We are so excited to announce the winners of May's Photo Contest! To learn more about what it takes to win, be sure to check out our blog on the contest details.
If you’re looking to submit to the next monthly photo contest, VISIT THIS PAGE to submit your photos.
Want to see the rules and submission guidelines? VISIT THIS PAGE.
If you want to see all photo submissions visit our Customer Photo Gallery. You can also search through all of the Winning Submissions here.
Let’s see the winners!
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ByAnnie Top Voted 
WINNER: Jennifer B.
ABOUT: Jennifer certainly caught our eyes with the A Place For Everything 2.0 bag she sewed in bright colors featuring plenty of Tula Pink including her neon webbing. Looks like it's the perfect fit for a cute foster cat, and styles just as nicely with a pup!
THEIR STORY: “I wanted to make this bag to store and carry my EPP projects, rather than using a generic slider plastic bag. I decided to make a cat themed bag by using the floating Cheshire cat heads from Tula Pink's "Curiouser and Curiouser" line paired with the "Mick" jaguar print from her Daydreamer line. Meow! What a great combination for a bright and cheerful bag!
While photographing the finished bag, I had expert help from my foster cat, Gracie, who decided to audition it as a cat carrying bag. She gives it 4 paws up and loves how roomy, comfortable, and cozy it is for her.
During the construction of this bag, I learned a great deal of patience when working with zippers. For me, adding the zipper pulls to the zipper tape was a particularly challenging experience. I watched the videos on the ByAnnie website to learn tips and tricks to make the project easier. I'm so pleased with the finished result. It's meow-velous!"
WHAT WE LOVED: One ByAnnie team member said, "I love the colors of this bag, and the kitty and puppy don't hurt either. I would love to carry this bag around." We can't help but agree.
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
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Storyteller Award
WINNER: Janelle V.
ABOUT: Janelle sewed these incredible pencil-themed Clam Up pouches for her daughter's teachers and gave us the down-low on why these teachers were so great as well as some insight into her own creative process.
THEIR STORY: "Do you remember your favorite teacher? As a mother of two young children ages 2 and 4, I was excited for my daughter, Ivy, to start preschool. I have such fond memories of my own teachers as a child, that I was thrilled for Ivy to form her own relationships with her teachers and classmates at public preschool this year. She had three teachers, and of course they’re all her favorite! The reasons why are what you’d expect from a 4 year old: “Ms. Michele is my favorite because she has yellow hair, Ms. Jennifer is my favorite because she makes the yummiest snacks, and Ms. Jamisen is my favorite because she helps me with my tower of blocks!” So, three Clam Up pouches it was.
Because of the unrelenting love and patience shown by her preschool teachers, Ivy grew leaps and bounds this last school year! I’ve had my eye on sewing some Clam Up pouches since the pattern came out, and I thought it was the perfect way to show my gratitude for her teachers. What’s a better theme for early childhood educators than the classic pencil? Plus, I know the yellow fabrics will remind them of my daughter, who wears her favorite color of yellow from head to toe most days. She chose the zipper, Annie’s zipper by the yard in buttercup.
Using the XL Clam Up template as my guide, I crafted the pencil using 1.5” strips, a 3.5” (unfinished) triangle in square ruler for the pencil tip, and scraps for the other pencil pieces. I love how the pencil wraps around the entire pouch, and shows off my modern and graphic aesthetic. If you love By Annie patterns and you’re not already in the Facebook group, “By Annie Bag Makers,” what are you waiting for?! I’ve learned so much in the Facebook group, including tips on how to add bias binding to this pattern.
The pouches were a hit, and I think I’ll make them every year! Thanks to By Annie’s for another great pattern, and Happy Summer to you all!"
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
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Quilt Shop Highlight 
WINNER: Material Things VA
THEIR STORY: "Love working with vinyl." And by the look of these Project Bags 2.0's we would have to say Material Things VA knows exactly what they're doing!
WHERE IS THEIR SHOP: North Chesterfield, VA
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM ONLINE:
Instagram: @materialthingsva
Facebook: @materialthingsva
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Honorable Mention 
WINNER: Allison R.
ABOUT: Allison impressed us with her ingenuity in sewing a Bowl Me Over 2.0 bag for her CPAP machine and it looks amazing.
THEIR STORY: "Like 100 million other people around the world (seriously), I have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed last year and have been using a CPAP machine for about 9 months.
I hate it. I will wear it faithfully for the rest of my life because it has almost cured an underlying cardiac condition. But I hate it. I hate its grey medical hose and its blue medical Velcro, and most of all, I hate its flimsy grey medical bag that I have to carry whenever I travel with the damn thing. That bag feels like a neon sign to me, proclaiming to everyone that I have a medical condition.
