FUN with Spoonflower's Fill-A-Yard!

Hello Friends! It’s been ages since I blogged, and now I remember why…. It takes forever to put together an informative post!… From the planning and photography, to the text and editing, yes, it’s a long process, especially for someone who has an endless to-do list.. But, this feature article has been brewing in my mind for several months now, so it’s time to make the time to share and inspire!

As many of you you know, I have a Spoonflower Shop with a growing collection of fabric designs. We really love this source as our Go-To for very unique prints, catered to whatever quantities and fabric types desired. Recently, I started playing with Spoonflower’s new “Fill-A-Yard” feature, and I LOVE it! As a designer, it’s a great way to order my samples in various sizes. This way, I can proof the colors and check the repeats at the block size of my choosing….

Here’s a portion of my most recent designs on a “Fill-A-Project.” (…and yes, I’m standing in our bathroom because the lighting was just right!) Out of several different templates, Spoonflower’s “One Yard Cheater Quilt” option was my choice for this order, and I filled it up with a medley of new designs. I chose to print on their new Petal Signature Cotton, and the results are crisp and the colors, accurate! Yay!!… I plan to cut these swatches apart and photograph them by theme.

Another idea for a “Fill-A-Project” is to arrange matching prints in a coordinating motif. You can alternate designs in a playful checkerboard pattern or scatter a medley of styles into various sized blocks. With this particular template, you can print up to 42 designs in each 6” square. Or, choose to allow some surrounding squares to extend your favorite patterns into larger areas. Arrange them as you wish, place your order and then Quilt it! That’s why they call this one the Cheater Quilt!

The key to a great “Fill-A-Yard” project is to Create a Collection FIRST! Choose from any of my existing Designed Collections, or curate your own from the various designs in my Spoonflower Shop or search Spoonflower’s vast website for something specific and mix and match. Then, choose your Project Template and start arranging your design. It’s that easy…

Screen Captured Example:

I communicate best through images, and hence, visual aids are key. Above is a screen capture of a work-in-progress Cheater Quilt project. At right, is the “Pink Halloween” Collection that I chose to source this particular project from. At left, is the quilt template. Simply click and highlight a specific design from the collection at right, and then click a block on the quilt. From there, arrange and fill it up! …What FUN!

My first “Fill-A-Yard” order was back in early February. I needed to order proofs of my latest Valentines-themed designs, but I also had a No-Sew project in mind. So, I combined those to-do’s into one yard! You can see my V-Day & holiday print blocks covering half of this yard, and my aqua cherry print running along the other side of the yard’s length for my No-Sew experiment. Enjoy Before and After photos below of how that idea turned out!…. (Notice how excited Jack was!)

Here’s what I meant by “cutting the yard up into swatches” for photography. How fun are these playful folk art snowman prints?! I hand-painted these guys during the holidays, and then created the repeat in photoshop. I asked our friends on Instagram what color combos they preferred, and based on popularity, we added all 3! We always appreciate the feedback :) You can click on all of these photos for a larger view…

Again, here are more matching swatches, grouped together in a Valentine’s motif, all cut from my initial Fill-A-Project. Again, I was able to create the block sizes of my choosing. Photos of the actual prints are helpful to communicate the fabric color, texture and quality….

As for the No-Sew Project, we recently mounted some work lights above my studio workbench. JP found these great vintage aluminum brackets, just perfect for the space. But, the unsightly black cords were, well, just that. So, my solution is often “fabric to the rescue!” That’s been one of my Go-To, Fix-It solutions for many years! Just cover anything unsightly with attractive fabric!

Back in the 80s when I was just a kiddo, my mom and I would tear fabric into long strips. We’d wrap all sorts of stuff to create rag baskets, rag balls, rag necklaces and the list goes on. You could say that were very raggedy back then! :) Recently, visions of those rags resurfaced, and that’s when I picked a playful print from my Spoonflower Shop, and added it lengthwise across a portion of my fabric order, with visions of rags in mind….

Here’s the before photo of my “Cherries and Dots on Aqua” fabric…

A few quick pencil tick lines, spaced one inch apart, helped me layout my strips..

Just a snip and a rip at each tick mark, and soon enough, I had a series of long bandage-like strips to start the mummy wrap!

 
 

BEFORE, we see the contrasting black cord in all it’s bla bla bla boringness….

……and AFTER, we’ve got playful, colorful, swirling JPD Style!

Here’s a side by side…… The color and whimsical print just makes me giddy! While the boring black cord, just hurts my eyes. I prefer to customize my world with color and pattern whenever I can.. :)

That’s me, touching my mummified cord… And no worries, all of the wrapping efforts happened while “unplugged.”

BOOM! Instant style!…. Well, it took a couple hours and some pre-planning, but who’s counting? :)

Jack approved too! I like how the cords blend in more with my color palette and decor. Upon a closer inspection, you can enjoy the cherry patterns too… Fun from a distance and up close!

Well, I hope I offered a few tips and inspiration with these fun ways to order and play with Spoonflower’s unique fabric! The picture above is the other portion of my recent “Fill-A-Project” order. Yet another yard, it’s a medley of prints for my proofing and marketing. It includes a set of my new retro spring designs as well as last year’s Top #13 Cycling Challenge print and more folk art florals! Sure, it’s a hodge podge….. But, if I’m gonna cut it all up, who cares, right?

