Design, Sell, & Shop Fabric, Wallpaper, & Gift Wrap
As part of our new Meet the Designer series, today we’re introducing you to a designer who captures the vibrant flora and bright palette of her home city of Miami. Judy Quintero (Shopcabin) is a designer and talented painter who balances energetic colors with a laid back watercolor medium. Keep reading to see what inspires this Spoonflower designer!
A Berry Good Deal! Save 15% off one yard or more of any fabric in your cart through Saturday at 12PM EDT. Spoonflower Pro members save 20% automatically so if you aren't already a Pro member it's a great time to join!
Not a Pro member? Join now to activate your extra discount on your next order through Saturday. Plus enjoy free standard shipping worldwide on every order. Once you've purchased pro, your next separate order will receive the 20% off total savings.
This 15% off fabric offer is valid through May 7 at 12 p.m. EDT on 1 or more yards of any fabric. Promo savings will automatically apply when one or more yards is added to your cart. Spoonflower Pro members will automatically receive the higher discount. Can be combined with the 10% Everyday Designer Discount. No other promotional discounts can be applied. Previous purchases are not eligible for adjustments. Offer not valid on test swatches, fat quarters, swatch samplers, or sample packs.
Get a Free Swatch of Spoonflower's brand new soft and stretchy natural fabric: Cotton Spandex Jersey!
Log into your Spoonflower account to get a free, custom-printed swatch of our new Cotton Spandex Jersey fabric, along with free shipping.
For 24 hours, one and all can get a free 8 in. x 8 in. test swatch of Cotton Spandex Jersey printed using any design available in the Spoonflower marketplace, or using your own design. Open to US and to non-US customers. Shipping will also be free. Woot!
HOW DOES IT WORK? This offer is limited to one free swatch per customer and household. To activate the discount, log into your Spoonflower account and use the Go For It button (visible on each fabric design page next to the Free Swatch Information) to add a swatch-sized piece of Cotton Spandex Jersey to your shopping cart between 10 AM EST on Thursday, January 21st and 10 AM EST on Friday, January 22nd, then proceed to checkout. The discount will be subtracted from your cart total automatically. Note that in order to receive your swatches, you need to log into your account and follow the transaction through to the order confirmation page. [And yes, shipping is free, too.] This offer works for your own designs or for any of the designs available for sale in the Spoonflower marketplace. Multiple orders from the same household and/or customer will be disqualified.
First he published the world’s longest Christmas newsletter, as a 160-page book; now, he’s published the world’s widest, on a six-foot roll of gift-wrap.
If writing year-end family newsletters were an extreme sport, Doug Hughes of Santa Clara, California would surely be world champion.
Ten years ago he set a world record – unbeaten to this day – for the longest Christmas newsletter, when he published his family’s as a 160-page paperback book. This year he’s back, with a different record – for the world’s widest newsletter.
He has used Spoonflower to publish the 2015 edition of the family’s annual newsletter – known as “Hughes News” – on a roll of gift-wrap, six feet wide by just over two-foot high.
Doug, 66, and his wife Diane, 58, are then using the gift-wrap to wrap a unique festive greeting card printed by Spoonflower on fabric in the form of a tea-towel.
“This marks a new era in the history of Christmas newsletters,” says Stephen Fraser, co-founder of Spoonflower. “Doug Hughes has raised the bar again.”
This year’s newsletter is the latest shot in Doug’s decades-long campaign to change the image of the oft-maligned end-of-year family newsletter.
"We’ve spent the past 30 years on a mission to prove that the venerable Christmas newsletter doesn’t have to be boring. “With a little creativity, it can be touching, entertaining and fun”, says Hughes. “Friends write to us every year thanking us for keeping them on our mailing list.”
Apart from the year that they produced their annual missive as 160-page book, the Hugheses have been sending out a 16-page family newsletter each year for the past 30.
Their 2015 newsletter contains all the Hughes family news fit to print, from news of daughter Karin’s wedding to photos of a cruise to celebrate the 80th and 85th birthdays of Diane’s parents… plus some of the Christmas carol parodies that Doug pens each year. It is printed on the gift-wrap in a repeating pattern.
