Basic Supplies

Tired of your dining room table too full of quilting supplies to eat dinner? I bought an plain unfinished door  and 2 saw horses for my sewing.My mat fits at one end,sewing machine in the middle,and I wrapped batting and grey nonheat fabric {the stuff on ironing boards} on the other end. Now I can sit and sew, press my seams on my left,and cut on the other end.I also set the saw horses up a little higher than usual so my cutting height is comfortable.And we can now eat dinner together again.

When making I Spy quilts, it's good to have all your squares in clear bags with the number of pieces in the bag on a sticky inside the bag note so you know when you have enough to make your quilt instead of continuously counting them.

Our local thirift store sells a paper grocery store bag of items  for .   With two bags of mens white shirts I can piece a king log cabin quilt top.  The whites are all different shades, makes a wonderful quilt, and I have been using one made from this source for 15 years on our bed. I do not wash out the starch until after the quilt is pieced and quilted.  It is my best selling quilt. 

My aunt sewed for a living, and one of the most important things she had was a large ironing board. About 60 years ago, my uncle made her a large ironing board top that fits on her regular ironing board and the kitchen table.

It was 24"x72" and made out of good plywood (not wafer board), and it had a old wool blanket and canvas top. I remember how great it worked, and how my aunt would get all her fabric laid out and ironed.  I made one a little smaller (24"x 66") and it only cost about and a little time. Hope you all enjoy.

To keep thread from unwinding from the spool and help keep it clean, purchase a roll of 1" wide clear vinyl (costs about ).  I still have about 1/2 roll left after 3 years!  Cut pieces the length needed to wrap around your spool of thread.  The vinyl sticks to itself and is easy to unwrap when ready to use the thread.  You can wrap the bobbin with the spool as well.  You can store the piece of vinyl when using the thread by pressing it onto any smooth surface on your sewing machine.

I had my husband put up a 4' wide by ceiling length peg board for me. I can hang all my rulers, stencils, hoops, scissors and anything else you can think of on it. This way everything is in one spot and can easily be seen and found.

Your  at  the  stage of  the  evening, when  the  kids  have  gone  to  bed  and  you  want  to  relax  in  front  of  the  tele,  maybe  do  a  little  hand  stitching.  You  get  out  your  quilt. Your  hand  stitching,  either  binding,  or  applique or embellishing etc,  and  for  the  life  of   you,  you  cant  find  your thimble  (  again ).

A  pair  of  rubber  dish  washing  gloves  provides  a  simple  answer. Cut  off  the gloves  fingers  and  you  have  10  temporary  thimbles.    

when I use my large 12x12 ruler, I place a sure grip mat under the ruler, and then place a glass type paper wait on top. to insure that the ruler does not move.   

 this works great for me because I can not stand in place to cut with my rotory cutter & ruler

To protect your Fabric Scissors, place a padlock or combo lock through the handles.  You don't have to hide them and they stay sharp a lot longer.

Always have a sharp blade in your rotary cutter. Also, ALWAYS close the blade when you are not using it. This insures great cuts on fabric and NOT on human parts or things you don't want cut.