Top Ten Indie Fabric Designers of 2011
Continuing with the year-end reflections we began with yesterday's post, today we'd like to present the top ten indie fabric designers in the Spoonflower marketplace for 2011. They are:
1. holli_zollinger - Holli Zollinger is an artist and designer whose deceptively simple designs simply work for all kinds of projects. The Spoonflower office is full of her work!
2. studiofibonacci - Part-time designer and "life-long geek" Studio Fibonacci always seems to have her finger on the pulse of the subcultures that thrive on the Internet.
3. heatherross - Heather Ross is a bit of a celebrity, having written a popular sewing book as well as produced bestselling fabric designs and illustrations for a number of well-known companies. While she doesn't have any fabric available at the moment on Spoonflower, now and then she'll offer limited edition versions of her fabric designs, which are always hot-sellers!
4. heatherdutton - Heather Dutton Hang Tight Studio does amazing, colorful work from a lime green studion in Maine.
5. ceanirminger - Another perennial favorite in our Fabric of the Week contests, Cean Irminger spends her days designing mosaics and her evenings devising lovely, distinctive fabric designs.
6. domesticate - Andrea Whalen of Marysville, Ohio, is an interior design-lover and fan of "natural glam."
7. bora - Dutch illustrator Deborah van de Leijgraaf is one of our favorites, and she's won more Fabric of the Week contests than I can count at this point. Find her on her blog!
8. pattysloniger - You may remember Patty Sloniger as the winner of the Project Selvage contest we put together with Michael Miller Fabrics. Her new fabric collections for MMF will be available in quilt shops this year!
9. cynthiafrenette - Our favorite designer from British Columbia, Canada, who was also a finalist in the Project Selvage contest last spring.
10. thebline - Amy, of the B-Line, teaches chemistry by day and makes fabulous things by night.
Although all the thumbnails are broken on the post, it's fun to compare this year's list to a similar list we put together a year ago for the top indie designers of 2010.
Top Fifty Indie Fabric Designs
Before you ask, let us follow up the first list with an answer to the natural corollary question: "What were the most popular individual fabric designs on Spoonflower in 2011?" In order to dig a little deeper into all the amazing original designs on the site, on this list we're offering the top 50. (note that the images should all act as links. The top-selling fabrics on Spoonflower in 2011 were:
1. 
Madman in a Blue Box fabric by studiofibonacci
2. 
Spoonflower Color Map fabric by spoonflower [doesn't really count but we left it in anyway]
3. 
playhorsespink2 fabric by heatherross
4. 
(Small) Eleven Traveling Doctors and Blue Phone Boxes fabric by greencouchstudio
5. 
chevrons fabric by holli_zollinger
6. 
(Large) Eleven Traveling Doctors and Blue Phone Boxes fabric by greencouchstudio
7. 
Mock Pacman 2.0 fabric by pixeldust
8. 
playhorsespink fabric by heatherross [not currently for sale]
9. 
cricketfabric fabric by heatherross [not currently for sale]
10. 
Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Feorlen, and Bacon fabric by vo_aka_virginiao
11. 
equations and equations fabric by primenumbergirl
12. 
T.A.R.D.I.S. fabric by theunicornandthewasp
13. 
Tea Towel Calendar fabric by pennycandy
14. 
mustache gallery fabric by avelis
15. 
Political Dalek fabric by studiofibonacci
16. 
Ro-co-co and a Bottle of Rum fabric by ceanirminger
17. 
Kawaii Kitchen – plushie toy set fabric by bora
18. 
Tetris Border Print fabric by chronicallyuncool (also appeared in last year's top 10)
19. 
Owls, in Blue – In The Land of Boys fabric by aimeemarie
20. 
Owl Be Darned! Apron Pattern fabric by ceanirminger (also appeared in last year's top 10)
21. 
Clockwork Collage fabric by ophelia
22. 
multi_owls_-_white_background fabric by petunias
23. 
birdhouse fabric by troismiettes
24. 
Vines fabric by lydia_meiying
25. 
