Dainty Blossoms for Riley Blake Designs

August 22, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

If you missed it, the fourth issue of the newsletter announced my move to Riley Blake Designs for all my new fabric lines starting with the release of Dainty Blossoms™ in January 2012. I am so excited for you to see the work I have been doing with them! All of it is so beautiful and will make the most amazing sewing patterns!

I don’t think Dainty Blossoms™ is up yet at the Riley Blake website, but it shouldn’t be too long before you see it up for presale (for quilt shops only). So my digital maggie on this is even more of a sneeky, sneeky peek. Check it out!

Today I also started my new Art of Digital Design 2 class. It’s going to be a blast, and I’m so excited about the group of students taking it!

Going to take a break from my computer now to get things going around my house. We just got back from a little family get together at Bear Lake and my house is in need of some TLC.

Happy Monday!

Carina

Carina Gardner Quarterly Newsletter (Issue No. 4)

August 18, 2011 by carina 2 Comments

FINALLY! We’ve finished our fourth issue of our newsletter! Better late than never, right?

I think this is our best issue so far. First of all, there are a LOT of photos. And tutorials. And photos. And an announcement (which links to ANOTHER digital magazine). And did I mention photos?

It’s seriously delicious!

Susan has already posted a bit on getting ready for this crazy photoshoot (see it here). I can tell you right now that we had so many amazing photos that I’m not going to be able to resist posting them.

But first, click on the newsletter to the left here and take a peek at all the fun we were up to in the studio.

https://carinagardner.com/newsletter/carina-gardner-newsletter-issue-no-4/

More photos to come!

Hair Accessories

August 17, 2011 by carina 2 Comments

These darling flowers were made out my Baby Safari, Dress Up, and Pinfeathers lines by Poppies Pretties. I was completely smitten with them (as I am sure you are too)! You can check out her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/poppiespretties. I’m sure she’ll have accessories using the fabrics shown here for sale in the near future.

We used a couple of these accessories in our photo shoot yesterday (I’m jumping up and down with anticipation to show you all the results!). I’m almost finished with are newsletter and my new fabric line coming out in January. Oh yes, it’s going to be good!

Now that I am finished writing and taping Art of Digital Design 2, I’ve got a little more time to play with all this great fabric. More to come…

(Baby Safari fabric shown here)

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(Pinfeathers fabric shown above)

(Dress Up fabric shown above)

(Pinfeathers fabric shown above)

Pinfeathers Birdie Lace Up Tutorial

August 16, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

Get ready for a whole lot of fabric fabulous-ness! It’s been a lot of midnight sew-a-thons around here to show off this fabulous fabric. Susan and I have been hard at work! Here’s the first tutorial from the studio!

This is a really cute skill-building toy for preschoolers as little fingers will work on gaining their fine motor skills by lacing the strings through the holes! It also makes a darling decorative display item in the home or is a great project for a child’s birthday party.

Materials

Carina’s Partridge Bird Pattern-Free Download
1/3 yard heavyweight fast2fuse, thin piece of cardboard, or heavyweight Wonder Under.
1 fat quarter for a single-sided bird or 2 fat quarters (for an alternate fabric) for a double sided bird
Colorful shoelace or cording 1/8′ to 1/4″ diameter. Length will be vary depending on the size of your bird.
Fabric glue
Paper punch

Instructions

1. Your first step is to download the PDF of the partridge from Carina’s Partridge Bird Pattern. At this point you can decide how large you want your lace up project to be. The smaller the child the larger you may want to make the bird so that they will have something substantial to hold in their hand and lace up!

2. Adjust the percent for the size you need and print your bird.

3. If you are using the Fast2Fuse, you will fuse your fabric onto the Fast2Fuse according to the manufacturer’s instructions on the Fast2Fuse packaging.

4. Trace the bird patterns onto the fused fabric and cut them out.

5. Use a good hole punch to punch the holes for the lacing.

6. Knot one end of the the shoelace and lace it through the first hole pulling it to the knot.

Alternate method

You can also make a Pinfeather’s Birdie Lace Up using a very thin piece of cardboard. Tracing the bird onto the cardboard, you cut out the bird’s shape. Then trace the bird pattern onto the fabric. Use spray fabric glue to glue the fabric to the thin cardboard bird. Use a hole punch to punch holes. Finally finish the project with step #6.

Deadlines

August 10, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

I’ve managed to put myself under a number of deadlines in the next couple of weeks, so what do I decide to do? Oh ya, write a blog post. It’s an attempt at procrastination that will only end in a night filled with editing class videos.

