Launch Party! PDF Sewing Patterns Now Available at CarinaGardnerShop.com

October 16, 2015 by carina

I’m so excited for today! I’ve been planning this launch for a few weeks now! The team and I have some cool things planned. What kind of cool things you ask? Well, since you asked…

First off, we are now releasing PDF Patterns! Yes, that’s right. This is the official launch of you being able to purchase my patterns in PDF format. You can still also purchase most of my patterns in their physical form (from our website or from your local quilt shop). Not all of my physical patterns have been converted to PDF. You will see us release all of them in the coming weeks along with new ones.

This is awesome on so many levels for you and me! Since I started MiniLou, we simply have not had the space to house the number of patterns I was carrying for CGInc. So NOW because we can release pdf patterns, you will see MORE kids clothing, kids projects, beginner projects, and for the first time ever QUILTS!

The timing is right for this launch because not only am I kicking off the PDF Patterns, I am excited to be releasing my newest fabric collection for Riley Blake Designs called Apricot and Persimmon. The colors in this line are so autumn-y and yummy. (I should have the full digi book for this collection out sometime next week).

So what are we doing for this launch? I’ll admit, most of the action will be happening on my instagram feed (@carinagardner). Here’s what’s happening:

The PDF shop will be 30% off october 16-21. Visit the sale>>>
We are randomly giving away sewing pattern gift certificates on instagram and facebook all weekend!
We are teaming up with Michelle Jensen (my machine quilter) and MiniLou (my kids toy company) to do a DROP on instagram (hints and where it will be can be found on instagram @carinagardner and @miniloukids). This drop will include one of you WINNING a Persimmon Nine Patch Quilt. Yes! The actual quilt!
I have consolidated all of our FREE fabric projects into the shop so you can grab them and go!
I have two new videos that feature the Persimmon Nine Patch Quilt and the Patchwork Plus Quilt (See below!)! The best part is that I will be doing ALOT more videos featuring difficult parts of the patterns or helpful sewing hints.
For this launch I am releasing three brand new PDF Sewing Patterns that have never been released as a physical pattern—Persimmon Nine Patch Quilt, the Patchwork Plus Quilt, and the Apricot MiniQuilt.

Be sure to join us on instagram and facebook for the festivities! Check out the videos below!

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to check out the entire CGTV channel here: https://carinagardner.com/carina-gardner-tv/
Carina
Episode 14: Patchwork Plus Quilt

Episode 15: Persimmon Nine Patch Quilt

Riley Blake Blog Tour

May 19, 2015 by carina 17 Comments

I’m finally back from Quilt Market and so excited to be part of the Riley Blake Blog Tour! I have a few pics from Quilt Market in Minneapolis in this post too.

So building Wiltshire Daisy began with color. That doesn’t always happen for me. I generally start with a concept and begin drawing the master fabric from an image in my head. This time I knew I wanted to create a gray and pink colorway. I began drawing the cabbage roses and started adding little drops of orange and yellow into the mix. Yellow and pink are two of my favorite colors together (I call them citrus—lemon and grapefruit). It seemed natural at that point to also throw in the orange (for some extra citrus flavor).

(photo to the left—Baby Hexi Quilt—free pattern coming to the blog in the next two weeks / photo below, right—Me at Quilt Market arranging my booth / photo below, left—my girls sporting Wiltshire Daisy dresses I whipped up one Sunday for church)

Wiltshire Daisy is probably my favorite line to date. It’s very soft and shabby chic. (photo below, right—Little Love Nest Ruffle Dress for the 18 inch doll in the gray master fabric / photo below, left—my Quilt Market booth in the Riley Blake Booth with Emily Taylor)

If you love this fabric, make sure and take a peek at the free Around the World Quilt pattern here. You can also follow me on instagram to see what else I’m making with this fabric (as well as a sneak peek at my fall line for Riley Blake!).

Happy Sewing!

Carina

PS My new kids company MiniLou has 23 days left in the MiniLou Kickstarter Campaign. Check out our cute video!

