A quilt contest and a glossary

I used to think of September as a month where nothing much happened, but this year it's proven to be quite a whirlwind.  Already!  And only a week into it! 

Over here in the Spoonflower shop, I'm afraid that we labored in honor of Labor Day.  But when I got home, I put in some much-needed puttering time in my sewing room, finishing up a few small odds and ends and even tackling some mending that's been sitting around for a few weeks.  I'm trying to get things cleared out before I really get started on my Christmas present sewing. 

Okay, what I was really doing was using up every possible excuse for not getting started on a quilt for my oldest daughter's new room.  I'm a bit daunted, see, because I've never made a full-size quilt.  I've got most of my fabrics chosen now...or at least, I think I do except that there are some freaking amazing designs available now in our beta marketplace that would look great on her quilt, too.  Like this one.  And this one.  And oooh, this one....

But I digress.  As is usual lately.  Fortunately, not every sewist is as unfocused or short on time as I am.  The Alliance for American Quilts announced the winners of their "Crazy for Quilts" themed contest recently, to which Spoonflower proudly contributed some prizes.  One of the first place winners in the under-30 category--Kelly Phelps whose quilt is pictured left--had never even made a quilt before!  Nice work, everyone!  My first quilt was of the pastel, lots-of-right-angles baby quilt variety, so I admire the daring of many of the entries.

And in the spirit of jumping around a lot lately, I also wanted to share with you a handy little Glossary of Pattern Design that Stephen ran across today.  I've learned a ton about fabric and design since we first launched Spoonflower a year and a half ago, but I don't mind saying that this glossary taught me some terms I hadn't heard before.  Cartouche anyone?

What to do with a Spoonflower shipping envelope

You already know that your Spoonflower fabric is fabulous and eminently sewable, but don't chuck that perfectly usable Tyvek envelope we shipped it in!  I just saw this tutorial (via Craft) from Becky Stern on how to transform your used Tyvek envelope into a lunch bag--mighty timely if you've got a back-to-schooler like me.  Becky says that the resulting lunch bag won't last forever, but having seen a similar project (a Tyvek tote) in Betz White's new book, Sewing Green, and having also been lucky enough to fondle said Tyvek tote in a Betz workshop awhile back, I've gotta say it seems like pretty sturdy stuff to me!

Kanzashi crafting

Crafty young'uns
Originally uploaded by Secretsugar

I think of summer as my "indoor season." In mid-summer NC, it's just too darn hot to do anything but sit inside and sew. Apparently, my oldest daughter and her friend thought so too, it being a scorching 95 degrees even before lunch today. These two accompanied me to the Spoonflower office this morning and looked very cozy and crafty indeed, sitting on our sofa, checking out Diane Gilleland's new book, Kanzashi in Bloom, and sorting through pretty fabric bits.

Naturally, we have no shortage of fabric scraps lying around the house and the office, so it was a simple matter for my 11-year old to put together a cute little flower, following all Diane's excellent instructions on her own and wrangling the hot glue gun like a pro. No word on what the flower is going to be used for but it's cute, huh? New necklaces are next on our craft list, I think!

Sweet

Originally uploaded by Lisa Rupp

I love Lisa Rupp's sweet blanket for her daughter, shown right. Lisa printed her design with Spoonflower, then had her mom sew it up into a blanket that's appropriate for a little girl, but not at all girly. Her little angel looks so pleased to be sitting there, don't you think?

If your little one would be pleased to have a similar blanket, Lisa says on her blog that she'd be willing to hook you up with a design for either a boy or a girl. You can email her here, but don't skip browsing her site for more gorgeous design work and her blog for other beautiful photos of this project and others.  My favorite is an arrangement of real flowers that she turned into a pattern. (We might need to add a new "Dang, why didn't I think of that?" category to the blog now....)

How to make "real" oilcloth

Picnic and outdoor barbecue season--not to mention messy crafting with children at home from school season--has brought a fair number of requests from you all about whether we can print onto oilcloth.  I'd hate to see what would happen if we put modern PVC-based oilcloth through our printing and heat-fixing process.  But it hadn't occurred to me to wonder about how oilcloth was originally made until I saw this tutorial on how to make "real" oilcloth by ModHomeEcTeacher via Curbly today. 

I've got to be honest here and admit that I haven't tried this with Spoonflower printed fabric yet, but it sure seems like an interesting idea if you've got the (drying) time and space.  Maype to end up as kids' place mats?  A new back-to-school lunch bag?  Or those cute sandwich wraps eco-conscious folks are using in lieu of disposable plastic baggies?  Hmmmm....

Sewnsunday bag

I'm putting myself through the mixed pleasure/torture of browsing through Etsy listings this morning.  Pleasure because there's so much beautiful handmade stuff out there, and torture because I'm not home making beautiful stuff myself right now.

Whenever I see something particularly amazing--which for me happens often on Etsy or in one of my favorite Flickr pools--I say it out loud to my computer screen.  "Oh my Gawd, how did she make that?" or "Dang, did she really make that pattern up herself?!" 

