Favorite Quilting Tools and Notions

Hello and happy Monday!  First, thank you so much for all of the kind words and comments about the new fabric and patterns! I truly appreciate it, and I know how much time it takes to leave a comment. And now today I’m sharing thoughts on my favorite quilting notions!

After so much crazy sewing in just a couple of weeks, my sewing room is now pretty messy. As I started picking things up and putting them away I realized how very helpful some of my favorite tools and notions were in helping me get such a lot done in a short amount of time. So I snapped some pictures and thought it would make for a good blog post.

In full disclosure I’ll let you know that I took all of the pictures on my sewing table…the only clean surface in the room right now other than the ironing board! 

Thread

Aurifil is my go-to thread, and I use it for all of my piecing and for the machine quilting I do myself. I use either 2000 or 2021 depending on what I’m sewing with. 2000 is a light cream that blends in perfectly with off-whites (perfect for the Moda Bella 9900-60 background I use a lot), and 2021 is a creamy white that blends in when I’m using lighter backgrounds (Moda Bella 9900-97).  The bobbin keeper pictured along with my thread is another favorite. I keep 4-6 bobbins of each of my two basics along with bobbins of other frequently  used colors so they are ready to go. When I have 5 empty bobbins in the keeper I know it’s time to clean the lint from my bobbin case and oil the machine…and fill up those bobbins!

Rotary Cutters 

I’ve tried a lot of different rotary cutters, but I love Olfa the best! I use the 45mm size.  The 60 mm works for some people but seems to give me more issues with wrist pain! I love the ergonomic style and color of the aqua Splash and feel like both work equally well. I also use the Olfa blades.  Olfa has a new Endurance blade I’ll be trying out soon, and I’m looking forward to testing it; it’s supposed to last much longer! 

 Rulers

As far as rulers go, I’m pretty dedicated to Creative Grids rulers, although I do love the ruler pictured because of its size: 8 ½″ x 12″. My 8 ½″ x 24″ ruler is my other go-to ruler. (I won’t talk too much about rulers here because I posted in more detail about some of my favorites here).  But I believe these are the two sizes I can’t live without!

 

 Scissors and Pins

Scissors and pins…I love the Little House pins…pictured in my pincushion that come in the little tins. I also love this same style pin with just a bit longer shank. My favorite scissors are my Kai’s (black handle) that I got at market a couple of years ago. They really are amazing and haven’t needed sharpening in almost two years! For smaller scissors, I love my little pair of Dovo scissors on the pincushion and also love the small yellow Omnigrid scissors which are by Kai as well.

 

 Two Favorites:

Two notions I can’t do without…my Clover Wonder Clips, Red, 50-Pack  which I use for binding, for bag making, and for any sewing when pins just don’t work. My Clover 482/W Seam Ripper is my favorite seam ripper ever, and yes, I use it frequently! I actually have two of these in case I misplace one, but at the moment my back up one is missing…so I might have to remedy that soon!

 

And…I keep my Clover Wonder Clips in a little bag so they’re always handy for working on a quilt. I keep a small pair of scissors, thread, and needles in this bag as well.

 Since half-square triangles are such a staple block in so many quilt designs, the question often comes up as to the best method to use. I’m not a dedicated fan of triangle papers (although they are very accurate, I just don’t love taking the papers off). BlockLoc rulers are also accurate; however, you have to buy a separate ruler for each size hst you’re sewing. My preferred method is to make my hst’s a bit bigger and trim them down. This allows for terrific accuracy and also allows me to press seams open which helps to eliminate bulk in the seams.  The Fit to be Quarter 6.5 by Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts works really well at trimming hst’s in quarter inch increments up to 6 ½″ (and she has a larger version of this ruler that works for blocks as large as 9″ x 9″).  And the Itty Bitty Eights ruler by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings will allow you to trim in ⅛″ increments up to a 6″ block (see my method for trimming half-square triangles here).

 

Finally…the Creative Grids Stripology Ruler Quilt Ruler  has really been a time saver and came in really handy over the last few weeks. I love that I can quickly and accurately cut strips in ½″ increments and then turn those strips and cut them into squares and rectangles. I also use this for cutting sewn strip sets. See the video tutorial for this ruler I filmed while at Fat Quarter Shop last year: watch the video by going here.

 

I sure love my quilting notions and tools, and while I’m always willing to learn about new ones, these are the ones I use over and over again! I’m sure there are amazing quilting notions out there just waiting to be invented…think how much more our grandmothers could have accomplished with all of these wonderful tools!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!