The tea-towel, meanwhile, depicts a unique pyramid of popcorn tins and stuffed animals that the Hughes family erects each year in their entryway.
Doug, who works in communications for Lockheed Martin, does not mind that that some people will view his increasingly elaborate newsletters as the ultimate "humblebrag." “Some folks go all-out to decorate their homes for Christmas," he argues. “We go out all out to do something special with our newsletter.”
Doug was inspired to try something new for this year’s newsletter by the 30th anniversary of Hughes News, the 25th anniversary of his marriage to Diane and the tenth of the publication of the world’s longest newsletter in 2005.
Another reason for trying something new year, says Doug, is simply because he can. “Technology has advanced so much since we started.” 
Have you heard? Spoonflower will soon be shipping from Berlin! Today's post comes from marketing team member Allie as she reflects on her time spent in Berlin!
Spoonflower DE's temporary office space
After 15 hours of traveling, Sam (from our printing department) and I arrived in Berlin to be greeted by Spoonflower's director Stephanie inside Tegel airport in Berlin. With new cell phones and transit cards exchanged, we were off to find our way in the city. This was my first trip to Germany, a place I'm now thrilled to call home.
The lovely little cafe Vabrique next door
The past few weeks have flown by as I've continued the search for crafty folks, planned a Meetup with local Berliners and talked through ideas for getting our shipping facility up and running!
Spoonflower's first Berlin team dinner
We even had the chance to catch up with all the new hires at the time for a traditional German meal (in a castle!). It was an international affair celebrating the start of a team with folks from the UK, Australia, Denmark and, of course, the US!
Berlin Meetup
Just before heading stateside for the holidays, I invited folks from the area in for a night of crafting and community. I took a few minutes to talk about Spoonflower and our plans for Germany, and then there was time for people to ask questions and share conversations about all things creative and fabric related. We had a small hand embroidery project for folks to work on throughout the night. It was really lovely to spend time crafting with local makers while chatting about all the crafty happenings around Berlin.
Spending four weeks exploring Berlin has been incredibly exciting, and I'm so excited for what's to come. Here's to a new adventure for the Spoonflower crew!
Santa Clara, CA, Tuesday, Dec. 15 – First he published the world’s longest Christmas newsletter, as a 160-page book; now, he’s published the world’s widest, on a six-foot roll of gift-wrap.
If writing year-end family newsletters were an extreme sport, Doug Hughes of Santa Clara, California would surely be world champion.
Ten years ago he set a world record – unbeaten to this day – for the longest Christmas newsletter, when he published his family’s as a 160-page paperback book. This year he’s back, with a different record – for the world’s widest newsletter.
He has used the website Spoonflower to publish the 2015 edition of the family’s annual newsletter – known as “Hughes News” – on a roll of gift-wrap, six feet wide by just over two-foot high.
Doug, 66, and his wife Diane, 58, are then using the gift-wrap to wrap a unique festive greeting card printed by Spoonflower on fabric in the form of a tea-towel.
“This marks a new era in the history of Christmas newsletters,” says Stephen Fraser, co-founder of Spoonflower. “Doug Hughes has raised the bar again.”
At least one Sunday a month, we like to take some time out to share a unique sewing experience that stands out a bit from the rest in a series we call "Sunday Sew." This month, Spoonflower staffer Allie stops by to talk about her experience sewing up a sophisticated Sprout Patterns Laurel Blouse, which she wore on her trip to NYC for Martha Stewart's American Made 2015 Awards!
Allie: I had the opportunity to stitch up my first project by Sprout Patterns a few weeks ago in preparation to attend Martha Stewart's American Made awards. While I've done quite a bit of sewing, when it comes to apparel I tend to stick to the most basic silhouettes. For the event, I wanted to look polished and professional, while still remaining comfortable.
I chose the Laurel Blouse by Colette Patterns printed on Silky Faille and it did not disappoint. I opted for a simple design created by Andrea Lauren. Her black and white Animal Constellations printed beautifully and was exactly what I wanted–a quirky yet sophisticated design unique to Spoonflower's crafty community.