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER STOPS ON THE BLOG TOUR!

5/15 – Where Women Cook5/18 – Becky Marie Designs8/18 – Pattern Anthology5/19 – Carina Gardner5/21 – Lori Holt5/21 – Tasha Noel5/22 – Lori Whitlock5/22 – Cinderberry Stitches5/23 – Eleanor Dugan5/26 – Simple Simon5/26 – The Quilted Fish5/28 – Melly & Me5/28 – Elea Lutz5/29 – Zoe Pearn5/29 – Doohikey Designs5/30 –Samantha Walker
5/30 – Kelly Panacci

Wiltshire Daisy Around the World Quilt Pattern—Free Pattern Download

April 10, 2015 by carina 1 Comment

The Wiltshire Daisy™ Around the World Quilt has been my Sunday sewing for quite a few weeks now. This is one of those quilts that it didn’t seem to matter how I photographed it, it still looked better in person than through the lens of my camera.

And I am SUPER excited to share with you a really great contest that I’m teaming up with Emily Taylor and Riley Blake for you to do!

First of all, everyone WINS because each of us has a free quilt tutorial for you to download. Mine is the Wiltshire Daisy Around the World Quilt and Block (scroll down to the bottom of the post). Riley Blake’s Tulip Chain Quilt and Emily’s Florabella Fancy Quilt are so adorable! To make it easy for you guys, for a short period of time, you can just go to the PatternJam site (click here) and download all three patterns at once.

Second, we are throwing an amazing contest so that you can win the FABRIC TO MAKE YOUR QUILT AND $100 VISA GIFT CARD. I know, right?

Here’s what you get to do:

Go to PatternJam.com and customize the Floribella Fancy Quilt, Around the World Quilt, and/or Tulip Chain Quilt using the Emily’s Florabella, my Wiltshire Daisy, and/or Riley Blake’s Solids. It’s seriously so fun to do! There you will see instructions for making the quilt using the Pattern Jam software and you can pin it to the contest Pinterest board. The most pins wins the contest so make sure and spread the word and get people to pin your quilt!

Here are a few steps to help you if you want to enter:

1. Be a part of the Pinterest Board—http://love.patternjam.com/design-contest/
2. Go to PatternJam.com and register: https://patternjam.com/ by clicking on GET STARTED NOW.
3. Click on DESIGNER PATTERNS> Choose Either Around the World, Tulip Chain, or Fancy Florabella.
4. Once you have chosen a quilt, then choose FABRICS and choose either the Riley Blake Solids, Wiltshire Daisy, or Florabella fabric (or a mix of them).
5. Once you have designed a quilt, save it to your library. Click on MY ACCOUNT and you can see your library and PIN it from there.
6. Join the contest board here.

If you just want to download my Wiltshire Daisy Around the World Quilt, you can do that below:

The Pinterest Contest goes until April 24th! So go and make some fabulous quilts!
Carina

Wiltshire Daisy Fabric Collection

April 8, 2015 by carina 2 Comments

It has only taken me a month to finally post about my newest collection Wiltshire Daisy for Riley Blake. I’ve already seen so many amazing projects and even have a couple of my own to share soon. If you haven’t seen the collection, I’m posting my digi magazine of it here for you to enjoy. It may take a minute to load on your computer so if you see a blank space below, give it a second:).

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I debut my second 18″ doll panel in this collection. It includes a blouse, capris, headband, and handbag. There are photo instructions on the Riley Blake blog here if you want to see them (the capris are done a little differently then my instructions, but are still so very cute!). AND I have illustrated instructions now available here.

Hope this makes you sew happy!
Carina

RBD Post Quilt Market Designer Blog Tour: Carina Gardner

November 10, 2014 by carina 23 Comments

I’m excited to be the next stop on the Riley Blake Design Blog Tour! I’m suppose to be introducing Primrose Garden, but for those of you who follow my blog, you know that I’ve been posting about this line for the last couple of months. It just barely hit stores so I’m excited to share the inspiration behind this line.

