Cut to the quick

Can I say what an awesome Christmas present this has been? I've now cut out my third quilt (and several other smaller projects) with the same blade and have just taken the few minutes to sharpen it before each project. I think I might have to officially endorse this product... lol. It's not quite as sharp as a new blade but it works just fine. This latest quilt, I wasn't able to cut through more then four layers of high quality quilting cotton, whereas with the last quilt I could cut through 6 - 8 layers of batiks. So I'm not sure if it's any less sharp or if it's due to the difference in fabric. Still, I most certainly don't need to replace the blade yet.

And yes here's a bit of the most recent quilting fabric to meet my blade. It's the quilt for the school auction. I initially was going to make a bed size quilt but was afraid I'd run out of time (due before Feb. 25th!) so I went with a nap size instead. I should be able to knock it out. Also might make a matching pillow but not sure I have enough of the cream color.... And yes, I am being totally *lazy* about the whole thing and I bought a kit (second one ever) just because I think the design and fabrics could appeal to a wide variety of people and I'm not really sure who will be bidding on it.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - keeping the pointy bits where they belong

One of the little things I keep around my sewing room is a jar. Sounds exciting yeah? Well it can be.


I don't know about you but after a sewing machine needle gets dull and is done being useful I hate to throw it in the trash. I mean if I have to reach my hand in there later for something (like I accidentally threw away a bag of rubies and diamonds or a scrap of good fabric and later realized I needed it back) I wouldn't want to stick my hand in there knowing I might get poked by a needle too dull for fabric but sharp enough to draw blood. I really don't want to see blood while I'm sewing. I like to keep that stuff on the inside where it belongs.

This is where my "fancy" jar comes in handy. It was an old cleaned out spaghetti jar but really any jar with a lid will do. I tried to pick one with a pretty lid but you could paint the lid or decorate it however you see fit. To spiff up the jar itself, I made a modified version of a coffee cup sleeve to wrap around it. See? Pretty. Easily updatable. Then I got out my hand-dandy drill and drilled a quick hole in the top of the jar.


Now, whenever a needle goes bad, I just drop it through the hole. I don't even bother to take the lid off. If I accidentally knock the jar over nothing spills out and I don't need to take the lid off for any reason really, other then to take a picture showing you a few pointy needles at the bottom on inside. See? They're harmless down there!

What are your favorite non-electric quilting tools?

Clockwise from top right: Quilting gloves - excellent for guiding large pieces of fabric through the machine and or quilting. I cut the tips of the glove off the index and thumb so I can easily pick off threads without them sticking to the glove. Curved basting pins. Flat headed straight pins. Magnetic pin holder - great for when you accidentally spill pins! Pointy fabric guide - I'm pretty sure that's the technical name... don't know what they're actually called but it's a great tool for quilting curved seams. Jack the Ripper - my seam ripper. Snips and scissors and a good rotary cutter. I have several rotary cutters in different sizes and one that I keep that's just for cutting paper templates and such so I don't make the one I use for fabric dull. (I rotate the blades... when the fabric blade gets too dull it moves to the paper cutter where it works just fine for a while). Omnigrip rulers - they don't slide! And a marking pen.

Most all you might recognize but one that I LOVE that's rather uncommon is the little dohicky in the center of the picture. It's a wrapping paper cutter. One Christmas when my sewing room turned into gift wrap central and everything was everywhere and it was a general disaster but I was still trying to sew... I couldn't find my snips. However the paper cutter was readily available and wouldn't you know it? It was THE BEST thing for cutting apart chained pieces. No snipping motion required at all. There's a sharp little blade under that top protective area and it's just a swiping motion that separates them... perfect for cutting thread with. It also keeps me from accidentally cutting my stitched pieces because it really won't cut fabric... so I can hurry along with no worries for those or fingers. ;-) I usually pick up a few of them right after Christmas because they're cheapest then... a buck or two. They last 6 months to a year depending on how much use they see. Do no try to buy them right before Christmas - I've seen them priced for $8 or more then!