Stringbeans Say Hey!

Baby Quilts for Christmas

2009-01-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, I gave quilts to my two nieces. They were my 2nd and 3rd quilts ever! I machine-sewed them from my own design, with a lot of inspiration from the web and all those wonderfully creative quilters out there. I learned some valuable lessons while making these quilts.
-First: It is not a good idea to use clearance bin Fat Quarters unless you know how much of that material you will need. I ran out of some material and then couldn't buy any more of it.
-Second: Applique should be done with a stabilizer. I didn't know what a stabilizer was, let alone that I needed to be using it until my applique wrinkled up and then I saw it mentioned on Sew Mama Sew.
-Third: Binding isn't that hard to make, it just takes a little practice and the right instructions.

This was my first time to add my own label. I like it how it turned out, but I may keep experimenting with it.

I found this awesome fabric(sorry, I don't know who it is by)! It is Mother Goose, and it is perfect for a little girl quilt!

This ladybug turned out really cute! The pattern came from How Stuff Works "Fly Away Ladybug Block".

I love this dragonfly! The pattern came from How Stuff Works "Gossamer Wings Quilt Block".

Big applique letters sounded like a great idea when I started, but they proved to be a big challenge! I found out that I need to work on my skills in machine-sewing curves.

The finished quilts!

Now, maybe I'll try that 4th quilt. It will be my first queen-sized quilt! So if anyone has any tips, please share them!

My Hand-Made Christmas

2009-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, I didn't go all hand-made, but I did try to make some of my gifts. Maybe next year will be an all hand-made Christmas!

I made some ornaments for my sister-in-law. She got a reindeer, snowman, gingerbread man, and an "H". They are like the ones I made last year, except for the letter "H" which was a new design I tried this year.

I also made a baby quilt for each of my neices. I am new to quilting, so they are my 2nd and 3rd quilts to make. I tried to work on some new skills with these quilts, so they each have some appliques.

I also made my own binding for the first time, which turned out pretty nice. I had a lot of help from these tutorials: You Go Girl!'s "No-Snit Binding", Heather Bailey's "Continuous Binding", and Quilts and Creativity's "How Much Binding Do I need?".

My two year-old neice loved her quilt! She immediately laid down on the floor and pretended to be asleep!

Ornaments of Christmas past

2008-12-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

These are my handmade felt ornaments from past Christmases. I had been looking for an easy ornament that I could make myself, and these are what I ended up with. I have done other designs, but most of them were given away as gifts. They are very easy to make and mostly just require finding a good pattern. From there, it is just cutting out the felt peices, stuffing them, and sewing them together. Easy!

Last year, I gave all of my husband's side of the family one of Santa's reindeer. I did it by age, so my my husband and I are Comet & Cupid.

This reindeer is my favorite!

My husband even got into the fun! He gave me this one for me for Christmas. He made it by tracing a Ford mustang emblem. He's so sweet!

My first real post!

2008-12-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!
I've been following SewMamaSew for a little while now and have loved finding awesome projects to do. It's actually the reason I started this blog, so I can show off all my craftiness.

A recent project I've done are these cute accent pillows made from placemats. I got this awesome tutorial from Schlosser Designs: Quick and Easy Accent Pillows
They are so easy to make. They only cost a total of $25 for 5 pillows and took about an hour to make. It should have taken only 30 minutes, but my seam ripper and I do NOT get along!

Hey!

2008-12-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

This is my very first day to start this, so please bear with me! I will be updating this with real stuff soon (well, as soon as I get the hang of this)! Thanks!

Also, if you have any tips, please let me know.