If you haven't tried Sprout, or sewing apparel, you certainly should! It was super easy to create a custom top that I was able to tailor slightly for a better fit. By ordering a few sizes larger than I normally wear, I had the flexibility to adjust the side seams to achieve the fit I was looking for. Being creative with your order and sizing allows you to "hack" your Sprout Pattern and be able to adjust sizing and tailor your garment to fit perfectly. The instructions were clear and easy to understand and allowed me to make a unique top in no time. I also had the original PDF with all sizes so I can make another one in months to come! Have you tried Sprout? What is your favorite Patternmaker featured on the site? Please share in the comments below!
International Quilt Festival is coming up later this month, and we are excited to be sponsoring Jane Dunnewold's juried Digital Alchemy exhibition, a collection of quilts featuring digitally printed fabric designs. Jane's innovative work has forever inspired us, and we are delighted to catch up with Jane to learn more about her process in curating this show. To celebrate her creative journey, we're hoping to inspire other by giving away a copy of Jane's Design & Print Your Own Fabric!, an instructional DVD to get you started with fabric design! We'll even throw in 2 yards of Spoonflower fabric for one lucky winner. So go ahead and enter, and read on for a sneak preview of the Digital Alchemy exhibit.
Once you've entered for you chance to win, read on and take a peek at a few of the amazing quilts on display at this year's Digital Alchemy exhibition!
Eileen Donovan's quilt titled "Irene – Only a Category One" will be displayed at Digital Alchemy
Please tell us a bit about Digital Alchemy and how the show came to be? What inspired you to create this collection?
JANE: Digital Alchemy evolved because of my own interest in designing fabrics for printing by Spoonflower. I teach workshops where fifteen or more people are on their computers designing fabric from artwork and photographs. Some of the results are so magical I began to think of them as alchemically transformed! By that I mean, the changes that happen because of the tools available to us through the computer and also through the various programs aren’t changes we can automatically envision – they occur right before our eyes…and although they are logical, they seem magical!
Anna Mae Gazo's "Dyeing Without Water" is printed on Spoonflower's Organic Cotton Sateen and quilted with perle cotton embroidery thread.
[Read more…] about Jane Dunnewold’s World of Digital Alchemy + Win Her Fabric Design DVD!
The on-demand digital printing industry has opened up a new level of possibilities for designers to customize unique garments and interior design projects like never before. Through the ease and accessibility of the digital-print platform, every inch of surface area on fabric or paper media can become a form of expression.
Here at Spoonflower, it is part of our mission to fuel creativity and innovation, so we jump at the chance to support fledgling designers doing new and exciting things in the textile world. If you're headed off to school this semester to study textiles or design, consider applying for the Spoonflower Emerging Designer Grant. This grant awards undergraduate and graduate students worldwide with Spoonflower credit to explore digital textile printing to create collections and exhibits. Recipients selected on a monthly rolling basis will receive an award of $150 in Spoonflower credit to design their own digitally printed fabrics and wall media for use in shows and exhibitions. Here's a look at some of the stunning pieces a few of our Fall 2014/ Spring 2015 Emerging Designer Grant recipients have created with their awards.
Grant recipient Calla Michaelides Senior Thesis Collection | Drexel University Fashion Program
Calla's collection of women's activewear features textural surface designs derived from abstracted painting studies. Printed on Spoonflower's Silky Faille, Silk Crepe de Chine and Organic Cotton Sateen
Recipient Sophia Jain-Embry's collection featured in the California College of Arts 2015 Runway show
Sophia's collection, Lorelei, is inspired by inspired by sirens–women emerging powerful and calm from the ocean
This is Spoonflower's third year offering the Emerging Designer Grant and we are continually proud and amazed at the talent of these young designers of tomorrow! Find out more information about the grant and how to apply here.
We all have family photos we’d love to incorporate into quilts. In today's Bootcamp tutorial, help team member Lyly will guide you through creating a photo quilt block with PicMonkey, and she'll show you how to size your photo block to fit perfectly on a Spoonflower swatch!
Spoonflower’s test swatches are 8×8 inches in size, and at only $5 each, they're perfect for incorporating a customized block into a beautiful quilt! In this post, I'll walk you through the steps to create a custom quilt block with open source design software PicMonkey, which you can access directly from your Spoonflower account. Let's get started!
[Read more…] about Spoonflower Bootcamp: How to Design a Quilt Block in PicMonkey
