Cut & Sew Projects for Etsy's World Craft Party - Vote for your favorites!

On August 24th, our friends over at Etsy will host their 2012 Craft Party, a global celebration of meeting and making. Crafty souls from all over the world will be coming together in small groups to make cool stuff, so we decided to ask our community of designers to create fat-quarter-sized cut & sew projects that craft partiers could work on together. It's up to you to vote for your favorites, but the winner will be featured in the How-Tuesday series on the Etsy blog!

 

The participants this week are:

1. Muñeca Flamenca by mariao 
2. "Arwen" travel doll pattern by minimiel 
3. "Florabutton_Posy" Headband or Sash Kit by fireflower 
4. "Wish You Were Here" hand-made Michigan mitt/potholder by saltlabs 
5. "Wishing You Were Here" Owls - Fat Quarter Collection of 5 owls by amy_lou_who 
6. 1 Fairy Doll, a Cat & Fairy Softies by de-ann_black 
7. 1/2 A Dozen Roses - Spots & Stripes Cut 'n' Sew by nezumiworld 
8. 4 Baby Sandals by dinorahdesign 
9. A Rock Star "wish you were here!" by paragonstudios 
10. Amelia and her kittens by stacyiesthsu 

Fanciful Flying Fabrics: Our Aviation Contest

This week we decided to explore the art of aviation by asking fabric designers to have a go at the subject of aircraft. The result? Over 200 fanciful flying fabrics. Choose your favorites and we'll post the winners next week.

 

Our intrepid designers this week are:

1. I love flying by juliagrifol
2. 1 Aircraft Design for 2 Cushions by de-ann_black_author
3. 120730_aviation-balloon1 by d'lee-d'laa
4. 8helis by blumenlimonade
5. A Nostalgic Voyage by licoricelove
6. Adventure Par Avion by spellstone
7. Aero by glimmericks
8. Aero Teddy Bear 1 by jenithea
9. Aeronautical dreams by cjldesigns
10. Aeroplanes pink by sydama

Who will win the gold, silver & bronze medals for fabric design?

In what we hope is a graceful dodge of all the draconian restrictions on the use of any trademarks, images, logos, puns or cake decorations associated with the actual Olympic Games, we've asked designers this week to celebrate the spirit of the games through fabric designs. Perhaps you can vote as you watch the opening ceremony tomorrow on TV. While we lack a virtual podium for fabric designers, we'll still announce the winners next week.

 

Good luck to all the participants this week!

1.  Running around the world by mariao
2.  "Reflective Paddling" by missyorr
3.  0009_caritas_130312 by sandramunoz1
4.  12 olympians by sef
5.  120724-olympic-flame-1 by d'lee-d'laa
6.  271984_1948829834253_1047803621_1699464_2910188_o by gretty_love
7.  A way through sports by bonnie_phantasm
8.  All Fun and Games for Guys and Gals by paragonstudios
9.  Ancient Athletes by jenimp
10.  Ancient Greek Olympics by robyriker

Fabric Fit For A Play

The costume director from one of our local North Carolina theaters, the Cary Players, called our office one day looking for a print to use for a vintage pattern dress in an upcoming production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. To help him out -- and because it's such a fun theme -- we decided to ask designers to come up with a print for a mid-20th century cocktail dress. This week the community will choose the top ten, and the costume director will choose his favorite to use in the play!

The participants this week are:

1. Invite the sky to your party by mariao
2. Square Spiral Stripe by boris_thumbkin
3. Starburst by forest&sea
4. "Dress Pattern" by omf
5. 1 Au Gold Dress by de-ann_black_author
6. 134049369418341__1_ by l_mcmaster
7. 1950 Roses by kirpa
8. 1950s Butterflies are Free by susanferris
9. 1950s_swatch_ by nyteaqueen
10. 1955_roses_final by mysticalarts

Papercake, Papercake, Baker's Man

In this week's challenge we asked designers to use paper and glue to create cake collages that they could then scan and turn into fabric designs. As is often the case, the more difficult the challenge, the more breathtaking the creativity. Vote for all your favorites in this week's contest and we'll announce the winner (and top 10) on Thursday morning.

