Dryer sheet for running my thread through when hand sewing.Love this topic!Will keep watching.

I broke a springed clothes pin in half, use the flat part to open and hand press seams the way I want them to go. It keeps my finger from getting burned.

Excellent idea! I will have to dig out my old clothespins to do that. I am always singeing the tips of my fingers.

I use Painter's blue tape to secure back of small quilts to table. Holds good but doesn't stick enough to damage anything. No wrinkles when I pin together.

I have freezer paper in my sewing room to use for paper piecing--the method that you don't sew through the paper.

I have the tissue paper used for wrapping gifts in gift bags to trace quilting designs on which I then tape to a quilt on the frame and quilt through it. Much cheaper than vellum or the special paper sold to longarmers.

I claimed a 36" square kitchen island after our remodel to use as my cutting table. Rotary cutters, blades & templates are stored in the drawers & scraps, UFO's, & orphan blocks are stored in the bottom.

I use blue painters tape to tape the tissue paper onto quilts & it holds the leaders on the poles of my frame.

Hairspray to keep chalked quilting designs from rubbing off.

Silicone spray to keep the rails on the frame slick and the bed of the sewing machine.

I used to have a roll of Press 'n' Seal in my room for quilting but I didn't like the little bits of plastic left in. Others still swear by it.

I steal hubby's big carpenter's square when I need to square up a large quilt before binding it. And he occasionally has to come into my sewing room to find his level if I've been adjusting my frame.

I have a small, rolling tv/microwave cart that fits under the frame. Usually my embroidery machine, stabilizers & threads live on it but I take the machine off to put my laptop that controls the PC Quilter on when I'm using it to quilt.

I have one of the rolling plastic storage drawer things advertised for scrap bookers that I keep all my thread & needles in. It just fits under the sewing cabinet when it's opened up so I can just reach down, open a drawer & pull out needles, thread, or bobbins when I need them.

I use a coffee mug to keep my little Clover iron in & I use it to put troublesome thread in when it lashes too much on the normal thread holder spindle on the machine.

I like to use used fabric softener sheets to sew my applique shapes onto so I can turn the seam allowance under before stitching them down to the background fabric. It really helps to keep those little pokies under the piece. It doesn't add bulk so I don't have to cut it out from the back side like those who use paper do.

I'm sure there are lots of other re-purposed & purloined items in there, also--LOL!

i use lage cone holders to wrap my binding on i cut binding before project then fold in half and wind on cone ready when i need it

Can you give us the recipe for your cornstarch/spray starch?

I saw a similar idea in some or other book recently - they built a nice timber shelf over the roller part and the whole 'design wall' disapeared up behind the timber and you had a handy shelf for stuff above it - I am going to start looking for an old roller blind when Iget back to Ireland!!


I use saucers for circles - all the time!! And jam jar lids for smaller ones.

Wooden spoon handles for turning through and chop sticks for poking (as others!!)

I have a closetmaid cube organizer for my Fat quarters, it lets me separate by colour or theme

peg board attached to the side of a wardrobe with hooks to hang all my rulers on.

A magnetic whiteboard to keep a list of UFO's so I look at it before I decide if I want to start a new one. And I post up the pattern there that I'm working on so it's not lost int he shuffle.

Freezer paper to applique with.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head.

DH made me pegboard unites to hold my threads and cutting supplies. He also took a six ft bookshelf and stacked the shelves, drilled four holes in them and inserted dowel rods when the shelves were back in their spots. Now my fabric does not fall over! We also took PVC pipe, some corner fittings and one cross fitting and made a six ft portable design wall. I bought the backing flannel from Walmart for $5.94/yd. I think the whole thing was under $25. The shelves and the pegboard stuff was already in the house. I know that these aren't quilting tools, but they help me with quilting!
I also use the bamboo skewers for stillettos, i just take an emery board to the cut end of it.