Bird Fabric Contest

The current Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower is Birds with a limited color palette. The colors that could have been used were black, white, Spoonflower aqua, and a fourth color of the designer's choosing. I thought that there would be the normal amount of contest entries due to the limited color palette, but there are over 300 entries! Most of the contests (excluding projects/kits) have around 100-150 entries. I guess designers are crazy about birds!

I am starting to make my contest entries coordinate with some of my designs, rather than have a bunch of unrelated designs. I like the added challenge, and want to build up collections of fabrics that can actually coordinate with each other. Here is my Birds contest entry in repeat, "Chic Birdie Bows":

Bow detail.

The print features pretty bows connected by strands of pearls. The bows are made up of a stylized butterfly and two stylized birds. I chose a teal as my fourth color, so this print would coordinate with my Curves & Pearls Print shown below (in teal).




Both prints are also available in other colorways. "Chic Birdie Bows" is also on a white background and on a background of the Spoonflower aqua with white pearls instead. "Curves & Pearls" is also available on a background very close to the Spoonflower aqua with white swirls and spring green pearls.

You can vote for the Birds fabric contest here at Spoonflower. Fair warning though: there are 22 pages of entries to go through! There are lots of great designs (as usual) and it's interesting to see what fourth color designers chose. Many chose a teal color, but there are also unexpected color combinations that stand out. Take some time and vote for your favorites!

Bowling Fabric contest results: "Bowling Stripes Grey" placed 38th out of 110 fabrics. I ordered swatches of this fabric, along with my "Chic Birdie Bows" and other fabrics. I should receive them in a few days.

Next contest: Autumn themed fabrics. Next posts: some sewing/crafting projects, easy decor project, and Autumn fabric.

Super Penguin Plushie Project

This post is a little overdue, but I was working on a new fabric contest entry. A few weeks ago was the Plushie Fabric of the Week contest on Spoonflower. My penguin superhero finished 44th out of 130 fantastic entries. Here it is printed on a fat quarter of cotton sateen:



Colors print wonderfully on the sateen, and the fabric gives the finished project a much better quality than the quilting cotton. I was going to stage a fun photoshoot with the superhero and sidekick saving the day, but sadly, I do not have the proper staging. (I have toys/figurines to use as villains and unsuspecting bystanders, though). Here is the crime-fighting duo, complete with cape and mask:



Close up of sidekick:



Back of the superhero's cape:



Peppermint discs to be used as weapons (these are just filled with fiberfill, but could be filled with rice):



And a bracelet for owner of the crime fighting duo to wear:



This project was fun to design and make. For the mask, I used elastic cording to make it one piece rather than two lengths of ribbon tied together. Otherwise, the required materials I have on the printed project are what I used. This project may have inspired another penguin project for the holidays. I haven't started on it yet, but the gears are churning. This new holiday project probably will not be done for another month, so look for another penguin post in October (probably mid-late).

Upcoming posts: dress sewing project (from a commercial pattern) and new Fabric of the Week contest entry. These weekly contests are doing wonders for my creativity, and helping me create collections for my past designs.

Bowling Time! (And past contest results)

I love to bowl with friends or family. It's always fun, especially going to a cosmic bowling night. The silliness, the competition, the food, and the atmosphere all make for a great time. Changing friend's screen names to something silly is always fun too. It's amazing the kinds of pranks you can pull in a small space without anyone noticing.

This week's Fabric of the Week contest theme on Spoonflower is bowling. The range of designs in the contest is great, covering bowling shirts, spiffy bowling bags, the signage, pins, decor, and of course bowling balls. This is my entry for the contest, "Bowling Stripes Grey":

It features stripes with scored boxes, bowling pins, and bowling balls with a star print. I did a slightly retro colorway, since bowling is always associated with 1950s fun. This print can also coordinate with my Links print in some of the colorways. The above picture is my uploaded design, and shows the detail better. Here is what the print looks like in repeat:


You can vote for the Bowling fabric contest here. Voting for this contest ends Wednesday evening, so be sure to vote for your favorites, if you haven't already. I ordered a swatch of this fabric (among other designs) and can't wait to see how it prints up.

Past contest results: Super Penguin Plushie! finished 44/130 which isn't bad considering he faced competition with a super hero fox and pig.
Mod about the Circus finished 115/174 in the Circus contest. I still think it would make a great mini skirt.

I promise my next post will be the Super Penguin Plushie completed project. I have him done, but haven't done his photo shoot yet due to this weekend with family. I will also (eventually) post about my most recent personal sewing project. And the next fabric contest is for the birds (literally)!

Please vote for your favorite bowling fabrics at Spoonflower. Stay tuned for future posts, and maybe have a bowling night this week or weekend!