On a shop-hop in the Salt Lake City area in April I visited Village Dry Goods, a fabulous place with a stunning display of By Annie bags and supplies. That’s where the idea struck me that maybe I didn’t have to carry that damn grey bag. Maybe a new bag, one that wasn’t medical looking, could help me hate the CPAP machine a little less.
I decided on the Bowl Me Over 2.0 pattern and a fun forest print I bought in September while on a trip to see my son in Washington before he left for South Korea with the Army.
I decided I wanted to alter the pattern a bit to give a little more depth to the bag so the machine would fit better. I fired off an email to By Annie with an idea for a modification and promptly received a response that I was on the right track and recommending one additional modification to make it even better.
A weekend project later and I have a bag I love! And making the bag inspired me to make covers for the grey medical hose and the blue medical Velcro too!
While it’s still a CPAP machine and no one would mistake it for anything else, I’m feeling better about it.
I don’t cringe when I see the mask hanging next to my bedside, and when I look at my new bag, I remember the wonderful trip in September when I bought the fabric. The next time I travel, my sleep apnea will remain my own business, and not everyone who sees me carrying my luggage.
Thanks for making such great patterns and thanks for helping me make mine just right! Sorry this story is a longer than most..."
WHAT WE LOVED: One ByAnnie team member said, "Sorry to hear about the sleep apnea, some of my family has sleep apnea as well. And like you they hate carrying it around when the go on vacation. I think if they had a bag similar to yours it would encourage them to take their CPAP with them. Instead of leaving it home and end up not sleeping well when they are on a trip. It's a wonderful bag as well as the fabrics you chose were a really nice choice for the pattern. I think your approach to the pattern will inspire a lot of other people to use this for themselves, to help with their CPAP machines. Great Job!"
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
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Honorable Mention 
WINNER: Karo M.
ABOUT: Karo sewed this lovely and thoughtful Nesting Basket for Mother's Day.
THEIR STORY: "For me Mother’s Day is very important, I’m so grateful with my mom because she always supports me, she is a kind person, she gives me love with food and I give her love with stuff I sew, so this basket was perfect to include some gifts to her, and I prefer a useful gift wrap and no one to go to trash. She loves flowers, she gifts me flowers each Sunday so I want to use a fabric that includes flowers for her. I did this basket before in little size, but now my love for her is big. ♥️ "
WHAT WE LOVED: Annie herself saw Karo's basket and said, "Karo Moncada's Nesting Basket is beautiful and I love how she photographed it with the gifts. She staged it beautifully!"
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
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Honorable Mention
WINNER: Susan N.
ABOUT: We loved Susan's walk-through of her process making this A Place For Everything 2.0 in fun sewing machine fabrics.
THEIR STORY: "Sometimes a fabric print and a pattern belong together. That is how I feel about the A Place For Everything 2.0 pattern and the Pop Art style sewing 
machines fabric I used for this project.
It was my love of vintage sewing machines that prompted me to buy the fabric yardage - and that was about nine years ago. I knew the fabric was destined for something special but I didn’t think it would take this long to find the perfect project The bag went together smoothly.
My only modifications were to slightly change the height of the exterior pockets and pocket
A border to accommodate the sewing machines fabric print. — I didn’t want to cut off any sewing machine tops!
To add to the bold exterior fabric I choose an ombré striped fabric for the coordinating fabric. The ombré color shift is subtle but I do think it adds an extra zing! 
My goal for this bag was to be able to store all of the sewing notions I need for a quilt retreat. And this bag really does that job.
I really enjoyed being able to customize the size and type of pockets. This is a bag that can really become very personalized for a specific need. I love that.
I made the bag as part of the Facebook Slow-Along hosted by Randi Jones. I very much appreciated the slowness of the slow-along - which was a stroke of genius on Randi’s part.
My 95 year old mother lives with us and I am her primary caregiver. Her daily needs certainly keep me busy so I am never sure how much sewing I can get done from one day to the next. The pace even allowed me to make a Carrying Strap Pad and a beaded 'sloth' zipper pull!
The sewing machine fabric print inspired the setup of my first photo: sewing machines in rectangles. I followed up with closer photos so viewers can see the bag clearly.
And yes, I did use one of my vintage sewing machines to make this bag. My 1910 Singer model 66 machine handled the free motion quilting on the pages quite easily.
This was only my fourth ByAnnie project but it won’t be my last. I really love how a ByAnnie bag looks so professional when finished- thanks to the great pattern writing and the Soft and Stable product."
WHAT WE LOVED: One of our ByAnnie team members said, "This bag is adorable and practical. I love the sewing machine fabric." And another team member also said that this bag "made with the special sewing machine fabric is awesome and I love how she photographed it with her collection of vintage machines. So colorful and fun!
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
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A special "thank you" to everyone who submitted to this photo contest. We had a wonderful time viewing submissions and reading your stories. We look forward to sharing as many of them as possible on our social media.
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MAY 2022 PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS