Introducing Little Ark Fabric Collection

April 1, 2014 by carina 1 Comment

My new line Little Ark hits shops this month! It’s my first baby boy line for Riley Blake. It will include 100% cottons and flannels.

I pretty consistently seem to design whatever is relevant in my life at the moment. A year ago, Charlie was 8 months old, and I was happily engaged in my “baby boy” moment. Little Ark was the result of that.

If you want to see this line in action (although it hasn’t hit shops yet!) Kimberly over at the FatQuarterShop does a darling receiving blanket with the line. I’ve embedded both the digital magazine for the line and the fatquartshop.com tutorial for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!
Carina

Glamper Tour Recap: My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe

March 24, 2014 by carina 2 Comments

Here it is! The Glamper Recap of our day at My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe in Logan, Utah on March 22nd, 2014. Here I am sitting in front of the shop with the owner Kris Thurgood. Her darling shop is three stories tall with classes, a full on hang out room (The Attic), kiddie area, and of course, shopping.

We parked the glamper outside with guests Deena Rutter, Emily Taylor, and Samantha Walker. Riley Blake sent the fabulous mom and daughter duo Jina and Alexis Barney.

I was grateful for the sunshine (you’ll notice we are all squinting in the photos!). When we arrived it was pretty chilly, but by 11am it was perfect. I lucked out for an outside event in Utah in March!

Here’s a peek at our day there:

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Shoppers were entered into a raffle by getting their paper stamped by every designer at the event. Prizes included fabric donated by Riley Blake and large goodie bags made up of stuff from my designs at Carta Bella Paper Co, Deseret Book, and Riley Blake.

(photo below) You could sit a while in the shade of the glamper and do a make and take. (Thanks for posing for me ladies!)

(photo below-right) Designer Deena Rutter shows her patterns and beautiful fabric. Did you know that Deena also designs for me over at Carta Bella? I adore working with her! (photo below-left) My Bella Stash Bag pattern hangs out next to some fabulous football mums.

(photo above and below) Emily Taylor’s fabric and sewing patterns are so lovely!

(photo below) Designers Samantha Walker and Deena Rutter hang out with customers. Sam’s family recently bought an RV so we all hung out over the weekend (Sam also designs for me at Carta Bella). Hoping for more of that! (And yes, my family stayed in the glamper before and after the event).

(photo above-left) Jina Barney is the Creative Director at Riley Blake and her daughter Alexis is her right-hand gal. It’s always a fun day when Riley Blake comes to party! (photos above-right) Kit shows off my Little Playdate Outfit in my Evening Blooms fabric. (photo below-left) Some Carina Gardner patterns hang out next to the daughter-doll duo of Love Next Ruffle Dress and Little Love Nest Ruffle Dress. (photo-below-right) Jolene of Sew Red Glasses and I hung out and determined color value with her cool glasses. A perfect quilting tool! Check her out at http://sewredglasses.com/.

(photo-above) My biggest misstep for the event was ordering WAY too many cookies. Thank you to everyone who was willing to have more than one:). I took plenty home and donated several to neighbors.

(photo below) My fabulous assistant Susan made the trek up to help me set up and take many of the photos you see here in this post.

(photo-below) I don’t have a lot of photos inside the shop, but here are a couple I couldn’t resist posting. The one to the left was the Riley Blake tree from a Quilt Market booth they did in Salt Lake. It is above My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe children’s play area and the perfect accessory to this gated happy place. The second is the awesome trio of chairs hanging from the ceiling in The Attic. There were so many other cool displays! I highly recommend taking a trip and checking it out!

(photo below) I can’t tell you how hard it was to find a shot where all of us were looking up with our eyes open! (from left to right) Samantha Walker, Kris Thurgood, Jina Barney, Carina Gardner, Deena Rutter, Emily Taylor, and Kim Christopherson.

(photo above) Kim (Kimberbell Designs), myself, and Kris in front of the glamper. I was thrilled to hang out at their shop and meet so many of you! Probably the most amazing moment was when three ladies from my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee showed up! It was so incredibly delightful! Thank you Judy, Susie, and Barbara for coming to see me! It made my day!

Our next stop is in three weeks at Quiltique in Las Vegas, Nevada (April 19th from 11am-2pm). It will be just me, my family, and the glamper for that stop. Those of you in town, I would love to see you!

