 Bit Sydney by erinibbertson 
6.  A Philadelphia Winter in Rittenhouse Square by saramlenton 
7.  AGRA taj_mahal_collection by kirpa 
8.  Alexandria, Virginia by glimmericks 
9.  Along Idaho Street by brandymiller 
10. Amsterdam by fluffygeek 

A contest to create four coordinating fabrics: Vote!

This week's challenge offers one of the most difficult themes we've put together for a regular contest. We asked designers to come up with four coordinating fabrics laid out to be printed on a single yard of fabric. So you're voting not just for a single design, but for a collection. Fun, no? The work submitted for this contest is just amazing.

Vote For Coordinating Fabrics

The designers this week are:

1.   "Hot Stuff" Coordinates by jannasalak 
2.   'a time to garden' collection by scrummy 
3. 03jan12_1_coordinates_contest_entry_from_FireFlower by fireflower 
4.   4 coordinates by anne-m-bray 
5.   4 for 1! by mariao 
6.   4in1 garden coordinates by jumping_birds 
7.   8 Fat Quarters / 2 Yards in Any Fabric by pond_ripple 
8.   A Hint of Spring Coordinates, Seed, Bloom, Grow and Flourish by kdl 
9.   A moonlit moth fandango by coggon 
10. A Pink Bouquet Fat Quarter Collection by robyriker 

What's the recipe for beautiful fabric? Let us know by voting in our recipe fabric contest!

Our contest theme this week, admittedly, offered a bit of a challenge purely on aesthetic grounds. How do you create a beautiful fabric design inspired by a text-based composition with very few aesthetic elements attached to it at all? We asked designers to produce fabrics inspired by recipes. The results, as always, showcase a broad range of imaginations.

Vote For Recipe Fabrics

This week's intrepid designers are:

1. A Fruity Pomegranate Ale Recipe by quiltsmith
2. A Perfect Cup by brandymiller
3. A Recipe for Tea Kisses by karenharveycox
4. allylynn's shape glyph-ed by allylynn
5. bean dip by georgeandgracie
6. Beebe's Skillet Cornbread by maplewooddesignstudio
7. Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies!!! by sammyk
8. bluebird by chickendream
9. Button Soup by eclectic_house
10. cocktails (dark) by scrummy

Evergreen Fabric Design Contest - Vote for your favorites!

We only allowed the entrants in this week's evergreen-themed design contest to use four colors, a restriction that somehow always manages to bring out the best in our talented community of fabric designers. I just wish there was time to print and use some of these fabrics for gift wrapping!

Vote For Evergreen Fabrics

Our contest entrants this week:

1.       A Bonsai Evergreen, Sunset Shadows by quiltsmith 
2.       A Forever Evergreen by thatrossiart 
3.       A patterned forest by neurotickle 
4.       A Stitch of Evergreen by kdl 
5.       Abies concolor (western white fir) on its natural color by georgeandgracie 
6.       Abstract Evergreens by eclectic_house 
7.       Aligators Are Evergreen in the Everglades by vo_aka_virginiao 
8.       An Evergreen is Crafty by cynthiafrenette 
9.       An Olympian Evergreen by robyriker 
10.       Ants collecting pine needles by mongiesama 

A fabric contest with bells on... are you ready to vote for your favorites?

Our fabric design contest theme this week is bells, which turns out to have produced a somewhat wider variety of interpretations than we expected. Please note that none of the included designs actually jingle. Now dash on through the votes... and we'll announce the winner next week!

