Hey y’all. Spoonflower’s social media and blog manager Theresa here. Usually I address you all as Spoonflower, but today I want to use first-person.  It’s not often we get personal here on the blog, but I simply could not leave without saying goodbye! After five years with this amazing company I have decided to pack my bags and head west to Colorado to find a new adventure.  Saying goodbye is never easy. Back in fourth grade I was the last kid to leave the classroom because I refused to let go of my teacher, Mrs. Howard —  who I had quite literally become attached to. Today I find myself in a similar situation, although my fourth grade teacher is Spoonflower and this incredible community. 

Before I go, I mainly just want to say thank you. In my time here I have been astounded, humbled and deeply inspired by all of you designers and makers who follow along with Spoonflower. It has been an honor to create and source content that inspires you.  Watching this community grow and discover your own personal super powers has been a unique privilege I don’t take lightly. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your world and learn from you. 

In the spirit of reflection, I want to look back and share some of my fondest memories with you all. While I will carry countless memories of Spoonflower with me when I go, these are the five that stand out the most. 

 1. Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” Quilt for the 2013 Staff Challenge

Never will I forget the year I was on Team Hey Girl for the Staff Design Challenge back in 2013! I don’t think the majority of us at Spoonflower had actually ever properly quilted anything in our lives, and yet we were all faced with the challenge to work with a team to both design and sew a finished quilt using Spoonflower fabric. So we set to work and my team ended up taking third place with our Ryan Gosling Pixel quilt! Not bad for some quilting newbies! You can read all about the experience here and even buy the quilt top / back if you feel so inclined (still waiting for Ryan Gosling to come pick up his yardage).

2. Halloween 2013 Costume Contest Champions: Crafting Zombies

My first year at Spoonflower, I was told the company takes Halloween very seriously and so I knew I had to step up my game! Together with a couple of my Customer Service cohorts we pulled together some truly terrifying zombie crafter costumes — death by horrible crafting accidents! Complete with zipper face, pins coming out our faces and heads, we ended up winning the Halloween costume contest that year, which completely made up for the hours spent gluing a zipper to my face and undoubtedly scarring a few people for life.

3. Being Part of the World’s Best Customer Service Team from 2012 – 2015

I am so grateful for the years I spent on “the front lines” as part of Spoonflower’s small but mighty four-person customer service team. It was not always easy and my skin thickened quite a bit during those years. But I will say there’s no better education on this company than to serve and trouble-shoot for the people who make it all run — the customers.

At a company that grows as rapidly as Spoonflower, five years can feel like a lifetime of transitions and big change.  I went through two office moves (here I am in 2013 after our first move to a bigger space!). To be able to witness a company’s growth spurts and all that goes along with that is truly a special thing and I learned a lot from it. I am very proud of how far Spoonflower has come in this short period of time. The company has really transformed while still maintaining its core values of community, creativity and innovation.

4. Events!

From the Custom Workroom Conference in Charlotte, to Sew Pro in Chicago, Indie Craft Parade and Maker’s Summit in Greenville, I am lucky to have been to some wonderful events representing Spoonflower over the years. One of the most memorable was October 2015 at The Knot Gala in New York City, where Spoonflower got to supply the event (at the stunning New York Public Library) with custom fabric and wallpaper.  That night was like a fairytale come true!

The Knot Gala – all dressed up and enjoying the New York City glamour with Stephen Fraser (SF co-founder) and my Marketing cohorts
Made so many sweet new friends at Maker’s Summit in Greenville this past February (sporting my Rue dress from Colette Patterns!)
I got to meet some of my design heroes such as Mimi G and Tula Pink at the Sew Pro Conference in Chicago. Dress pattern is the very easy Vogue wrap dress, fabric design is by Andrea Lauren.

5. Modeling in the Spoonflower Catalog

Lastly, getting to be involved with the making of Spoonflower’s first catalog was such a profound experience. The feeling of watching our team band together and put so much thought, care, sweat and tears into a project, execute it, and then to witness the positive response our community gave it was so gratifying. Getting to model for a few of the pages has given me the best keepsake souvenir I could ever ask for (plus I got to pretend I had my own Food Network show in my dream kitchen!).

learn to make your own recipe tea towel here and find this photo on page 25 of our spring 2017 catalog

Creating content is easily the highlight of my job! Some of my favorite tutorials I’ve done for Spoonflower include Garden Kneeling Pad, Sewing the Perfect Mitered Corners, Upholstered Seat Cushions and DIY Drink Recipe Coasters.

Not only have I changed a ton in the past 5 years, but our website has grown leaps and bounds, too! Here’s a fun peak at our website from June 2012 when I started, versus today (April 2017).

June 2012:

April 2017:

Moving on to the amazing things that lie ahead! Lucky for all of you, Community Outreach Coordinator and Customer Support Advocate Meredith will be taking my place, and I can tell you there’s no more qualified person on the planet to do so. Meredith has integrity, creativity, and a vast working knowledge of Spoonflower. But more important than any of that is how much Meredith authentically cares about this community and understands how integral it is to our brand. I know that our social media and blog will be in good hands!

Meredith (left) and I after teaching the very first Tea Towel Design Workshop at Spoonflower HQ. Our shirts were screenprinted by our friends at Dapper Ink.

While I will no longer be behind the curtain at Spoonflower, I am so excited to join the community alongside you as a fellow designer and maker.  Working here and getting a front seat to all that our customers do, I can honestly say you all have motivated me to nurture my own love of sewing and surface design. I can’t wait to try my hand at the weekly design challenges each week after several years of being on the other side of that production!

So with all that being said (oh and if you’re still reading this, I am so impressed!) thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Spoonflower is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I am so excited to see where the company goes from here. I’ll be watching and cheering along from the sidelines, paint brush in one hand, pins and needles in the other.

XO,

Theresa