Happy Glamping and Sewing!

Carina

GLAMPER TOUR: My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe on March 22nd

March 20, 2014 by carina 1 Comment

I’m so excited that our first stop is on SATURDAY! It is at my friend Kris’s shop (you may remember her from the DIY Dish) in Logan, Utah from 11am-2pm.

If you haven’t visited My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe, this is an opportunity not to be missed. This shop hosts a number of different classes and has the most amazing upstairs space called The Attic. I don’t think many realize that you can rent the space basically for FREE (You put down $25 to reserve the space and then when you are done with it you get a $25 gift card back to the shop).

They are also a Baby Lock dealer and if anyone knows me, I’m a sucker for their sergers. I own an Evolution and use it to create all of my sewing patterns.

Want to know what we will be doing? Make and takes for one (we are going to squish as many people as we can into the glamper for these!), a fun game to help you get to know the designers (see list below), treats (because how can any of us say no to treats?), and door prizes (donated by myself and Riley Blake!) to name a few. And then there is of course shopping (he-lllooo!) and if you haven’t been to this shop, some exploring (it’s three levels of fabulousness!).

Make sure and check out My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe’s Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/mygirlfriendsquiltshoppe and their website here: http://www.mygirlfriendsquiltshoppe.com/

My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe
1115 N 200 E #230,
Logan, UT 84341
11am-2pm

Meet Deena Rutter, Lori Holt, Samantha Walker, Emily Taylor, Jina Barney, and Alexis Barney. And of course I will be there! And if you are there at the right time, you might also get a chance to meet my fabulous assistant Susan!

I can’t wait to see you there! Photos on instagram and blogpost to come for those who are unable to make it!

Carina

PS. If you missed all my posts about renovating the glamper, you can find there here: https://carinagardner.com/category/glamper-renovation/. You’ll see how we took this vintage trailer from renovation nightmare to it’s current glamped up state! And if you want to see where else we are going this spring, check that out here: https://carinagardner.com/2014/02/08/glamper-tour-spring-204-dates-announced/

48 Hours in Texas and New Mexico

February 20, 2014 by carina 2 Comments

48 hours in New Mexico and West Texas isn’t a lot of time to do much, but I made time to eat a lot of Mexican food and take pictures of the livestock (haha, see below). I flew into Lubbock, TX and drove to Portales, New Mexico—a charming little town that houses Eastern New Mexico University. There I was greeted by the host of Creative Living’s Sheryl Borden, who is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. (photo above: It was too hard to pass up taking a photo of a pink bug. Slug Bug!)

Sheryl and I taped three segments for her PBS show Creative Living. I believe the segments should air at your local PBS station (check your local listings) sometime in the third and fourth quarter of the year (more on this when I find out air dates). I’ll also post our segments on my youtube channel when I get my hands on the videos. (photo below: Sheryl and myself on her set).

Obviously some super important explaining happening above. ^^^

I always love to see behind the scenes of something like this and two members of Sheryl’s crew was nice enough to snap photos for me with my camera. The set has a full kitchen and living room area.

Serious control room. ^^^

The foodie in my was pretty happy on this trip. There is something so fun about discovering places I have never eaten before. A couple of places to mention: I loved the carne asada tacos at Taqueria Jalisco. I also stopped by the Taco Village and loved their beef tacos (near the airport—a plus!).

I’m on my way home now and it should be a busy weekend including the Yard Sale at The Cottage! Be sure and check it out for some amazing deals. I also get to attend the wedding of a college girlfriend and maybe even stop in at our neighborhoods big band dance. I’m looking forward to getting home!

And although it has only been 48 hours, I’m excited to go home and snuggle my Charlie-boy and girls.

Carina

Glamper Tour Spring 2014 Dates Announced!

February 8, 2014 by carina 5 Comments

Here is it! The list of shops that Lucy the Glamper will be coming to this spring! Please come see us! You’ll get to come do make and takes in (and outside) the glamper, have treats, check out new fabric lines, get ideas from our samples, and meets lots of great designers! It’s going to be SO fun, and I can’t wait to meet you!

Did I mention the awesome number of designers who will be attending these events? Here’s the breakdown of who will be at each event.