 

The participants this week are:

1. Colorfull cakes (paper collage) by mariao
2. 100 Percent Paper Cakes by the_pear_trees
3. 120710_cake-paper-fabric-2-ed by d'lee-d'laa
4. 70's Cake Collage by shootingducks
5. a lot of sweet by olena
6. A nice slice by cjldesigns
7. A piece of cake by brandymiller
8. Afternoon Tea with The Queen of Hearts by Rhonda W. © 2012 by rhondadesigns
9. and a cherry on top - cupcakes on white paper by coggon
10. artcake by sporty2009

A Fabric Ode To Pomegranates

According to the myth, we suffer through winter because Persephone, the kidnapped daughter of Demeter, gave in and ate the seeds of a pomegranate in the underworld. But here, in the throes of summer, we've decided to celebrate this most ancient and celebrated of fruit with a fabric contest. With 290 designs to choose from, just try resisting temptation!

 

The participants in this week's competition are:

1. ¿que es una granada? by mariao
2. pomegranate seeds by jeannemcgee
3. Tudor Tapestry by forest&sea
4. 02_Stechschulte_Pomegrantes by cathystechschulte
5. 10pomegranite-ed-ed by mandybeau
6. 10th Century Persian Pomegranate Motifs - horizontal by rengal
7. 120702_pomegranate-ed by d'lee-d'laa
8. A Burst of Pomegranate by anniedeb
9. A Jewel of a Fruit by inscribed_here
10. A Pomegranate Fabric for homewares by designedtoat

Stars & Stripes & Everything Nice

This week, as those of us here in the US head into Independence Day, we've launched a contest for fabrics using stars and stripes. The competition drew 331 entries this time around, so make sure you've got a fresh cup of coffee in hand before you sit down to vote. Have fun!

The entrants this week are:

1. 1000 Distant Suns by forest&sea
2. named stars by mariao
3. 1Stars_Stripes by positivenegative
4. 4th of July Dodo by mintygal
5. A celebration with Stars and Stripes, Canadian Style! by cynthiafrenette
6. A New Red, White, & Blue! by stitching_dvm
7. A-OKAY USA! by thatrossiart
8. About stars and stripes by wantit
9. African Print Red White and Blue on Blue Dot by zi_zi
10. All-American Bison and Bear by fig+fence

Ammonites, Dinos & Dodos: A Contest For Extinct Animal Fabrics

The challenge to competitors this week to come up with fabric designs featuring extinct animals. While we expected quite a few dinosaur fabrics, of course, the big surprise -- to my mind at least -- is the profusion of terrific dodo fabrics. Move over owls, there's a new (old) bird in town. You've got 226 fabrics this week to choose from, so have fun!

Vote For Your Favorites

The participants are:

1. Denim Dinos by forest&sea 
2. "Oso" sad: Extinct Mexican Grizzly Bear Cheater Quilt by aldea 
3. A day at the museum by cjldesigns 
4. A Sabretooth Parade by thatrossiart 
5. A VERY SAD TAIL by pavlova_is 
6. acid pterodactyl weave by scrummy 
7. Aloha! Lounge Lizard by brandymiller 
8. Ammonite by queeninmyownmind 
9. Ammonites by jabiroo 
10. ammonites by feathers_of_a_lark 

Let's hear it for limits! A palette-restricted contest for geometric shape fabrics

 

This week's contest is a nifty departure from all of the competitions that favor designers skilled in illustration. The theme is geometric shapes and, just to reduce the variables even more, we restricted designers to the use of two specified colors (with white as an optional third color). The 375 entries that came out of those restrictions offer a study in the diverse artistic expression possible within a set of fairly rigid restrictions.

 

The participants this week are:

1. 19ninety-nine by wanderthought
2. 70's geometric shapes by mariao
3. 80ies pattern by j___
4. A Geo Garden by paragonstudios
5. A Geo Mucho by andibird
6. A Geometric Cetacean Parade - sage & grape by aldea
7. a million hexagons by meduzy
8. A Mismatched Split Compliment by helenklebesadel
9. A Scallop Shift by haleystudio
10. abstract seamless pattern by anastasiia-ku

Coats Of Arms Of Many Colors

For this week's challenge we asked designers to create an original family crest, or coat of arms, for their own family and to turn that into a fabric design. As is the case with many of our more outlandish challenges, this one drew somewhat fewer entries than usual, which means that voting should be pretty quick. Perhaps everyone is still recovering from the mob of entries in hand-drawn contest a couple of weeks ago!

