This Week's Design Contest Winner: Geologist by day, fabric designer by night

The winner of this week's ditsy sea creatures fabric design contest is Roz Robinson, a geologist and mom who also apparently dabbles (quite well!) in fabric design. Her "Ammonite Ditsy Print" has the virtue, one can assume, of being scientifically accurate as well as lovely! Ditsy prints are great for apparel, so we're hoping to see some great project photos over the next few weeks.

See the Top Ten Ditsy Sea Creature Fabrics

The final results:

1. 758 votes for mineralised mesozoic mariners: an ammonite ditsy print by coggon 
2. 739 votes for tiny sea creatures by jeannemcgee 
3. 738 votes for Ditsy_fish by johanna_design 
4. 654 votes for I see creatures! by monda 
5. 618 votes for Jack Sprat by spellstone 
6. 555 votes for With the tide by wddesign 
7. 532 votes for Deep Reef Fish by melisza 
8. 480 votes for ShowerCurtain by holland_hewitt 
9. 474 votes for Itsy Bitsy Sea Beasts by kayajoy 
10. 457 votes for Jelly field by francine 

Deco the Halls: Art Deco Fabric Winners

There are some really amazing designs among the top ten fabrics from this week's art deco contest, but at the head of the list is "a deco garden" by Brazilian illustrator and first-time winner Julia Bianchi. We are pleased to report that all of the top ten are now available for sale.

See the Top Ten Art Deco Fabrics

The final votes:

1. 848 votes for a deco garden by the_collectionist 
2. 757 votes for Art Deco Rio De Janeiro by zesti 
3. 750 votes for La maison des papillons by heatherdutton 
4. 644 votes for 1920's Paris by fable_design 
5. 602 votes for Art Deco Flapper Fans - Sunshine by tuppencehapenny 
6. 594 votes for artdeco_1forsf by sophie_buttons 
7. 564 votes for artdecoinrepeat by cashmane 
8. 546 votes for Art deco Lotus by mariao 
9. 533 votes for Decadently Deco by deeniespoonflower 
10. 490 votes for deco fans by coggon 

Graffiti Fabric Contest Winner: Congrats to TheBoerWar

While graffiti can be either hideous or sublime -- depending on the artist, context and predisposition of the viewer -- I expect everyone who looks at this week's top ten will agree that it makes for an interesting theme for fabrics. The winner is the inspiring team behind TheBoerWar, Mathew and Mattea den Boer of Toronto. This is the couple's second win (the coffee contest was their first), but if you follow our contests you will certainly have seen and admired their work before today. Congrats!

See the Top Ten Graffiti Fabrics

The final tally:

1. 713 votes for Toronto Subway Cars by theboerwar 
2. 595 votes for knit graffiti by carcamella 
3. 445 votes for Friendly Neighborhood: After by sammyk 
4. 361 votes for Read Books by mikep 
5. 355 votes for Brick Lane Collage by teja_jamilla 
6. 330 votes for Halle_1 by frau-h 
7. 328 votes for ABC...street by cassiopee 
8. 326 votes for graft_2 by 1980aidan 
9. 320 votes for Homage to Haring (ikat) by jennartdesigns 
10. 303 votes for Walls are dreaming... by demigoutte 

Old Technology, New Fabrics

 

This week's contest delivers another amazing top ten list, at the top of which is "Say Good Night, Gracie," a design by first-time contest winner Brandy Dopkins of Wisconsin. Among the other winning fabrics  you'll find odes to old radios, abacuses, lava lamps, pod chairs, cassette tapes, turntables and -- my personal favorite -- punched tape (which is how folks used to store data for computers, believe it or not).