First of all, I designed this line at the same time that I purchased an old 1968 Jet Airway. The stove was original and turquoise (I may have purchased it simply for the stove…heehee). I started thinking about colors and patterns I would want in the trailer, if I were to, um, glamp it up:). I started thinking about making the glamper red, blue, and black (and I did furnish it with a lot of laminates from my Evening Blooms collection). I wanted something that felt fresh, clean, but had a traditional appeal. And that’s how Primrose Garden came into being! You can see that I created wallpaper for the glamper kitchen from the red master colorway from Primrose Garden (see link to Glamper pics below).

This is my first collection with an 18 inch doll panel! You’ll see more of these from me in future lines.

Because I don’t want to bore you with things I’ve already posted, here are some other links that will help you should you be thinking about sewing with Primrose Garden:

Primrose Garden LookBook (all the fabrics and doll panels!)
18 inch Doll Panel Fully Illustrated Instructions (Free Tutorial)
18 inch Doll Panel Quilt and Pillow (Free Download and Tutorial)
Carina Gardner Aurifil Thread (matches Primrose Garden!)

And if you are curious about my Glamper Renovation, you can see all the posts here. If you just want to go straight to the final photos of the glamper, you can see them here.

Thanks for visiting my blog! For more updates on fabric, quilts, and giveaways, be sure to check out my Facebook page and instagram feed!~Carina

<<<See the previous stop on this tour with Lila Tueller
See the next post with Lori Holt>>>>

Visit the entire Blog Tour!

11/6 – The Quilted Fish
11/7 – Bella Blvd.
11/8 – Deena Rutter
11/10 – Lila Tueller
11/11 – Carina Gardner
11/13 –Bee In My Bonnet
11/14 – Fancy Pants Designs
11/15 – My Mind’s Eye
11/17 – Zoe Pearn
11/18 – Sue Daley
11/20 – Kelly Panacci
11/21 – Marin Sutton
11/22 – Lori Whitlock
11/24 – Melissa Mortenson
11/25 – Melly & Me
11/28 – Scott Jarrard
11/29 – Elea Lutz

Primrose Garden 18 inch Doll Quilt and Pillow Pattern—Free Download

October 2, 2014 by carina 9 Comments

My new fabric line Primrose Garden will be hitting your local quilt shop this month! To celebrate my first ever 18 inch doll panels, I have a free 18 inch doll quilt and pillow pattern for you!

This is such a simple, easy project! It doesn’t take a lot of fabric and is such a fun gift for your 18 inch doll lovers (there are three in my house).

DOWNLOAD THE PRIMROSE GARDEN 18 INCH DOLL QUILT PATTERN HERE.

If the above link doesn’t work for you, please download it via dropbox here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bk9xgra9pllbxxw/AAAxk525S_vXVoT14QECRwQja?dl=1

If you get the Riley Blake Newsletter, you may have also noticed a red quilt that I put together. It’s design was based on one of the free patterns available at Riley Blake called Whimsy. I changed a few of my dimensions to make it fit my office wall but it’s basically the same design.

Sneak peek at the quilt below if you don’t get the newsletter:). So many more projects coming with this line!

Happy sewing to me:).
Carina

Carina Gardner Aurifil Thread

August 20, 2014 by carina 1 Comment

I’m thrilled to announce that you will be able to find a selection of Aurifil Threads from me in quilt shops soon! This is is sort of a “sneak peek” into my Aurifil collection. The collection won’t be available for a little while yet (I’ll keep you posted on this on my Facebook feed). The colors I have chosen are ones that I use time and time again. I always use matching threads to create a finishing touch on my little girl clothing, 18 inch doll clothing, and other sewing projects.

(For quilt shops, I have listed on our wholesale page distributors who will be carrying this product.)

You’ll notice that I have chosen several variations of blue, red, and green. I find that these are my go to colors and the shades help me choose the exact color I need for a project (Photo to the left is the Red 2265 from my collection sewn on the hem of the doll panel for my Primrose Garden fabric collection). A great matching thread really takes a project to a new level! I love it when the sewing lines on a hem line disappear.