 

This week's participants are:

1) "R is for Rudolph"... by retrorudolph's 
2) 8 bit Family Crest by leighr 
3) a crest pro victoriam by paragonstudios 
4) A Rossi Family Crest by thatrossiart 
5) Air, Earth, Water, Fire: Growth and Perserverance by vo_aka_virginiao 
6) amazing orchid by arnie 
7) AmericanWoman by american_women 
8) Armorial Ant by spellstone 
9) atelier des cinq chats by cinqchats 
10) bear crest by annaboo 

Get Your Bobbin Running... and Vote for Motorcycle Fabrics!

 

It's almost summer, when the lure of the open road is at its most powerful. While most of us are probably not in a position to throw away everything and hit the highway à la Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, we can at least have our pick of motorcycle fabrics. Vote for your favorites and we'll unleash the top ten next week.

Vote for Motorcyle Fabrics

 

This week's participants are:

1. 6 coloured scooters by rocket_and_bear 
2. 6 little Indian bikes no logo by karisplace_com 
3. A Part Here, A Part There... by shelleymade 
4. American Motorcycle by glimmericks 
5. An American Classic-Indian Motorcycles by mammajamma 
6. At the Finish Line - Motocycle Race Pennants by owlandchickadee 
7. BIKE (natural) by scrummy 
8. Biker Bliss by droyal 
9. Biker Chick Fashions by ★lucy★santana★ 
10. Biker Chicks on the Open Road by sammyk 

Announcing the Urban Sightings Contest Grand Prize Winner

Remember the Urban Sightings contest we ran a few weeks ago? As you may remember, the co-sponsor for that contest was the Textile Center in Minneapolis, which turned the top ten designs into a terrific exhibit in the Center's gallery:

The final piece of the contest consists of awarding the grand prize, selected by jurors at the Textile Center from the top ten: a full copy of Adobe's Photoshop software, an indispensible tool for the digital textile designer.

Well, we're pleased to announce that the grand prize goes to St. Augustine by Tricia Coulson, a part-time textile artist from LeClaire, Iowa.  She creates art quilts but tells us that she's just started designing textiles. Congratulations, Tricia!

See the Urban Sightings Contest page

St Augustine fabric by Tricia Colson

 

Hand Drawn Goodness: A contest for fabric designs created by hand

Just to prove that creating a fabric design doesn't require you to be an expert in Photoshop or Illustrator, this week's contest includes over 500 entries that started out as handmade art. Be warned that voting may take quite a while, but rest assured that you'll have the pleasure of choosing your favorites from a pool of many, many lovely designs. (Voting this week is not, I fear, recommended for those still using dial-up Internet connections.)

Vote for Hand Drawn Fabrics

Retro Fantastic: Kitchen Fabrics Aplenty

Now and then we post contests in which we limit designers to a pre-selected group of colors. While these contests always seem to get the creative juices flowing, I'm not sure we've ever had 282 entries in a palette-restricted contest before today. Get ready to vote for a LOT of retro-kitchen fabrics in this week's retro-fabulous competition.

Vote for Retro-Kitchen Fabrics

This week's participants are:

1. Always Time for Apple Pie by inscribed_here 
2. Everything but the Sink by forest&sea 
3. In Granma kitchen by mariao 
4. Winter Recipe by woodle_doo 
5. 1920s Retro Kitchen Wallpaper (red on brown) by majo_bv 
6. 1950's retro kitchen by codalion 
7. 1950s_kitchen_chair_red by peppermintpatty 
8. 1963: Remember the night we made a candle salad? by vo_aka_virginiao 
9. 40s Inspired Retro Kitchen 2 by owlandchickadee 
10. 50's kitchen by cassiopee 

Announcing the Fabric8 Top 100: Time to vote for the finalists!

As you may have read on the Fabric8 contest site, judges from Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Spoonflower have narrowed down over 750 entries to 100 semifinalists for the Fabric8 competition.

Starting today, fabric lovers everywhere are invited to vote for all their favorite fabric designs from the designs selected in the Pen & Ink theme. On May 10th, we'll announce the top 8 designs and the designers who will be asked to move forward to create a whole collection.