 

See the Top Ten Outdated Technology Fabrics

The final votes this week:

1. 679 votes for Say Goodnight, Gracie by vicky_s 
2. 649 votes for Plastic Fantastic!! by inscribed_here 
3. 600 votes for Abacus-Cadabracus! by gsonge 
4. 568 votes for Retro radio by cjldesigns 
5. 527 votes for Hot Wax by spellstone 
6. 505 votes for Vintage Screens by demigoutte 
7. 491 votes for Mix Tapes (80s) by pennycandy 
8. 471 votes for heeeeey dj! by amel24 
9. 446 votes for Needlework for the ragpile by zoebrench 
10. 435 votes for Pink Punch Tape by meduzy 

Cityscape contest top ten: New York, San Francisco, Kowloon, London, Venice... and Delft!

Today we wrap up our cityscape contest, which spawned a travel guide's worth of amazing, charming and unique fabrics. And yes, many of the usual suspects all appeared in the top ten -- London, Venice, San Francisco, New York. But the winner was a fabric celebrating the Dutch city of Delft, hometown to Bora, our all-time Spoonflower contest champ. She created a lovely fabric to commemorate Delft, in South Holland, a very old city famous for its blue pottery and home to the painter Vermeer (thank heavens Wikipedia is back up this morning!). 

See the Top Ten Cityscape Fabrics

Thanks to everyone who participated this week! The final votes were:

1. 1007 votes for Delft..the city i love so well! by bora 
2. 873 votes for I've been to Venice by johanna_design 
3. 816 votes for Floating Across the Tops of Cities (New York b&w) by leighr 
4. 799 votes for My Fair Milwaukee by acbeilke 
5. 740 votes for cartoon london map by anastasiia-ku 
6. 738 votes for OldTownStockholm by mrshervi 
7. 736 votes for This Is My NY by sammyk 
8. 719 votes for Basel (one day) by theboerwar 
9. 668 votes for rooftop gardens of San Francisco by jeanne_mcgee 
10. 642 votes for The Walled City of Kowloon by francine 

Coordinates In Bloom: Congrats to Hang Tight Studio!

We just finished printing and photographing the winners of our coordinates contest, in which designers were asked to create four fabric designs in a collection to fit on a single yard. Wow. I'm not sure if this will come across in the photos, but the entries in this contest have almost certainly provided some of the lovliest fabrics we've seen emerge from our (many) contests. The winner is the Bloem Coordinates set by Heather Dutton of Hang Tight Studio. While Heather is one of our favorite designers, this is actually her first contest win since our spoons and flowers contest back in the fall of 2009. A lot has changed since then!

See the Top Ten Coordinates Entries

The full results are as follows:

1. 735 votes for Bloem Coordinates Set by heatherdutton 
2. 706 votes for Footnote Flower - Coordinates by pennycandy 
3. 680 votes for What_The_Hoot by bzbdesigner 
4. 654 votes for 4 for 1! by mariao 
5. 642 votes for linear love collection by amel24 
6. 622 votes for Les Monsieurs by kayajoy 
7. 546 votes for Animal Impressions Collection - 4 FQ in 1 Yard (Bird Vine, Animal Silhouette Quilt, Animal Tower, and Elephant Tracks) by ttoz 
8. 510 votes for Gnome_Patch_coordinates by mayabella 
9. 497 votes for Crazy Circus Coordinates by made_in_shina 
10. 479 votes for It's a Handmade World: Coordinates by cynthiafrenette 

Lip-Smacking Fabric: Introducing the winner of our recipe fabric contest

Continuing a streak of Fabric of the Week wins by designers who have never won contests previously, this week's top fabric designer is Kate Legge, a graphic designer from Vancouver. Her tasty "How to Make a Cappuccino" came out on top in our recipe-themed contest. Check out this week's top ten!