Part of my problem is that when I plop myself into my chair, I have a gorgeous view of all my new fabrics—just sitting there, begging to be sewn, cut, cuddled on, worn, quilted, and any other number of things you can do with such glorious amounts of fabric.

It’s killing me.

It would kill you too right?

I’m not just being dramatic am I?

All right, well, enough of the whining and back to business. I get to spend the entire weekend working with that wall o’ wonderfulness.

Hope to be back with some eye candy soon!

Hugs-Carina

Playhouse to Clubhouse

August 3, 2011 by carina 5 Comments

We got a Costco playset in April, which has kept my kids outside most of the summer. I had this idea that I was going to make it more of a “clubhouse” by making curtains for it.

Fast forward to yesterday (aka 4 months later). I picked up Amanda’s red polka dot laminate at Riley Blake’s warehouse. I was so excited that I stayed up late into the night to pound grommets into the curtains (much harder than I anticipated). I’m hoping the laminate holds up okay outside. I’ll probably pull the curtains down before winter and bring them inside for a good washing.

I might have given in and decided it was time to just buy a drill (instead of borrowing the neighbor’s) to install the curtain rods. Maybe I was tired of digging in someone else’s garage. Or maybe I decided that a girl just needs a drill of her own. The three of us headed to Home Depot this afternoon to get some hardware for installing the Tacksam Curtain rod sets from Ikea ($3.99 a rod).

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Now Siri can sell in her “shop” better than ever. Although she has informed me that they will still be making potions down there (but now they can close the curtains so that the non-witches will not steal the recipes).

Carina Gardner Sewing Pattern Giveaway at the Boutique Cafe

July 12, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

At Quilt Market this last May I had the opportunity to visit with Daria at the Boutique Café. She has the interview up and a giveaway of one my sewing patterns. You’ll notice I make a big announcement about where my fabric is going at the end of the interview (did you catch it?). We will officially announce and show you some yummy samples of the new fabric line in our next newsletter.

Speaking of sewing patterns, I’m in the middle of finishing up two more patterns! I hope to have them finished up by the end of the month (waiting on my Pinfeathers, Dress Up, and Baby Safari to arrive to finish them up!). I can’t wait to show you! So back to the sewing machine for me!

June Salt Lake City Shop Hop

June 17, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

If you are in the Salt Lake area, you should check out the Wasatch Front Shop Hop going on this weekend. Fourteen shops (listed below) are participating and it’s a total blast! I had a chance to drop by Mormon Handicraft over by Fort Union Blvd. on Wednesday to check out their display of my sewing patterns. Thought I’d take a moment to share some quick photos I took!

It makes me so happy!:)

All the shops participating have their shops decorated with the theme “The Greatest Quilt I Ever Read.” Here are the shops participating the Wasatch Front Shop Hop:

American Quilting (Orem), Mormon Handicraft (Midvale), Sew Sweet (Tooele), Broadbents (Lehi), Pin Needles (West Jordan), Stitching Corner (Orem), Corn Wagon Quilt Co. (Springville), Piper’s Quilts and Comforts (Salt Lake City), Thimbles and Threads (Draper), Elaine’s Quilt Block (Cottonwood Heights), Quilter’s Haven (Bountiful), Village Dry Goods (Brigham City), Quilts Etc. (Sandy), and Whimsy Cottage (Holladay).

I believe the shop hop runs from June 15th-18th. Hope you get a chance to drop by one of these wonderful shops!

XOXO-Carina

A Bit Ruffled

May 31, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

…in the best way possible of course! Susan says I get bonus points for the pom poms on top (They are kind of hard to see on the top of the lamp in these photos).

This lamp shade is a breeze to make. I think I got the shade from IKEA (a couple of years ago) and the lamp from a consignment shop. It takes two 5″ x 43″ strips of fabrics to make each ruffle (I have 5 ruffles here using my Love Nest™ fabrics). Hot glue ruffles, pom poms, and a ribbon on top and you are done. How easy was that? Into my girl’s room it goes!

Spring Quilt Market 2011

May 16, 2011 by carina 2 Comments

I was a happy girl at Quilt Market this weekend. Susan and Emily walked the show with me and we have a fabulous time! It was nice to have market in town (here in SLC). Here’s a sampling of my Friday (prepare yourself for a long and picture-heavy post!):

This was fun! My little bio at Northcott and a few of my patterns on display at The Pattern Peddler’s booth.

The absolutely delicious Riley Blake booth! And I feel silly because I completely forgot to take pictures of the Little Miss Suntop and Skirt model & the High Tea Soiree Dress model while I was hanging out. I’ll get photos of them when I pick them up.