March 22 My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe in Logan, Utah 11am-2pm with Riley Blake, Deena Rutter, Emily Taylor, Lori Holt, and Samantha Walker

April 19 Quiltique in Las Vegas, Nevada 11am- 2pm with Riley Blake and Chelsea Andersen

May 3 Pine Needles at Gardner Village in West Jordan, Utah 11an-2pm with Riley Blake, Sandy Workman, Lori Whitlock, Samantha Walker, Emily Taylor, Lori Holt, Amanda Herring, and Deena Rutter.

May 10 Mormon Handicraft Fort Union in Sandy, Utah 1pm-4pm with Riley Blake, Lori Holt, Amanda Herring, Samantha Walker, Emily Taylor, Deena Rutter, and Lori Whitlock.

And of course, I will be there showing my new fabric line Little Ark hanging out! In fact, the May 10th event at Mormon Handicraft is a special Mother’s Day event and not only will you see all of Riley Blake’s gorgeous new fabric lines, but I will also be showing my newest goodies for Deseret Book!

Spread the word! Feel free to grab the images in this post and let people know about these events! I’d love to see you there!

Carina

Evening Blooms Quilt Tutorial with Andy Knowlton

November 18, 2013 by carina 3 Comments

Today I have a special treat for you! Andy Knowlton of
A Bright Corner created this beautiful quilt using my Evening Blooms fabric collection. To top it off, she has agreed to give you all a tutorial on how she made it. There is even a pdf download at the end (scroll to the bottom to download).

So without further ado, here is Andy:

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I love the timeless look of classic black and white and these fabrics don’t disappoint! This quilt is made entirely from half square triangles (HSTs) but don’t let that deter you! I have a fast and easy way to make a ton of HSTs in no time at all.
First I’ll show you how to make your HSTs then I’ll show you how to assemble one block. I’ll add a quilt layout diagram at the end and you’ll be on your way to finishing your own Evening Blooms quilt!
First of all, here’s what you’ll need:

1/4 yard of 7 various dark prints
1/4 yard of 5 various light prints
2 yards of white/background fabric
1/2 yard binding
3-1/2 yards backing fabric

From each of the prints (7 dark and 5 light) cut 3 squares that measure 8″. You’ll need 36 total.
From the white/background fabric cut 8 strips that are 8″ x width of fabric.
Subcut those strips into 36 @ 8″ squares

To create your half square triangles, pair up each print square with one white square. Match edges, keeping right sides together.

Sew around all four outer edges using a consistent 1/4″ seam.

Using your rotary cutter, cut diagonally through each block twice as shown in the photo.

Being careful not to stretch it, press each HST. I prefer to press the seam allowance toward the print. Trim the little tails off of each HST.
If you are consistent with your seam allowances and careful to not stretch the HSTs you should not need to square them up. If you find your HSTs to be varying in size, then square them each up to the same size (either 5.25″ or 5″ each).
Create all of your HSTs and then move on to the block layout.

Layout all of the HSTs you need for one block. Notice in the quilt layout diagram that not all blocks are the same. The dark and light prints are alternated for the main part of each block and the corner HSTs are different depending on where in the quilt the block will be located.

Sew together into rows using a 1/4″ seam.
Sew rows together, matching seams.

Your block is done!
Now use the layout diagram to make the next 8 blocks.
In the layout diagram I used just two prints – one dark and one light so you can clearly see the placement of each HST.

You can find a printable version of this tutorial here Evening Blooms Quilt Tutorial

Episode 8: How to Use Sewable Interfacing with your Silhouette Machine

October 15, 2013 by carina 1 Comment

With all the new fabric files hitting my Silhouette Shop, I thought it would be helpful for you to see how I sew with the Sewable Interfacing. I show you a couple of my tricks for sewing with the stuff and how I set up my mat. Enjoy! -Carina

Weekend with College Roommates

August 9, 2013 by carina 1 Comment

Last weekend I got together with my 12 college roommates from freshman and sophomore year at BYU. It was the first time we had all gotten together since we lived at the Elms 14 years ago. It was an amazing experience seeing what everyone was doing and reminiscing on the old days. It made me miss college. Well, the social part anyway.

I brought up supplies to scrapbook and sew for the fun of it. I didn’t actually think we would have time to craft. So I was completely amazed when everyone started in on the fabric, and we made a crazy mess of the cabin.