See the Top Ten Recipe Fabrics

For those of you who follow the voting closely, here are the final standings:

1. 612 votes for How to Make a Cappuccino by kate_legge 
2. 563 votes for Crepe Party !! by demigoutte 
3. 476 votes for Lemongrass Chicken Soup by ravenous 
4. 453 votes for Truffles recipes on fabric by fantazya 
5. 444 votes for Cooking veg soup by anastasiia-ku 
6. 434 votes for Zeppo's No Nuts One Bang Banana Bread by thirdhalfstudios 
7. 409 votes for Weekend bread by needlebook 
8. 338 votes for Recipe For A Good Time - Cocktail Napkin - Repeat Print © DianneAnnelli by dianne_annelli 
9. 335 votes for strawberryJAM3 by lilliblomma 
10. 333 votes for Spaghetti a la Reuben by annelize 

This Week's Contest Winner: 1st-Timer Creates Winning Evergreen Fabric Design

We've got another first-timer on the winner's stand this week with treesandelf by chickoteria, a fabric designer from Tennessee. By choosing evergreens as a theme for the week of Christmas, we tried to leave the door open to winter, rather than just holiday, themed fabrics. But in perusing the top ten I think you can see where people's minds were most engaged. Happy new year, everyone!

See the Top Ten Evergreen Fabrics

The final votes:

1. 494 votes for treesandelf by chickoteria 
2. 482 votes for Woodland Woodcut by spellstone 
3. 476 votes for Evergreen christmas party by cjldesigns 
4. 476 votes for X-mas trees by anastasiia-ku 
5. 473 votes for Winter Forest by kezia 
6. 404 votes for britty chrissy by amel24 
7. 381 votes for Fab Forest by raebekah 
8. 373 votes for Fluffy Evergreens by oksancia 
9. 370 votes for Forest in her world by verycherry 
10. 369 votes for Pinecones_and_Hedgehogs by golders 

Swell Bells: Announcing This Week's Fabric Design Contest Winner

Our Fabric of the Week design contest winner this week is UK designer Bethan Janine Westran (sonny&bee) of Sheffield. This is her first win, but we're hoping to see lots more of her work. The top ten this week are lovely!

See the Top Ten Bell Fabrics

The final voting totals:

1. 661 votes for jingledecorations by sonny&bee 
2. 422 votes for Bluebell Field by needlebook 
3. 366 votes for Jingle Bell Garland by nicole_tamarin 
4. 361 votes for Jingle all the way by cjldesigns 
5. 356 votes for Happy Bells by raebekah 
6. 343 votes for Bells by landonsheely 
7. 338 votes for Tiny bells are ringing... by meduzy 
8. 321 votes for Snowy Bells by fattcheese 
9. 318 votes for Vintage Sleigh Bells - green (4 colors available) by dianne_annelli 
10. 309 votes for Chime of the Herald Angels by kayajoy 

Announcing the Top Ten Soft Baby Book Patterns (with Bora as the winner!)

The winner of our contest to create a cut & sew kit for a cloth baby book is none other than Bora, clocking in with her 8th Fabric of the Week contest win. Wow! Although the baby book pattern fits onto a fat quarter, as a bonus Bora's entry actually includes three other quarter-yard designs for a bib and a fun set of plush toys. It's a whole yard's worth of great baby presents! The other nine entries in this week's top ten are also adorable. Just remember, if you had it in mind to get any of these patterns before Christmas, you'll have to use the rush shipping option.

See the Top Ten Cloth Baby Book Patterns

The tally from this week's voting:

1. 695 votes for To the Circus!!! by bora 
2. 619 votes for Hey Diddle Diddle by jennartdesigns 
3. 559 votes for Things to Count at the Circus: A Cloth Book by pennycandy 
4. 547 votes for peek a boo! book by niseemade 
5. 475 votes for Zooby_Book-Wendy_Bentley by wendybentley 
6. 456 votes for Animal Alphabet Cloth Book by suryasajnani 
7. 448 votes for Dream Baby Book by melisza 
8. 422 votes for Animal Friends - baby book by needlebook 
9. 410 votes for Baby's Day On The Farm by jenniferfranklin 
10. 397 votes for Critter Jamboree Book by mytinystar 

Fine Feathered Fabrics - check out the winners in our latest design contest

We've got ten lovely feather fabrics to admire in this week's top ten, but the winner comes from UK designer -- and first-time contest winner --Alex Morgan (Spellstone). Congratulations, Alex!