This morning I was talking to various bags pictured in Kristin's shop, sewnsunday, including her Melinda clutch pictured left featuring a motif cut from a design she printed with Spoonflower.  Are you all digging how she matched design when the bag is closed as much as I am?  Looooove!

Father's Day Creature Shirt from Ann Tuck

I keep being startled by how close Father's Day is and how woefully unprepared I am with a gift for Papa Stephen. Yikes! Perhaps this sort of project is the way to go, huh? After all, Stephen wears t-shirts, the kids like to draw, and mama likes to sew. A happy group of gifting circumstances!

See Ann Tuck's post about her family's Father's Day gift creation here.

Spoonflower in Space

 No, this is not a mention from NASA.  But do take a look at this incredible summer frock designed by Spoonflower customer, Shannon Bailey, as part of her smilla line of dresses.  Shannon's original dress designs made up in her Spoonflower fabric were part of the line-up in the recent "Summer in Space" themed W. 18th Street Fashion Show in Kansas City.  I am very much digging this dress in particular featuring Shannon's navy circles design.  Shannon tells me she has no website or storefront yet, but you can view more pictures of her dresses here in our Flickr pool.  You can also watch a video montage of last year's show here.  The show looks like such a blast, and I can't wait to see more, Shannon!

Retro design curtain love

One of my very favorite things about working at Spoonflower is how frequently I see our customers do amazing things with the fabrics we print for them.  A case in point:  Marti's unbelievable retro boomerang Formica-inspired curtain design.  She told me she got the design idea from Formica tabletops at a diner just down the road from her in Cambridge, MA.

I'll confess to a certain fondness for curtain projects done with Spoonflower fabric.  An idle complaint to Stephen one night about how I couldn't find the right curtain fabric that I could see clearly in my own head is the idea that s parked Spoonflower in the first place.  But my curtain vision is nothing like Marti's!   In her words, "I've been teased unmercifully for making the pattern match up at the edges where the curtains close and for matching the inverting colors at the boundary between cream and dark, but I think the resulting effect is worth the effort."  Now that's creative vision!  You can see a close-up of Marti's seam matching here.

Toddler hat by Lisa.littlek

Toddler hat, side view
Originally uploaded by lisa.littlek

Have you all seen Lisa.littlek's adorable, scrappy toddler sun hat in our Flickr pool today? It caught my eye right away because I've been experiencing a fair amount of sun hat envy while making the outside rounds with my daughters lately. At the pool yesterday, an excellent gray linen hat with a row of white shell buttons around it. At Locopops, our local popsicle store, the perfect straw hat with a brim not too wide and not too floppy. Part of it is that there are a lot of Japanese women living in our neighborhood here in Chapel Hill, and I swear that they all seem to know secret, cool sources of amazing, casual, interestingly stitched sun hats. Anyone know of any good sun hat patterns or tutorials out there? If you do, please leave a link in the comments!

Miss Emma Ruth halter top

I don't know about you all, but I'm obsessed with summery halter top patterns lately. In NC, we're already getting 85 degree days sprinkled in amongst our otherwise springy weeks, so I know that beach and pool season are just around the corner!

When I saw Missemmaruth's halter top in our Flickr pool this morning, I couldn't suppress a squeal. I love it! It's made from Spoonflower printed fabric designed by Imakethings and based on a free pattern offered by IchiGoGirl through Burdastyle.  Super flattering, isn't it?  Must go do some downloading and printing now....

Faux headboard from Paper Pie

This photo of Paper Pie's new "headboard" in our Flickr pool caught my eye recently. I love her fabric designs and what a clever use for a group of coordinating designs!  Liz mentions this is a temporary decoration til a "real" headboard replaces her framed fabrics.  Me?  I'd keep it just like this!

Betz White inspiration

I sure hope the rest of you had a weekend as inspiring as I had!  In my last post, I mentioned the Betz White bag-making/felting workshop at Panopolie in Raleigh I was planning to attend.  It was six hours of awesome!  Betz was super friendly and very knowledgeable, not to mention armed with the most incredible stash of felted sweaters I've ever seen.  She showed us a big pile of her own projects to demonstrate what sorts of bags were possible and then just turned us loose on her felt stash, offering quick technique lessons here and there when asked.  It was so liberating to just wing it with the supplies in front of me for a change, not least because all my sewing projects lately have been of the follow-all-the-rules garment sewing variety.  Biggest lesson learned?  Loosen up sometimes, Kim!  I made the bag shown left, among a few other projects.

I also picked up a copy of Betz' new book, Sewing Green, while I was there and I strongly encourage you all to get one for yourselves.  There are some amazing project ideas, all beautifully photographed, and I've been inspired all weekend long.  I've already been to a local thrift shop for some cast-off cashmere sweaters in Easter egg colors.  Once I accumulate a few more, they're going to enjoy a second life as a felted cashmere throw for my oldest daughter who's getting her own room in the near future.  Have a sneak peek at some of Betz' project photos, including her felted cashmere blanket, here!