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE FINALISTS

The semifinalists are:

1) a day in spring by estrella_de_anis
2) Afternoon Tea by heatherdutton
3) amsterdam_in_love by rosie_martinez-dekker
4) animal_frolic_2 by kantakaa
5) AppalachianHighwayPoppies by meoshaugh
6) axonova by sveta_axonova
7) balloons in bloom by made_in_shina
8) Blooming Flora by my_zoetrope
9) BloomsBurst_Watercolor by veryhappychair
10) bohème by holli_zollinger
11) Bright Idea by maker_maker
12) Bunting by gabriellekingsley
13) Burst_of_Flowers by stacyiesthsu
14) Butterflies by keys
15) Butterflygarden by mahoneybee
16) camping toile by missyp
17) CatalinaGarreton_Fabric8Entry by catalina_garreton
18) cestlaviv_ bienvenue dans mon jardin by c'est_la_viv
19) Chaneinkme by oddoneout
20) Colonial Floral Watercolor by staciedaledesigns
21) colorful temptation by annosch
22) Content Chaos by joybucket
23) CotyFlower by coty
24) daisy lily poppy & rose - fabric8 by lisaekström
25) Dancing Brushes by tiffany_wu
26) Dangerous Liaisons by taffyandtwine
27) Dappled Migration by kayajoy
28) Dogwood Spring_KCraig by karencraig
29) Eden by leanne
30) fantastical stellata by scrummy
31) feathers by luisafranco
32) FINALSWATCH by caramae
33) floral_frenzy by antoniamanda
34) Flowerwatercolorfantasy by alfabesi
35) flower_repeat by bigsister
36) Forest Garden by forest&sea
37) foxgirlbrownhairentry by 1carolyne
38) FreshPicked by amandamcgee
39) Garden Variety by acbeilke
40) Gardens in Paradise by chulabird
41) girl gang by youngcaptive
42) Golly Bard - Frolic by gollybard
43) Granada Floral Ink_Henna by bee&lotus
44) hands! by elenarial
45) her undies by toknight
46) Hosta_Trumpets_WC by helenbillett
47) housewithaview by hedwige
48) India Ink Bees by anntuck
49) inky butterflies in blue by sonny&bee
50) It Is Shining by ★lucy★santana★
51) It's Sedimentary by pixelmech
52) Jungle by demigoutte
53) kaufman_fabric_14 by qweenbeee
54) lilyFlower by flock
55) Lucky dove by zoebrench
56) Magpie Sparkles by melisza
57) Marbles by angeyake
58) Medlar_Fabric8 by joanneanderson
59) MermaidBliss-SF by angie_mac
60) Migration by needlebook
61) mod_floral_coral by nat_olly
62) My Garden by holly_helgeson
63) MyBestPen2 by graphic-change
64) nailpolish_pattern by alihenrie
65) NEWNEWNEWb_buddha by sandrab
66) Ocean treasures by gergana_mollova
67) Paintbrushes tips in my favourite colours by saffron-craig
68) Painted Poppies by hugandkiss
69) Painted_Petals by anderson_lee
70) penAndInkPainted2400_2 by maryleir
71) peonypops by trillias
72) POP_FLOWER_WATERCOLOR by silvery_lane
73) Pretty_Garden by emine_ortega_designs
74) ranunculus by juliannlaw
75) Rebecca_Rendon_circles_2 by rrendon
76) red_poppies by valley_designs
77) repeat_mauve by lauradejong
78) Reves by mygm
79) Richis Roses by kathleen_gretz
80) river_meadow by nataliealex
81) Scan_2 by megreen1021
82) sea stone by maison-rosemonde
83) Sing a New Song by bzbdesigner
84) Soft tropical by michaeladaly
85) springphloxpattern by bettyhatchett
86) Spring_Forest by jeannemcgee
87) strawberries by katherinecodega
88) summer_burst by melsmithdesigns
89) Sunrise Tropic by owlandchickadee
90) The scented garden by cjldesigns
91) the tide comes in waves by drizzlydaydesignco
92) triffids in hot pink by sclues
93) Vintage Balloons by sammyb
94) Water flowers by snowflower
95) watercolor flower dots by maria_carluccio
96) Watercolor_blooms by sberrens
97) watercolor_flowers by cleverviolet
98) Where the Green Fern Grows by droyal
99) Wild & Free by blueclouds
100) ZEN_GARDEN by deeniespoonflower

What's the New Owl? Help Us Choose

 

As a visual theme, owls have dominated the crafty world for far too long, in our opinion. So this week we asked designers to propose a new alpha critter. So what will be the new owl? Hedgehogs, foxes, guinea pigs, chickens and narwhals duke it out in this week's contest.