Vote For Bell Fabrics

The participants this week are:

1.  Xmas Bells* by katarina 
2.  1libertybell by terry_handel 
3.  A BELL FOR GIVING TWO by karenharveycox 
4.  A Bush Chime - on rich cream.  By Rhonda W.  © 2011 by rhondadesigns 
5.  A Pair of Small Silver Bells by quiltsmith 
6.  Aesop-- "Belling the Cat" Gold Bells on Blue by pond_ripple 
7.  All the Bells and Whistles by sammyk 
8.  Amoebells by ravenous 
9.  bell by onegreyelephant 
10.  Belle Ringers - Pastels by beesocks 

Cloth Baby Books - vote for your favorite cute & sew kit

One of the most innovative ways we've seen people use digitally printed Spoonflower fabric is to create cloth books. So we decided to hold a contest for baby book patterns. This was a tough assignment, but a gaggle of great designers still rose to the challenge! We'll let you know who won next week when the votes are counted.

Vote For Cloth Baby Books

The contestants this week are:

1.   "Happy Home" doll book (clic to see details and doll) by mariao 
2.   The Alphabetical Animal Antics of Elsie ( Zoom for whole book) by ceanirminger 
3.   "Repeat": Interactive Cloth Baby Book by ttoz 
4.   A Book for Baby, a fabric storybook by karenharveycox 
5.   A Color Zoo by eclectic_house 
6.   A day with Tigris by kikibaai 
7.   A to Z Cloth Baby Book: Cute Critters With Heart by artist4god 
8.   Alphabet_book by anr 
9.   Animal Alphabet Cloth Book by suryasajnani 
10. Animal Friends - baby book by needlebook 

Wear Feather Fabrics... And Vote for Your Favorites!

The contest theme this week is feathers and we received a big, fluffy pillow's worth of entries (221). Vote for all your favorites and we'll tickle you with the winner next Thursday.

Vote For Feather Fabrics

This week's designs and designers:
1. black and white feather by raasma 
2. Floating feathers by delsie 
3. 1970s Peacock by phantomssiren 
4. 3 feathers by aprilmariemai 
5. A Set of Gemfire Phoenix Feathers by quiltsmith 
6. A Feather Heart by akbarbie 
7. A Hawk Feather by owlandchickadee 
8. A Windy Day at the Races - Aqua. By Rhonda W. © 2011 by rhondadesigns 
9. against the grain by frozenearth 
10. AngleFeathers by nutwood_nest 

Vote for your favorite kite fabrics in this week's design contest!

For those of you who pine for more small prints in our contests (including most of the clothing-sewing portion of the Spoonflower staff), here's a good one: this week's contest is for kite fabrics!

Vote For Kite Fabrics

The participants this week are:

1.   a sky full of koinoboris by mariao 
2.   101 by melissamarie 
3.   A Quint of Kites (Small Print, Ditsy) by quiltsmith 
4.   A Red Kite's Tale by spellstone 
5.   A Windy Day by audzipan 
6.   Aerial Tangle by leeleeandthebee 
7.   Airborne Argyle by sammyk 
8.   andy's fly'in high kites by paragonstudios 
9.   As the Birds Fly by marmota-b 
10.  Autumn Kite Flight by hitz 

A Kit to Make Advent Calendars - Vote in our latest contest

This week we challenged designers to submit a sewing pattern for an Advent calendar designed to fit on a single yard of fabric. These kits need not be specifically for Advent or Christmas, but the idea was to create a holiday-themed hanging decoration with windows to reveal different images or with pockets to hold toys or cards or candies. We've got only 42 entries this week, so voting should be pretty quick.

Vote For Advent Calendar Kits

The participants are:

1. Pockets advent calendar by mariao 
2. "I want candy!" Advent Calendar by happysewlucky 
3. 2011 Advent calendar contest by kikibaai 
4. 2011 Elf Laundry Day Advent Calendar by tracydw70 
5. 2012 Doomsday Advent Calendar by veritybrown 
6. 24 dogs advent calendar by fantazya 
7. 24 Gifts Before Christmas... Advent Calendar by jbhorsewriter7 
8. A Holiday Advent Calendar Bunting by fabgirl42 
9. A Home Sweet Home for the Holidays Advent Calendar by eclectic_house 
10. a modern girl advent calendar apron by paragon_studios_one 

2012 Tea Towel Calendar Design Contest - check out the amazing entries & vote for your favorites

Spoonflower regulars look forward to our tea towel contest each year quite a bit because it invariably generates some amazing work from our design community (and a wealth of easy-to-sew holiday gifts for your friends). Each calendar fits on a fat quarter of fabric and, despite the sideways orientation that is a by-product of how we preview things, looking through these 148 entries is a real treat.