See the Top Ten Feather Fabrics

The final votes:

1. 571 votes for Aztec Armor by spellstone 
2. 424 votes for Paisley Feathers by irrimiri 
3. 396 votes for Snowy feathers by needlebook 
4. 381 votes for Unknown Feathers by newmom 
5. 379 votes for Rainbow Feathers by ravenous 
6. 363 votes for Spike's Feathers by jenimp 
7. 346 votes for Speckled Spectacular by sammyk 
8. 331 votes for pdspoonfeathercontest1 by chickoteria 
9. 330 votes for feather frenzy by cjldesigns 
10. 301 votes for birds and feathers by anastasiia-ku 

Go Fly A Kite Fabric - Check out the top ten in this week's design contest

The top ten fabric designs in our kite contest are terrific, but the winner this week is Belgian designer Ine Beerten, who goes by Zesti on Spoonflower. Zesti won our carousel contest a year or so ago, but she was also a finalist in the Project Selvage competition. Be sure to check out Spoonflower team member Jesse's awesome photos of the top ten on Flickr.

See the Top Ten Kite Fabrics

The final results:

1. 450 votes for Koi No Bori (Japanese Koi Fish Kites) in the night sky by zesti 
2. 424 votes for Kite Up! by melisza 
3. 404 votes for Feeling like a kite by irrimiri 
4. 394 votes for newsprint_kites by peppermintpatty 
5. 289 votes for Oh Happy Day! by fabgirl42 
6. 272 votes for The Siblings LeFleur and the Naughty Zephyr by ceanirminger 
7. 261 votes for kites by katarina 
8. 247 votes for Kites by fattcheese 
9. 231 votes for ©2011 goflyakite-bright sky by glimmericks 
10. 229 votes for Kite friends Blue by needlebook 

Check out the top ten Advent calendar kits | Congrats to winner Kayajoy

Coming out on top in our contest to design a fabric kit for sewing an Advent calendar is 5-time contest winner Kayajoy, a talented artist who hails from Montreal. If you're planning to sew her kit (or any of the other top ten) in time to use this year you'll have to hurry!

See the Top Ten Advent Calendar Kits

The final voting results:

1. 626 votes for Festive Forest Tree Decorating - Advent Calendar by kayajoy 
2. 449 votes for Advent Calendar by irrimiri 
3. 375 votes for birdy advent calendar by amel24 
4. 354 votes for Quiet Winter Town by theboerwar 
5. 312 votes for X-mas Calendar by demigoutte 
6. 294 votes for Christmas Countdown Wreath by jennartdesigns 
7. 274 votes for Festive Fun Advent Tree by spellstone 
8. 270 votes for Baby Owls Advent Calendar by natitys 
9. 269 votes for Cookie Advent Calendar by modgeek 
10. 265 votes for Nativity Scene Advent Calendar, Finger Puppets & Hanging Ornaments too! by elizabethjones 

Tea towel calendar parade - check out the top ten designs in our 2012 calendar contest

The tea towel calendar contest this year did not disappoint... not only are the top ten designs stunning, but so are the entries that didn't win! Amy Peppler Adams (PennyCandy) -- whose 2012 Tea Towel Calender won the contest --  is a Seattle-based artist with lots of fun, typographical fabric designs. This is her first contest win, so congratulations, Amy! We recommend linen-cotton canvas for tea towels, by the way.

See the Top Ten Tea Towel Calendars

The full results:

1. 790 votes for 2012 Tea Towel Calendar by pennycandy
2. 779 votes for 2012 Fishies Friends by melisza
3. 722 votes for birds & berries tea towel calendar 2012 by lisaekstrom
4. 689 votes for Hello 2012 by valentinaramos
5. 685 votes for Tea towel, calendar and boardgame! by bora
6. 616 votes for Tea towel Calendar 2012 by irrimiri
7. 593 votes for Tea Towel Calendar 2012: Night Time by jackieatweelife
8. 561 votes for A Year in the City 2012 by francine
9. 542 votes for 2012 Cuppa Tea Towel by cynthiafrenette
10. 497 votes for Owl Tree Tea Towel 2012 Calendar - Extra Coasters for Linen-Cotton Canvas width (hit zoom) by ttoz

