If You've Got the Notion

Wow! I don't know how long it has been since I've entered a Spoonflower Fabric-of-the-Week contest, but I decided it might be fun to do some designs for the latest one, Sewing Notions. The objective was to create four coordinating prints to fit on a yard of fabric. I turned to my collection of vintage buttons for inspiration. What do you think? I would love your vote…if you've got the notion! The winner of the contest will ultimately be chosen from the Top 10 designs by the one and only Denyse Schmidt, and will be featured in Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine! You can view all of the designs here. Anyone can vote--you don't even need an account!

TBT: Match Your Mood to Your Refrigerator

Last weekend Turner Classic Movies aired this original Westinghouse promotional video for their line of 1960s decorative refrigerator panels. The 1968 promo, entitled "Match Your Mood", is groovy, hipster, and psychedelic all in one. The patterns range from pretty awful faux wood ("Supreme Walnut") to my favorite, the Andy Warhol-esque soup can. I have seen this or similar products advertised in magazines from the 1940s, but for some reason I never got the urge to get up and dance the pony from the print ads. I think this would be a great idea for Spoonflower wall decals!

Cross This Off the Bucket List!

I just received word late last night that Rag & Bone Bindery has crafted some of their beautiful journals and albums using Geekly Chic Cameras! The books are featured as limited editions in their Spring Trunk Show this week.

Five years ago, when pregnant with my son, I saw my first Rag & Bone baby book at a local boutique baby store. Ever since then I have hoped that one of my designs would be used in their handcrafted work...someday. I check their Facebook feed daily to see their latest items, thinking: Maybe...maybe... I can't tell you how thrilling this is for me. Their books are impeccable. I am so honored!

TBT: American Home Crafts Magazine

On a recent thrift excursion I found a few issues of an old magazine called American Home Crafts. I had never heard of it before (have you?), and the cover designs left a little to be desired. But the lovely photos inside made me forget I was looking at inspirational ideas over 30 years old! Here are some highlights.

Left to right: Fall/Winter 1974, Spring/Summer 1976, and Fall/Winter 1977

Above and below: Advertisement for Mattel's Knit Magic (look at Barbie holding the yarn!)

Awesome, unique geometric batik

Creating folkloric fashions, with embroidery motifs from Romania

Portuguese-inspired tapestry patterns

Impressionistic knitting

Bold and bright needlepoint designs from orange crate labels

Amazing needlepoint floral rug (I so want to do this!)

Knitted apple afghan--how contemporary is this?!

Definitely proof that with style and trends, what goes around comes around...or that some things just never go out of style!

TBT: I Spy Mod Hand-Drawn Type

Spring cleaning is allowing me the opportunity to look through and reorganize the books on our shelves. I had forgotten about the awesomely MOD hand-drawn lettering on the endpapers of this 1966 Whitman I Spy: Message from Moscow book.

Homespun Magazine: Neon Pop!

The April 2014 issue of Australia's Homespun magazine features a quilt project developed by the lovely Roslyn Russell, which she created using my Riley Blake Geekly Chic Cassettes in white. It's so bold and colorful, and looks amazing on the bed in the opener spread. Check out more of Ros's work on her blog, Sew Delicious.

Update: Surface Pattern Design Guide

It has been over a month since I last posted, so I thought I would update my last post about the Uppercase Surface Pattern Design Guide, with a picture of the spread on which my work appears.

You'll see familiar patterns in the first column on the right-hand page. I spent last weekend reading the whole magazine cover-to-cover, as I usually do, but this particular issue is especially beautiful and jam-packed with inspiration. Single copies of the issue are available from the Uppercase website, if you're not sure about subscribing. I'll be spending my freetime this week checking out the websites of all my faves from the Guide!