I also chosen my favorite two shades of gray, a medium brown, and a yellow. These are colors that tend to show up in my fabric lines often and I find myself reaching for them a lot.

Other than Primrose Garden, which will arrive at your local quilt shop this October, this collection coordinates beautifully will past lines with Riley Blake including Little Ark, Paris and Co, SongBird, Remember, and Dainty Blossoms.

The twelve threads in this set are 50 weight on large spools. I love this weight on both my Bernina and Baby Lock machines for sewing garments and quilts.

(Photo below: Doll panel examples from Primrose Garden with spools that coordinate).

If you are an Aurifil fan, I think you already know why I love this company and their products. If you haven’t used Aurifil before, I suggest you pick up a spool soon. The colors are so vibrant and easy to work with so many fabrics (not just mine).

Happy Sewing!
Carina

Back Home Again

July 14, 2014 by carina

After a month and a half of travel, I’m finally back home in Salt Lake. I’m glad to be back home although there hasn’t been much time for a break. Lots of things have happened over the last month. Other than finishing press checks in China, going to a wedding in Tennessee, heading to St. George to enjoy the Tuacahn, and accompanying Siri at harp camp in Logan, some of my new paper and fabric lines have been released.

Over at Carta Bella, check out my newest collections Boy Oh Boy and Spooky as well as Alisha Gordon’s Moment’s & Memories. If you are going to the Summer show, be sure and check them out!

I’m also thrilled to announce my newest fabric line is on pre-sale to quilt shops! For a sneak peek at Primrose Garden, click on this link over at Riley Blake. Scroll down to the bottom to catch a glimpse of my first 18 inch doll panel! I’m so excited for this addition to this fabric line! More pretties on this line coming soon.

At my silhouette shop, I’ve been stocking with a lot of great basics that I have been interested in using for myself. Tons of swirls, overlays, gift bags, and cards to name a few.

And of course, I’ve been working on MiniLou. I’ve been planning out our tradeshows and trying to get everything “just so” for our upcoming fall release and the introduction of our spring release. It’s been a work-in-progress and I’m so proud of what we have accomplished so far. So many more exciting things to come!

As far as getting back on track, I’ve been working on some new home decor items for Deseret Book which should be out this fall/winter. I’ve also been working hard on our end of year releases for Carta Bella. Oh, and I’m hoping to have available two new design classes in the shop later this week.

Thankfully, this summer has not been all work-work, and I’ve been able to enjoy time alone with both of my girls on their respective trips as well as getting in a couple of vacas as a family. But summer is slipping by so very fast…I’m going to squeeze in as much fun as I possibly can!

Happy Summer!
Carina

(PS. Photo is from my Little Bitties Bookmarks for MiniLou).

Glamper Tour—Stop at Pine Needles Quilt Shop at Gardner Village

April 29, 2014 by carina

This Saturday Lucy and I are headed to Pine Needles Quilt Shop at Gardner Village in West Jordan. First off, the quilt shop is AMAZING, and I love going in and grabbing this and that. Sandy Workman’s embroidery patterns alone are worth going in for!

Second, they are having a special sale just for the glamper tour! All Riley Blake pre-cuts will be 30% off! How’s that for fabulous.

Third, if you have never visited Gardner Village, this is an excuse to! I was first introduced to Gardner Village early in my marriage at a family gathering at Archibald’s Restaurant. Josh’s family is related to these Gardner’s so it is always fun for my kids to look at the photos hanging over the booths.

Best yet, you’ll get to meet a lot of fabulous Riley Blake designers at this event. Amanda Herring, Deena Rutter, Chelsea Anderson, Sandy Workman, and Emily Taylor will be there with samples from their new lines. RB Creative Director Jina Barney and Alexis Barney will be there with make and takes. We’ll have a raffle every 30 minutes. And the sale. And Lucy. And treats. Enuff said!