(You know that Riley Blake is giving away this Beach Cruiser, right?)

Susan was cracking us all up with her enthusiasm! Here she is getting a Moda tattoo. Classic Susan!

And me forcing her to pose in a window frame.

Those gorgeous hats (above) are a new pattern by Amanda of the Quilted Fish. Seriously, adorable!

Here’s one of my new favorite people-Rebeckah Merkle. Here booth was fab and she was sweet too! She has a new line with Timeless Treasures.

This fabulous footwear belongs to Anna Marie Horner’s daughter. Anna Marie passed on some serious style to her daughter.

If you attended market, you might have joined in the All Dolled Up contest that was going on. This fabulous quilt was at one of those booths. And that flower…well, how could I NOT take a photograph of it? Of course, I have no idea what booth it was in.

Me with the extremely nice Joel Dewberry. The amazing frame and mini quilt are by Gigi’s Thimble.

Emily in total bliss as she picks up EQ7!

These lovely ladies (Megan of the Brassy Apple and Daria of the Boutique Cafe) are giving away one of my Ruffle Dress Patterns! Check out their podcast interview with me in a couple of weeks at the Boutique Cafe!

Finally, I had to show you a little goodness from the Seven Islands booth. I think Susan was drooling…literally.

That’s a pretty decent sampling of my two days at market. Hopefully, I’ll get some pics up soon of Josh and me in our 80’s gear for the Riley Blake party. If I haven’t scared you away yet, that post might do it.

Happy sewing!

Carina

Machine Quilting Show

May 9, 2011 by carina

On Saturday, I did a quick run down to the Southtowne Expo to visit the Machine Quilting Show. It was a busy day, but I’m so glad I had a chance to go. My friends Emily and Laura spotted my Love Next™ fabric in this darling quilt…it made my day!

I’m pretty excited about this coming week…it’s Quilt Market! While you won’t see me with a booth at this one, you will be able to catch me part of the day on Friday at the Riley Blake and Northcott booths. You’ll be able to check out my next three lines due out this summer at the Northcott booth. I’ll also be wandering the show. Feel free to stop me and say hello!

Easter Sunday-A Week Late

May 2, 2011 by carina

I’m finally getting around to posting photos from Easter. I’ve been making models of our first line of sewing patterns because the first samples I made are my girls’ favorite to wear (and therefore not suitable as models due to the daily wear and tear.)

Here they are sporting a couple of the sewing patterns with their Coquette™ church bags made from the ballet bag tutorial (photo above).

Flissa was being a stinker about taking photos, but Siri posed prettily. Mostly I just caught photos of them from behind as we walked to church.

I start work on our second set of patterns this week. They won’t be due out until July so they can be sampled up in Pinfeathers, Dress Up, and Baby Safari. I’m also hoping that I’ll get a chance to enjoy the sunshine and sit aimlessly outside a few afternoons this week. Fingers crossed!

XOXO-Carina

Sewing Pattern Packaging

April 29, 2011 by carina 1 Comment

I spent part of this week sewing up samples for Quilt Market. This Love Nest™ Ruffle Dress is made in Cindi Walker’s fabric from Riley Blake. I still have to put in the zipper and make the ruffle flower. I’m so happy with how it turned out! Those coral flowers are divine!

If you get a chance to go to Quilt Market, be sure and drop by the Riley Blake booth to check out my pattern samples! I’ll be walking the show on Friday morning, but should be hanging out at the Northcott and Riley Blake booths too. Hope you get a chance to say hello!

We’ve also updated our distributor list and online retailer list. I also know that you will be able to check out the patterns at The Pattern Peddler’s booth.

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This has been the first time since shipping out the patterns, I’ve had a chance to make more samples. I completely forget that a website is a really difficult way to check out this packaging and after experiencing it first-hand, decided I’d better take a couple of pics for you to see how fantastic the packaging it.

If you haven’t had a chance to get your hands on one of these gorgeous patterns yet, then you haven’t seen how functional the packaging is yet. The heavy-duty package is the best way to keep your cut-out pattern safe and ready for use the next time you sew. I’ve got my patterns all folded up and tucked into each of these ready-to-go the moment I start a new outfit.

More sewing for me this coming week… I’m looking forward to it!

Pinwheel Coquette Quilt by Emily Harris

April 25, 2011 by carina 5 Comments

This quilt was made by my good friend Emily Harris (the same that made that amazing chocolate bunny cake!). These gorgeous little pinwheels were made with a fat quarter bundle of Coquette™. Isn’t it wonderful? It makes me want to pull out the sewing machine right now and start working on a quilt!