Summer Rose Garden fabric by pattysloniger
26. 
Doctors, Monsters, and Friends fabric by studiofibonacci
27. 
Practical Full-Range Color Chart ©2011 by Jane Walker fabric by artbyjanewalker
28. 
birds & berries tea towel calendar 2012 fabric by lisaekström
29. 
Moon Rabbit (see yard view for full image) fabric by ceanirminger
30. 
Blue Nebula #1 fabric by corseceng
31. 
Wild Flowers Pink fabric by heatherross
32. 
seakelptrim fabric by alison_and_bear
33. 
mad science fabric by avelis
34. 
Night Owl fabric by leanne
35. 
Power Paisley fabric by heatherdutton
36. 
tree_hearts fabric by holli_zollinger
37. 
kelpdrapery fabric by alison_and_bear
38. 
Woodland fabric by lydia_meiying
39. 
FOX TAILS fabric by petunias
40. 
Shining, burning, bursting through – the stars! fabric by studiofibonacci
41. 
Navy Chevron fabric by mgterry
42. 
ROSEREPMASTERRPTm fabric by heatherross
43. 
plus_one_linen_yellow fabric by holli_zollinger
44. 
Rockets 'n Robots fabric by leanne
45. 
Owl Tree Tea Towel 2012 Calendar – Extra Coasters for Linen-Cotton Canvas width (hit zoom) fabric by ttoz
46. 
Busses Pink fabric by heatherross
47. 
nuns on grey fabric by heidikenney
48. 
Obscure Animals Alphabet fabric by maile
49. 
cherry fabric by troismiettes
50. 
Stained Glass Rose Windows fabric by sammyk
Starrlah
I know this is an old discussion sorry– but D’s question brings me to ask the ‘somewhat different question.’ Dr. Who is a copyrighted franchise and the TARDIS is BBCs copyrighted intellectual property and Tetris and Pacman are copyrighted as well. Usually you need an art license or copyright permission to sell images of someone else’s concept even if you created the images yourself. How does that work? Are we allowed to do that?
Aimée Bentson
Wow, can’t believe my Project Selvage fabric got #19, very exciting!!! Can’t wait to do some more!
ThirdHalfStudio
Holy cow! I hardly know what to say – thank you Spoonflower and everybody here whose talents are so outstanding. We are really honored to be on this list. As a side note I have hesitated putting a Dr. Who fabric out there because I thought it would be way too nerdy of me… apparently I can feel free to let that flag fly!
Cean Irminger
Yippee! I’m so excited I can’t sleep! Thank you so much SF for posting this list, for the super nice write up and for the opportunity to make it onto a list like this at all! Congrats to all of the stellar designers mentioned and I can’t wait to get the 2012 fabric fun started!
Cynthia
Woohoo! Thank you so much- I am so honoured and humbled to be in such a talented bunch of designers! here’s to a great 2012!
Stephen
D, if you have questions about the originality of a designer's artwork, the most civilized approach is probably to email her directly to ask about it before making any assumptions. But since you're posting here, I will note that as far as we know all of StudioFibonacci's artwork is completely original. She is in many cases creating artwork inspired by fictional characters created by others, which is a somewhat different question.
D
Sorry to be a jerk. But isn’t the number 2 fabric designer putting famous artists works onto fabric?!? How is that allowed.
Virginia
Wooooo hooooo! Hooray for top 25! I’m so excited I’m in there too!
Sharon Turner
ooo exciting! Nice to see the top 25 ~ thank you 😀 !!!
Stephen
By special request, a continuation of the list of 2011’s top indie fabric designers:
11. spoonflower
12. heidikenney
13. sammyk
14. kristopherk
15. greencouchstudio
16. vo_aka_virginiao
17. ttoz
18. troismiettes
19. thirdhalfstudios
20. ophelia
21. avelis
22. petunias
23. scrummy
24. nadja_petremand
25. artbyjanewalker
Amy Bethune
Wow, I had no idea I was anywhere near the top ten! What a great surprise to start 2012. Way to go, everyone! Thanks!