Here’s the info for this Glamper Stop

Pine Needles Quilt Shop
http://www.pineneedlesonline.com
Gardner Village
1100 West 7800 South, #29S
West Jordan, UT 84088
May 3, 2014
11am-2pm
30% Sale on Riley Blake Pre-cuts

I hope to see you there!

Carina

Mommy & Me Apron Tutorial with Jedi Craft Girl

April 23, 2014 by carina 1 Comment

I’m back from our glamper trip at Quiltique and getting back on a schedule. Things have been a little hectic as I have been trying to finish out some fabulous things for Carta Bella’s summer lineup, creating some fun cutouts for Silhouette, and working on a new project that I’ll be launching in June. Oh ya, and quilting. That Little Ark fabric line has been sitting on my table beckoning to me, and I finally decided on a quilt to make after Charlie’s afternoon nap yesterday.

Today I have a wonderful tutorial for you from Amanda from the Jedi Girl Craft blog. This darling apron set is right up my alley—perfect for your little ones who want to be just like mom. Hope you get a chance to try it! Make sure and also check out Amanda’s blog. I spotted some pretty sweet tutorials using Riley Blake fabric that I might have to try out soon.

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The aprons are pretty simple to make. Here’s what you need:

Supplies:
3/4 yard main fabric
1 yard stripe fabric
1/4 yard pink fabric
1/4 yard pocket fabric
2 yards wide lace
2 yards medium lace
2 yards small lace

For Adult Apron:

Cut main fabric 13.5″ x 36″

Cut stripe fabric 3″ x 36″

Cut pink fabric 4.5″ x 36

For Child Apron:

Cut main fabric 9.5″ x 30″

Cut stripe fabric 2.5″ x 30″

Cut pink fabric 3″ x 30″

Sew the strip sets together using 1/4″ seams in this order. Zig zag each seam to prevent fraying.

Press seams in one direction.

Fold pink raw edge (hem) under 1/4″ and sew.

Lay the wide lace with right sides together along the hem. Sew along the edge of the lace about 1/4″

depending on the lace pattern.

Fold under and press. Top stitch in place.

Next place the medium and small lace along the seams of the fabric strips. Top stitch in place.

To finish the sides, fold raw edges in 1/4″ and sew, then fold in 1/4″ again. Back stitch at the

start and stop. This should also secure the raw edge of the lace and keep it from fraying.

Prepare the pocket…cut:

Adult pocket: 8.5″x 6.5″

Child pocket 6.5″ x 5.5″

Fold the top edge in 1/4″ and sew.

Press sides in 1/4″ and bottom 1/4″. Fold the top down about 2.5″ or to your liking.

It should look like this:

Pin the pocket into place. Of course you can sew 2 pockets or change up the shape. I am

right handed so I put the pocket on the right side of the apron. Pin in place and topstitch

leaving the top open.

Prepare the sash:

Adult apron cut (2) 5″ x WOF and (1) 5″ x 21″

Child apron cut (2) 4″ x 38″ and (1) 5″ x 18″ – you can adjust the length depending on how

long you want the ties.

The idea is to have a waistband portion (the shorter piece) in the center and two ties

(the longer pieces) on each side.

Sew the waist band pieces end to end with the shortest piece in the center. Press seams open.

Sew a 1/4″ gathering stitch along the top of the aprons. Pull up threads to gather.

Lay the gathered piece along the waistband piece like this – making sure to align centers.

Notice right sides are together.

Pin into place. Sew just this portion sewing over the gathering stitch.

Press the entire waistband under 1/4″ – all the way around, like this:

Fold the waistband over so folded edges align.

Pin into place. I leave my pins in and turn the apron over and sew using the front of the

waistband as my guide. That way the front of the apron looks perfect. The seam catches

the back of the waistband just fine. Continue sewing the entire way around the waistband

with a 1/8″ seam.

Done!!

You can find a printable version of this tutorial here Mommy and Me Apron Tutorial

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

Fabric Fest with Riley Blake Designs 2013

September 16, 2013 by carina 1 Comment

It’s taken me a few days to recover from Fabric Fest with Riley Blake Designs in Vegas. As always, RB put on a classy event. They fed, fed, and fed us some more. There were some fabulous classes, but mostly it was nice to reconnect with other designers, shop owners, and people I love.