For locals--Betz White workshop tomorrow!

This has been such a slammed week, both for Spoonflower and for Stephen and I personally.  I'm pretty relieved that it's coming to an end, especially because tomorrow I get to reward myself with a marathon crafting class taught by none other than Betz White!  Betz is going to be in Raleigh at Panoplie tomorrow morning, from 9:00 am til 3:00 pm, showing us eager crafty types how to make bags out of recycled and reused materials and how to needle-felt and make projects from our results.  She'll also be available afterwards to sign copies of her new book, Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials.  If any of you fellow North Carolinians need a crafting break as much as I do, call Panoplie to register.  I hope to see some Spoonflower users there!

Things that make you go "Squeeeee!"

Are these booties from Tiddlybums not incredibly adorable?  I'm such a sucker for the baby stuff, even if my baby-having days are behind me now.  Their things are so soft!  So small!  So cute!  If you need a dose of cuteness yourself, browse through the rest of the Bitty Booties photo pool, moderated by Heather Bailey.  Her free downloadable "Bitty Booties" pattern is available on her blog for you to make, too!

SmileRecipe-style cuteness

I don't know about y'all, but I'm in serious need of some springtime cheer these days.  I know it's just February and all, but I am so over winter at this point!  Which is perhaps why SmileRecipe's adorable little gadget pouches jumped out at me while I was browsing our Flickr pool today.  They're so cute and springy to me, though I have to admit I had to look up what a Nintendo DS Lite was.  I'm sure my digital camera would fit very cozily, though!  You can see more of SmileRecipes's cute projects at her Etsy shop here.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I was just noticing that our pool had passed the 1,000 member mark over the weekend.  We're now at 1,001 members, which seems to me like a fine reason to celebrate.  Woo-hoo!  Thanks for playing, everyone!

YouTube jackpot

I have a love/hate relationship with the internet which I suspect many of you out there might share.  On the one hand, I really hate how much time can be sucked away before I've even realized I've been reading blogs for an hour during my girls' naptime when I had planned to actually sew something.  But on the other hand, sometimes I run across something so brilliant and amazing that I know I never would've found out if I hadn't been dorking around online.

Courtesy of an archived podcast on dress forms by Lori at Sew Forth Now!, I present to you this fantastic video on how to make your own dress form.  Out of duct tape.  Really.

I love the internet.

Sling bag tutorial

This great sling bag caught my eye in our Flickr pool this morning.  It was made by Laura Wilson at We Wilsons, and just as I was thinking to myself, "Nice vintage-y buckle and I wonder where she got that awesome pattern," I see the note that Laura has put up the tutorial at her blog.  The best thing?  It's designed to use exactly a fat quarter!  Well, ok, it wants a second fat quarter for the lining and strap backing, too, but how many bag patterns are out there that use up just that amount?  Not many, I say.  Thanks for sharing this great project, Laura!

Wedding wheel quilt

If you're already married, you probably wouldn't have had any reason to pick up a copy of the Winter 2009 Martha Stewart Weddings, just out a few days ago.   I picked up a copy because Spoonflower has a very small mention in a caption under the photo of Jennifer Hoverson's wedding cake table.  For those of you who don't already know this, Jennifer Hoverson is one of the owners of Purlsoho, one of the most amazing on-line fabric and yarn stores ever.  (They have a brick and mortar store in Manhattan as well, which I've heard is crammed almost to the ceiling with fabric.)

Despite access to all the beautiful fabric she could presumably ever need, Jennifer had us print up some yardage for her several months ago to turn into a tablecloth for her orange- and green-themed wedding.  And then she turned that into the backing for the stunning orange and green color wheel quilt shown at left.  You can view many more of Jennifer's quilt project photos here, including the tablecloth turned quilt back.  I love that Jennifer got two very special uses out of her Spoonflower fabric and pleased especially that we got to be a part of it!  Thanks, Jennifer, and best wishes for your marital bliss!

New year, new projects

I suppose it's not too surprising that the end of my handmade holidays has definitely not put an end to the sewing around here lately.  All these projects for the house I'd put on hold while I was busy making things for others are now at the top of my to-do list:  pillowcases for our bed to replace the threadbare ones we were using, a new curtain for the bathroom (from a $2.99 vintage barkcloth score!), felt-backed coasters for our living room, recovering a gross ironing board, and on and on. 

But it looks like I'm not the only domestic overachiever out there lately.  Everyday I'm delighted to see that our Flickr pool has someone's new project to ogle.  From Sew Bettie's stuffed monsters to Walter and Veronica's beautiful quilt at left, from Shop Worthy's appliqued kids' tees to Nine Tomatoes' wine bags, we're all still cranking out the handmade goodness.   Please do keep them coming, y'all!  I love seeing all your fabrics being put to creative use!