The group sewed up the Little Love Next Ruffle Dress, and we made up a funny little pincushion. I took up 2 garbage bags of scrap fabric and was so happy to see them used for the pincushions. Love seeing a little Paris and Co mixed with some Songbird.

The best part was (after everyone went home) seeing everyone’s texts of their little girls holding their dolls in the new outfits. Sooo cute!

Still trying to figure out how Brittany was able to do the splits. Go Brit!

We also shopped (couldn’t be helped) and went to Olympus Park for a ride down the Alpine Slide and one of the zip lines. I might have screamed like a little girl on the zipline (shhh!)

We also had a surprise baby shower for Amanda (having her first baby!). There may have been some squabbling on the correct way to swaddle a baby (the Burrito vs. the Binky-holding-in method). Thankfully, we had a real baby to perform all the swaddling tests on. (photo below is the Onesie Advice Diecut book).

I don’t have any photos of this (except on instagram), but we also knocked on our old apartments at the Elms and Chipman Hall (almost brought tears to my eyes!) and bombarded the current residents (who let us in to take photos). We ate at the Brick Oven, I drove a four wheeler for the first time, laughed our heads off in a Rhino-Jeep-Thingy (and almost fell out when we went over bumps), and tried to go running (super fail).

It was so amazing to reconnect with all these wonderful lovely women. Feeling so blessed to know them!

Hope you are having a lovely end-of-summer too!

Carina

How to Make A Fabric Flower

August 6, 2013 by carina 1 Comment

In honor of the Create and Make Class beginning NEXT week, I have a little treat for you! Siri and I made a quick little video showing you how to sew together one of the little flowers from the Little Playdate Outfit and Little Love Nest Ruffle Dress Sewing Patterns. It’s a fun video and I think you’ll love how simple the flowers are to make! Enjoy! Carina

Remember Pinwheel Tutorial

July 29, 2013 by carina

I know you are going to love this little project made with my Remember fabric! Andrea from Knitty Bitties made this lovely pinwheel table runner that I am swooning over. What’s that? You want a tutorial? Luckily for you, Andrea has one on her blog here: knittybitties.blogspot.com.

I love the way this pretty little thing is quilted together and the pinwheels are sweet. I can see making an entire quilt with these babies. But if you are like me and big projects start to wear you down, this is the perfect little project.

Speaking of projects, have you done any this summer? Or have you filled your days with library outings, pool time, and vacation?

I’ve been able to work on a few sewing projects but am now full swing into fall sewing pattern season. And winter scrapbooking designing season. But that’s another story.

Later this week, I am heading to a retreat with my BYU college roommates. It’s the first time we have had a chance to get together since, well, I’m not sure when. Follow my instagram feed if you want to sneaky-peeky into our doings. I promised to bring up scrapping and fabric supplies for some crafting fun. And while there will be some of that, I suspect there will mostly be a lot of catching up, reminiscing, baking, and then, um, eating.

Happy Sewing!

Carina

Evening Blooms Fabric Collection

July 26, 2013 by carina 2 Comments

I just got back from CHA yesterday and am hoping to have photos up of all the scrapbooking goodness up sometime next week. In the meantime, I am so excited to announce that Evening Blooms™ has now hit quilt shops! This is my first black and white line. I also threw in a fun gray and yellow colorway to mix it up a little.

To top it off, I have a free quilt pattern for you! I was inspired by the colorways to create a vintage camera quilt pattern. You can grab the instructions, yardage information, and pattern from the shop here. This pattern is for intermediate quilters (there are a lot of tiny pieces).

I should have more projects to show you with this fabric line because I am making many of the patterns for Fabric Fest (sneaking up on me!). Below you can see my Siri-girl dressed up in the Love Nest Ruffle Dress with her look-alike doll in the Little Love Nest Ruffle Dress. It’s always refreshing to see the patterns in new fabric!

As always, I have a lookbook for you for this fabric line. Check it out here: https://carinagardner.com/fabric/evening-blooms-fabric/

Carina

Spring Quilt Market Review 2013!