Vote For Tea Towel Calendars

The contestants this week are:

1.  "Fresh Picked" ABC Calendar - Quilting by threebysea 
2.  2010 Garden - Flower of the Month Calendar by dianne_annelli 
3.  2012 by anahata
4.  2012 by claudiavv
5.  2012 - The Year to Soar by kayajoy
6.  2012 Art Nouveau Rose Calendar - white by victorialasher
7.  2012 Baby Hats tea towel calendar by majo_bv
8.  2012 Bird Calendar by susan_swedien
9.  2012 Bird Friends Tea Towel Calendar by owlandchickadee
10.  2012 Blue Moon Linen Teatowel Calendar - zoom for full view by mina

DESIGN*SPONGE AT HOME BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER + ENTER TO WIN A SEWING HANDBOOK

Congratulations to Sarah Thomas from San Francisco, California, winner of our giveaway for a copy of the Design*Sponge at Home book signed by author Grace Bonney!

And don't forget to enter our current drawing this week for a chance to win one of two great sewing books, The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook or Sewing in a Straight Line. Enter through noon EST on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

ENTER TO WIN SEWING HANDBOOK 

Fabric Of the Nation: Vote In Our Military Fabric Contest

With Veterans Day arriving next week here in the US, we challenged designers to create fabrics inspired by respect for, and celebration of, our respective countries' armed services. The resulting designs -- around 85 or so -- make for interesting browsing. Vote for your favorites and we'll show you the winners next week!

Vote For Military Fabrics

The participants this week are:

1. military medals by mariao 
2. '41 for Sgt J by cksstudio80 
3. 176a by leesa111 
4. a poppy to remember by paragon_studios_one 
5. A Soldier and His Girl by owlandchickadee 
6. Air Land & Sea by annalisa222 
7. All Our Eagles by eclectic_house 
8. American Glory by jbhorsewriter7 
9. American Stars by nekanen 
10.    AMERICA_8_up-8 by pad_design 

The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook + Sewing in a Straight Line Book Giveaways

Last week at the International Quilt Market (see our report and the Project Selvage winning fabric collections!) we met up with our friends from the online sewing community BurdaStyle. Their newly released The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook takes five basic patterns for a skirt, blouse, skirt, dress, bag, and jacket and turns them into fifteen distinct projects, then includes dozens of user-submitted customizations for extra inspiration. The book was authored by BurdaStyle co-founder Nora Abousteit and Alison Kelly, BurdaStyle's creative director, who is also a Project Runway Season 3 contestant and designer for the Dahl label.

At Quilt Market we also met the lovely Brett Bara, who among her many crafty missions hosts Knit and Crochet Now, writes the Sewing 101 column on Design*Sponge, and is part of the Jello mold revival! Brett's new book, Sewing in a Straight Line, is beautifully done with simple and elegant projects from dresses to quilts and handmade toys, all of which are patterned to use only straight-line stitching. Brilliant, for both beginning sewers and anyone looking to make an easy project with the lovely fabric in their stash.

We'll choose two winners and give away one copy of each book next week. Sign up using the form below for a chance to win through noon EST on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF THE BURDASTYLE SEWING HANDBOOK

 

Signed Copy Of Design*Sponge Book Giveaway + Softies for Mirabel Drawing Winners

Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge recently visited Spoonflower's hometown of Durham, North Carolina for a signing of her newly released Design*Sponge at Home book. Her many local fans (including quite a few of us from the Spoonflower crew) enjoyed a craft night and had the opportunity to meet the author at our nearby Anthropologie store. 