The photos to the right and below are from the dinner and fashion show on Tuesday evening. I spent the few days before Fabric Fest quickly getting these outfits together. I loved how they turned out!

(shown in the photos from left to right are Evening Blooms fabric line, Tulip Park Pinafore, Bella Stash Bag, Playdate Outfit, Little Playdate Outfit, Love Nest Ruffle Dress, and the Little Love Nest Ruffle Dress).

I drove down to the event with designers Samantha Walker and Lori Whitlock (also at Carta Bella and Echo Park with me). Every time I get together with these girls I am more amazed at all they do. (Photo below from right to left: Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs, Samantha Walker, myself, and Lori Whitlock).

This was my first time meeting Sue Daley. Other than being a bubbly and positive personality (with a darling Australian accent), I was loving that she was wearing all of my fabric during the entire fest!!!! Look how darling she is in Evening Blooms (photos below)! Even the darling piping on the dress to the left is pink Dainty Blossoms. I took Sue’s paper piecing class and learned so much. I am a total fan!

That messy table of tchotchkes is my little booth in the vendor hall. We sold out of most of the samples the very first night.

I took the Halloween Advent Set to show people (FYI, did you know that the Lunch Love Notes and the Halloween Advent Classes are only $3 each until Halloween? Get them while they are hot!).

Me pretending to be Vanna White with my latest line Evening Blooms.

And how could I not adore all of these lovely ladies? (Kris and Kim of the DIY Dish, Kimberbell Designs, and My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shop, Lori Holt, Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs, Melissa Mortenson of the Polka Dot Chair, Lindsay Wilkes of the Cottage Mama, and Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter)

Ask if I finished ANYTHING at the conference. Oh, ya. I was 0 for 5. I came home and finished Melissa’s Retro travel bag (and hand-bound the inside bias strips) just in time to see everyone this coming weekend at Sewing Summit. September is turning into my official sewing month! Especially with sewing patterns due out by October 1st. Eek!

Heavens knows I have a few fun surprises for you in the coming weeks! For more pictures on fabric fest, check out my instagram feed at http://instagram.com/carinagardner.

Sew happy,

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

Carina Gardner Newsletter Issue No. 7

September 6, 2012 by carina 1 Comment

Here it is! Issue No.7 of our newsletter along with some great photos of the studio! It’s a photo-heavy issue so I hope you enjoy!

XOXO—Carina

Nesting

August 8, 2012 by carina 2 Comments

I begrudgingly decided it was time to get a new computer. Besides running really slow, it turns out my love for the 17″ MacBook Pro is outdated. So I settled on a 15″ that I was assured will make me faster. With baby boy on the way, I knew all the “down time” I currently spend just letting things “run” needed to end. So my “old” Mac and “new” Mac both went to the doctor for a data transfer this weekend.

It’s been a long time since I didn’t have access to a computer. Maybe too long…because I managed to do some much needed nesting over the weekend. I have a major list of things that will absolutely NOT happen before this child arrives in a couple of weeks, but I also have a minor list that (hopefully!), I will on get done.

One of these “to dos” was to get curtains up in my kitchen. I made these ruffle curtains out of the Paris and Company fabric that I designed for Riley Blake (released out this last April (2012)). They are fun and pretty girly (Josh is dealing pretty well with this), and match the light blue chairs I painted for the breakfast nook.

I also managed to spend a good deal of my time catching up with the Olympics and Pinterest. My obsession for white colonial-style houses and lots of bright colors is evident.

In the coming weeks, I may be a little busy with our new adventure which may result in fewer blog posts. But my obsession with Instagram (follow carinagardner) should keep those of you who want to see the Carta Bella-Riley Blake-Jessica Sprague.com-Sewing Pattern-More Licensing(Yikes!)-Gardner Family-adventures in the loop.

XOXO- Carina