Honoring the greatest generation in fabric: Announcing the winner of our military contest

We asked contest participants this week to come up with military-themed fabrics in honor of Veterans Day. The winner, Celia Malm of Iowa, managed to put together a fabric design that honors the greatest generation in a way that is both fitting and quite personal. Her The Greatest Generation fabric was created using old postcards and photos from her own family members who served during WWII. Be sure to check Celia's terrific design as well as the rest of the top ten.

See the Top Ten Military Fabrics

Final voting results:

1. 667 votes for The Greatest Generation by veritybrown 
2. 484 votes for POPPIES by lusyspoon 
3. 450 votes for Remembrance Through Recognition by sammyk 
4. 447 votes for Lest we forget poppies by fantazya 
5. 433 votes for military medals by mariao 
6. 410 votes for The paratroopers by theboerwar 
7. 401 votes for Celabration Day by demigoutte 
8. 326 votes for Poppy Field in Fuzzy Felts by forest&sea 
9. 295 votes for For the Sacrifices You Have Made - We Salute You by victorialasher 
10. 290 votes for girly medals by cassiopee 

Dinosaurs make an appearance in cameo contest top ten: Congrats to SammyK!

SammyK does it again! Our all-time Spoonflower champ comes out on top in yet another contest by virtue of her astonishing, untiringly creative (and funny) approach to the Fabric of the Week themes. With "Reallllly Old Cameos" she marries the concept of cameo-inspired designs to an unexpected partner, dinosaurs, to win the most votes in a field of terrific fabrics. As those of you who follow our blog may already know, Samarra's new fabric collection for Timeless Treasures also had its debut at Quilt Market this week in Houston. SammyK is on a roll!

See the Top Ten Cameo Fabrics

The final votes went as follows:

1. 560 votes for Reallllly Old Cameos by sammyk 
2. 420 votes for chicken cameos by jeanne_mcgee 
3. 385 votes for Cameo Penguins by klegge 
4. 382 votes for Tone on Tone Cameo by nicole_tamarin 
5. 358 votes for virtues by victoriagolden 
6. 355 votes for Nursery Cameo by natitys 
7. 355 votes for The Regal Basset Hound by robyriker 
8. 347 votes for Art Nouveau Cameo by annelize 
9. 338 votes for Japanese cameo by cjldesigns 
10. 326 votes for Butterfly Cameo by kayajoy 

Is it too early to start sewing ornaments? Check out the winners in our latest contest

Happy Halloween! It's funny to find myself posting photos of Christmas ornaments with hands still moist from scooping pumpkin guts into a bowl, but here we are. The winner of our contest to fit a pattern for a hanging ornament onto a single swatch-sized piece of fabric is Australian artist Julie Lynch, who won our Roller Derby-themed competition just a few weeks ago. Julie's Festive Birds Hanging Ornament actually includes a quarter-yard's worth of patterns in addition to the swatch-sized bird pictured on the upper left above. When we first launched Spoonflower, we really saw swatches as just a way for buyers to test a fabric before buying more. We didn't foresee the idea that a whole sewing kit could be included on an 8 inch square piece of fabric! Because our system as it stands at the moment doesn't pay designers a commission on a swatch (and please watch this space for news), you'll be relieved to know that this week we've awarded the other nine designers in the top ten with Spoondollar credits along with the winner. These ornament patterns, by the way, also make terrific projects for novice sewists!