Enter using the link below for a chance to win a copy of the Design*Sponge at Home book signed by author Grace Bonney! We'll select a winner next Thursday, November 3rd. 

ENTER TO WIN THE DESIGN*SPONGE AT HOME BOOK 

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We also want to congratulate the winners of the Cut and Sew Plushie Pattern Giveaway To  Benefit Softies for Mirabel Foundation we posted last week! Mona G., Lulakiti on Spoonflower, from  Orlando, Florida, Jasmine G., Lillian H., Sabra S., Barbara W. of Poughkeepsie,  New York, Lisa T. of Abilene, Kansas, Rose M.  of Austin, Texas, Amelia R.,  NightGarden on Spoonflower, of Eugene, Oregon, Cathy P. of Akron, Ohio, Jennifer U., Veerle L., Patty Sloniger of Houston, Texas, Ping C., Sharee  F. of Austin, Texas, and Eve B. of Salt Lake City, Utah will all receive  cut and  sew patterns for soft toys like this one. 

The winners are invited to sew up the plushies and send them back to Spoonflower before November 23rd so we can ship the gifts on to Australia for the Softies for Mirabel annual Christmas Craft Appeal. If you didn't win this giveaway but are a kind-hearted crafter (or a crew of crafty friends who would like to host your own mini-drive)  who would like to sew a handmade toy and send it to the Mirabel Foundation, you can find details here.   

 

A walk-on role in a cameo contest: Vote for your favorite cameo fabrics!

With 167 entries in our contest to design fabrics inspired by cameos, the best you can hope for is a walk-on role. Nevertheless, there are lots of lovely fabric designs in this week's competition. So get out there and vote!

Vote For Cameo Fabrics

The designers this week are:

1.   Hair of an Era by ceanirminger
2.   60's cameo by happy_to_see
3.   70's Inspired Dove Cameo by bnmguy
4.   A Cameo Lady by eclectic_house
5.   A face to face cameo by wantit
6.   A Halloween Skeleton Cameo by quiltsmith
7.   Alice in Cameoland by blackwood
8. ANIMAL_CAMEOS by jumping_birds
9.   Art Nouveau Cameo by annelize
10. aunt abigail's cameo by curt

Sewing patterns that fit on a swatch? Vote in our hanging ornament contest

In the it's-never-too-early-to-start-thinking-about-holidays category comes this week's contest, which is for hanging ornament sewing patterns that fit onto a single swatch. I have a feeling we're going to be making a bunch of these between now and our Spoonflower office party in December. Vote for your favorites and then check back next week for the winner!

VOTE FOR HANGING ORNAMENT PATTERNS

The competitors are:

1. Noël à Paris (clic for more Parisian Hanging ornaments) by mariao 
2. 12 Days of Christmas Plushie Set by marleyungaro 
3. 12 Days of Christmas1-4 by leslipepper 
4. 7 Miniature Teapots.  Please zoom to see all 7 of them.  by niceandfancy 
5. 8x8 Ornament by cynthiafrenette 
6. A Babushka Hanging Ornament in French Script by karenharveycox 
7. Aarf - Puppies and Treats by ravenous 
8. Angel - 1 on swatch, 7 on fat quarter by laurels 
9. Angel hanging ornament by elizabethjones 
10. Animal hanging ornament pattern by katarina 

Giveaway winners!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all spent a pleasant weekend ironing per the advice of Berene Campbell and KristopherK last week!  The drawings for Berene's "Retrotastic Camera Camera Bag" pattern and a yard of your choice of one of KrisopherK's designs are now officially closed.   The winners were determined by random number drawing.  Denise Romano Bright is now the proud owner of Berene's camera bag pattern, and Dragonflylotusd has won the yard of KristopherK's fabric.  I'll be in touch shortly to get your prizes to you both, and thanks to everyone for your comments!