Vote for the New Owl

 

The participants this week are:

1. Sleeping foxes dots by mariao 
2. a band o' pandas by bubbledog 
3. A Little Bit Crabby by sweetleighmama 
4. a pack of alpacas by babysisterrae 
5. A Racoon patch by sadiejdesigns 
6. Alligator Love by andibird 
7. Already Home 1 by shala 
8. amour d'oiseau sans nuage by nadja_petremand 
9. animal dots by katarina 
10. Animal Patch by suryasajnani 

Fabric8 contest is now closed for entries!

Good luck to the more than 750 designers who entered the Fabric8 contest!  Entries are now closed, and we'll be picking the 100 semi-finalists over this next week.  Voting on these 100 semi-finalists will open next Thursday, 5/3, so please stay tuned!

Fabric8 Deadline Is Nigh!

To all you design procrastinators out there, the deadline to enter the Fabric8 contest -- a competition to find eight of the best amateur textile designers in the world -- is upon us!  The contest is co-sponsored by the good folks at Robert Kaufman, who plan to offer the grand prize winner a contract to become a professional fabric designer. Entries can be submitted for only a few more days -- the deadline is this Tuesday, April 24th. 

The theme for this contest is "Pen & Ink," and we're looking for modern designs that evoke the style of pen and ink drawings that are colored with watercolor paints.  For visual inspiration, check out the Fabric8 Pinterest board of watercolor/pen&ink images.  Note that you don't have to use real pen & ink and watercolors to create your original designs, though you certainly can if you like.  Read more about how to create your pen & ink designs here. 

The winner of the Fabric8 contest will receive a contract with Robert Kaufman fabrics, a $1000 advance against future royalties, a Wacom Cintiq 12WX Pen Display, and $250 in Spoonflower credit.  Get those entries in and good luck to you all! 

Our First Hat Pattern Contest

This was a tough contest to enter. We asked designers to create fabric patterns for making hats that can be printed onto a yard of fabric. How well some of these patterns will work when people actually get around to sewing them remains to be seen, but I can't wait to check out the project photos! For fans of short contests, you'll be pleased to note that there are only 42 entries this week. Vote for your favorites and we'll let you know the results next week.

Vote For Hat Patterns

The intrepid entrants this week are:

1. "mon joli chapeau et sac pour l'été" by nadja_petremand 
2. A party's On! by paragonstudios 
3. Birdiehat by cinqchats 
4. Butterfly Hat by annalisa222 
5. chapeau by hohoh 
6. Cloche Hat - Cut and Sew 23.5" by stitchwerxdesigns 
7. Cloche Hat Trio by kdl 
8. Cloche Hat with matchin Rose Brooch (view to see rose brooch project sample) by nezumiworld 
9. Computer Science Baby Hats and Bib - with bonus for knit fabric! by mongiesama 
10. cupcake chefs hat by p_kok 

Fabrics that celebrate sewing - vote for your favorites

While finding yourself sewing with sewing fabric might be disorienting for some, we're very pleased to be able to offer 112 or sew (sorry, had to) fabrics up for voting this week. Choose your favorites, and we'll be back next week with the winner!

Vote For Sewing Fabrics

The participants this week are:

1. "A Stitch in Time..." - By Rhonda W. © 2012 by rhondadesigns 
2. Rainbow spools (click to view full rainbow) by mariao 
3. "couture oh couture rouge M" by nadja_petremand 
4. 2012-03-25 by designsbyanna 
5. A Button A Thimble A Sewing Needle Too! by dancingwithfabric 
6. A stitch a day.... by amel24 
7. A Stitch at a Time by robyriker 
8. A Time to Mend! by petals*fair 
9. ABC Essentials of Sewing by nezumiworld 
10. AliPink_5 by wiccked