The ideas for Filling-A-Yard are endless, and I just wanted to share my excitement! If you have a project such as pillows, this is a great way to block out the alternating fabric for the fronts and backs and maybe add in some strips of blending prints for any trim work, playful patches or ruffles. Test it out, and see what creative ideas bubble up! You can thank me later… hehe!

PS: Share photos of your finished JPD-inspired projects so we can feature you in our Customer Gallery. Happy Sewing or in my case, No-Sewing!

ENJOY!

~ Johanna

How - To Halloween Hats!

Have you ever wondered how I make my conical paper hats? We have several spooky sweet decorative hat designs in our DIY Printables Shop for you to try your hand at, but if you’ve never made one before… well, it may be a wee bit daunting. GOOD NEWS! Abby from @KatPaperLove on YouTube & on Instagram surprised us with her How-To Videos! She shows us how easy it is from start to finish to make these vintage style delights that feature my illustrations! I have been wanting to make a similar video that walks you through the process, but I’m always designing new things. And well, I just haven’t had a moment to play with that! So, we are grateful that Abby picked our signal and jumped on it! Thank you!! Please check out her following YouTube links for crafting inspiration and secrets revealed to making these vintage style delights:

Vintage Halloween Hats ~ 100 Days of Katoween (Day 24)

DIY Vintage Crows from the 99 Cent Store! - 100 Days of Katoween (Day 25)

NOTE: Abby used a clever combination of both our FREE Print & Share Cat & Owl faces as well as our new “Black Cat & Jacks Halloween Hat” design, available in our Store. The results are clearly spooktacular!

We hope you watch and are inspired to try some for yourself!

Happy Crafting,

~ Johanna

 
Watch & Learn HOW TO make these Vintage Halloween Hats on Abby’s KatPaperLove YouTube channel!

Watch & Learn HOW TO make these Vintage Halloween Hats on Abby’s KatPaperLove YouTube channel!

 
 

It all starts with printing our high res digital download and cutting it up from there! Once you purchase the file, you can print as many as you wish for personal use.

 

Screen capture from Abby’s How-To video, showing how she uses her glue gun to make the magic happen…

Once she finished the hat, Abby added my freebie cat to embellish the look!

 

Voila! Vintage style Halloween can be yours at home with a few simple crafting supplies!

 

Abby shares a few tricks to help shape the hats and adorn the tops… She printed these at a smaller scale to add more variety to the group.

Just roll, glue and press… Abby takes the fear out of the project..

Make them large or small and festoon the objects in your home with a little Johanna Parker Design style!

Many thanks once again to our creative guest feature, Abby @KatPaperLove for jumping in and sharing her talents and tips with us! You can peek at her artful creations at @artista.kat as well. ENJOY!

New Fabric ~ Sneak Peek!

Sewwwww, I'm thinking that the timing is PERFECT to Give the Gift of custom, American-made, designer fabric to Mom! Luckily, I've added 30 NEW designs to my Spoonflower Shop!... Themes range from Floral to Halloween, and there's even a Heart scatter in the mix. JP and I snapped some pretty vignettes to show some of these yummy combos. This time around, I designed larger focal prints as well as smaller coordinates that work great as blenders for quilts, trim details on apparel, fashion accessories, pillows and the list goes on. I hope you will enjoy these and find them useful as you design & create!

*Gift Idea* ORDER NOW to receive swatches or yardage in time for Mother's Day!

She'll dance in delight over your thoughtfulness, & maybe she'll even make something for you too! WIN WIN, right?! We think it's a great way to inspire creativity, support artists & support made in America. So, GIVE it a try :)

Visit my Spoonflower Shop for over 120 designs!


Questions? Feel free to ask away! 

For now, ENJOY a medley of photos that we hope will entice you to place an order and get to making something special! Orders may take up to 2 weeks for production and delivery. So, place your Mother's Day orders now  :)

Pictured here are playful designs from my Hooty Tooty Fruity Collection!

Choose from 50 Johanna Parker Halloween prints! Here are a few of the latest designs incorporating purple in the mix...

Loving these new Spooky Vintage Black & White prints...

More yummy Halloween Designs, NEW to my Spoonflower Shop!

Zooming in for a closer look at:  Wild Bats on Purple small

American & German Made Fabrics!

Halloween's not complete without webs and spiders! Directly above are: Spooky Swirl Gray Cobwebs on Black ~ and ~ Black Widows Red Webs small

These 8" x 8" swatches are all printed on Basic Cotton Ultra

Ghost Frame Spooks ~ and ~ Faces of Halloween pair well like costumes & candy!

Spooky Swirl Cobwebs on Gray offers a haunting neutral effect...

Make something Unique!

More peeks at my fabric draped ironing board reveals a large grayscale version I call:  Ghost Frame Gray Spooks ~ and a hint at:  Spooky Bat Skeleton leaves us wanting to see more!

Although Halloween is my love, so are Flowers! Whimsy Floral Stripes is simply delightful in print along with the rest of my Hooty  Tooty Fruity pairings....

We will SHARE photos of your finished projects to INSPIRE others, so please SHARE with us!

HAPPY CREATING!

~ Johanna ~

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