See the Top Ten Hanging Ornament Patterns

The final voting went as follows:

1. 627 votes for Festive Birds Hanging Ornament. (3 birds and 2 owls on a FQ) by cjldesigns
2. 598 votes for Cardinal Hanging Ornament by dianne_annelli
3. 519 votes for Reindeer Ornament by ttoz
4. 493 votes for Cookie Cute Christmas Ornament by marcelinesmith
5. 489 votes for Señor Party Lights (Click to see sewn sample) by happysewlucky
6. 468 votes for peacock ornament by amel24
7. 462 votes for 7 Miniature Teapots. Please zoom to see all 7 of them. by niceandfancy
8. 427 votes for Baby Owl Ornament by natitys
9. 414 votes for Swedish Dala Horse by supercoop
10. 354 votes for hanging ornament elf by irrimiri

Who Says A Fabric Design Site Can't Love Wrestling? SammyK dominates the Lucha Libre mask competition

SammyK's Mariposa Magnifico has dominated arch rival Lucha libre mask of all time by fantazya, and two dozen or so other designs, to take the prize in our Lucha Libre Mask Pattern contest. But in a surprise twist, the ferocious SammyK has tagged another competitor -- seven-and-a-half-year-old artist Eislinn, whose terrific Lucha Libre masks won the hearts of many audience members -- and donated her $100 Spoondollar prize to her. So congratulations to the team of Samarra and Eislinn! On that note, some people think that because we're geeks who think about fabric all day we're some kind of pushovers. Well, I say think again.

SEE THE TOP TEN LUCHA LIBRE MASK PATTERNS

Scoring from the judges:
1. 553 Mariposa Magnifico by sammyk
2.  378 Lucha libre mask of all time by fantazya
3.  361 Corazon del Fuego by jenr8
4.  331 The Prettiest Little Girly Wrestling Mask by kayajoy
5.  303 Sexy lucha libre by wantit
6.  300 Lucha Libre kids mask by verycherry
7.  253 El Capta'n Labotomy by whimzwhirled
8.  241 TIGERLunchLibre2011 by nikky
9.  239 El Fuego Furioso! by fabgirl42
10.  230 Meowing Owl by purplegoat

Fabrics For Your Root Fabric Cellar: Announcing the winner of our root vegetable contest

What a great bunch of fabric designs we saw this week! Who knew root vegetables would make such inspired textile designs? We are excited to announce that the winner is Tamara Serrao, the Montreal-based designer known on Spoonflower as Kayajoy. This is Tamara's fourth win and it's fun looking back through her previous triumphs in the sharks, rain and imaginary animals contests. They're all great. But if you do nothing else fabric-related today, please check out this week's top ten:

See the Top Ten Root Vegetable Fabrics

Vote totals this week were:

1. 900 votes for The Dinner Thief by kayajoy
2. 753 votes for beets_ by betsybeans
3. 648 votes for Root Vegetables Characters by oksancia
4. 619 votes for roots_of_art by johanna_design
5. 571 votes for Underground Movement by sammyk
6. 544 votes for rootin tootin veg by sonny&bee
7. 516 votes for sketch vegetables! by jeanne_mcgee
8. 482 votes for Purple Carrots by fattcheese
9. 477 votes for Root_Veggies_and_More_1 by stacyiesthsu
10. 444 votes for Uber Tubers by ceanirminger

Ditsy For Ditsy: One Of Our Best Contests Ever

Maybe it's the novelty of having a theme based on small prints for the first time, but the batch of fabrics coming out of the ditsy print contest this week has already made it one of my favorites. The winner turns out to be Virginie Ozanon, a young artist from Lyon, France, who goes by the moniker demigoutte on our site. Congratulations, Virginie, on your first win!

See the Top Ten Ditsy Prints

The final voting results:

1. 572 votes for Fruity Ditsy by demigoutte
2. 560 votes for circulo by fabgirl42
3. 527 votes for Stem Doodles by woo
4. 509 votes for Ditsy Garden by kezia
5. 501 votes for Ditsy Fishy by fattcheese
6. 499 votes for Flower Shower Charcoal (Ditsy) by gracedesign
7. 477 votes for A bunting we will go birds by vo
8. 464 votes for Ditsy Russian Foliage - brown by leslipepper
9. 452 votes for Ditsy Circles by angelaanderson
10. 449 votes for Rainbow Stars by animotaxis