May 28, 2013 by carina

Instead of my usual photo review of Quilt Market, I have a special treat for you! In one day, we did 15 interviews with different designers/products to give you a taste of Quilt Market in Portland. I had a such a great time seeing everyone’s new stuff. Here’s who I talk to in the video:

Joel Dewberry, Amanda Herring, Pickle Pie Designs, Patty Young, Amy McClellan, Cluck Cluck Sew, Camille Roskelley, Kim Christopherson, Heather Bailey, Rashida Coleman-Hale, Bari J., Shari Butler, Ruffle Fabric, Generation Q, and Miss Rose Sister Violet.

I hope you enjoy!

Happy sewing!

Carina

Fabric Design Begins Next Week!

May 14, 2013 by carina 1 Comment

I’ve been working day and night to finish this new class. I even just updated the syllabus to give you even more details on what we are doing in this class. It is 20% off for this session (because of the Grand Opening sale), and I hope you take advantage so I can see you in class! I’m going to show you how I print fabric from home, create repeats for production, get sketches and painting vectorized, and a whole lot more. I just finished editing the videos with Creative Director Jina Barney, designer Amanda Herring, designer Shari Butler, and designer Deena Rutter. Believe me, it’s going to be fun!!!

I know in future sessions I plan on interviewing more designers. Those who take this first session will also get any interviews I do forever after since I plan on just adding them into the class as we do new sessions.

The best is that the Fabric Design class comes on the heels of Quilt Market. I’m heading out tomorrow and trying to wrap up my schoolhouse and make and takes. We are also taking all the audio and camera equipment to do a CGTV episode! Yes, I know it has been a long time, but whewww! It’s been busy!

Instagramming for QM begins NOW!

Cheers!

Carina

Introducing Carina Gardner Embroidery Files

May 6, 2013 by carina 2 Comments

I’m so excited to announce my partnership with Pickle Pie Designs! They have come up with embroidery designs using my fabric lines. The first is this darling flower from my Dainty Blossoms™ Line. It’s perfectly paired with my newest line Remember™ for Riley Blake. The most fabulous thing is that the entire bag is made from start to finish in the hoop of your embroidery machine!

I’ll be seeing Lisa of Pickle Pie Designs at Quilt Market in just another week and plan on giving you the inside scoop on this little gem.

Quilt Market is in Portland, Oregon this year and I’m so excited. Josh is coming with me with camera in hand so we can get footage of the Riley Blake booth, meet with designers, and more! I am teaching a Schoolhouse (if you are coming, please come see me at 1:55pm, Rm A109 !)

I’ll also be announcing my new sewing patterns….da, da, da…TOMORROW!

Jumping with excitement,

Carina

Upcoming Events—Come See Me!

May 5, 2013 by carina

MAY 11, 2013, SATURDAY 11am -1pm
Fort Union Deseret Book
1110 Fort Union Blvd.
Midvale, UT 84047

Come see me at the Fort Union Desert Book where I will be serving treats on my new dishware line! I’ll also have make and takes with my new fabric line Remember, which will be upstairs in Mormon Handicraft. I’ll even be signing my Carina Gardner™ packaging if you are purchasing any of the dishware.

MAY 16, 2013, THURSDAY 1:55pm-2:55pm
Quilt Market Schoolhouse Room A109
Portland, Oregon
How to Use Sewing Patterns to Attract Beginner Sewers
Not for available to the general public.

MAY 17, 2013 FRIDAY 4:00-4:45pm
Make and Takes at the Riley Blake Booth with Carina Gardner
Quilt Market
Portland, Oregon
Not available to the general public.

We will be making the flower pattern from my new 18 inch doll patterns. Fabric and embellishments provided. Come join me!

JUNE 12, 2013 WEDNESDAY 11am-1pm
Desert Book/Mormon Handicraft Shop Hop
Make and Takes with Carina Gardner
Fort Union Desert Book
1110 Fort Union Blvd.
Midvale, UT 84047

We will be making the flower pattern from my new 18 inch doll patterns. Fabric and embellishments provided. Come join me!

JULY 22-25, 2013
Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show
Create-n-Connect
Las Vegas, NV
I will be at the Carta Bella Booth with our mid-year releases!

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 TUESDAY EVENING
Find Your Lula
Park City, Utah
Visit this event’s site
I will be talking about being Carta Bella’s Creative Director and the in’s and out’s of scrapbooking.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 TUESDAY EVENING
Find Your Lula
Park City, Utah
Visit this event’s site
I will be talking about being Carta Bella’s Creative Director and the in’s and out’s of scrapbooking.