Useless Quiling Gadgets & Other Boondoggles
04-06-2013, 06:50 PM
#151
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,108
Thanks for your comment. I think we all have different criteria for a 'good' product based on our own personal needs. I recently bought another dritz cutter with a small ruler and 2 extra 45mm blades because it was cheaper than buying a two pack of 45mm blades. I don't need the cutter or the ruler, but 3 blades - what a deal!
My spinning cutting mat gets an occasional spin, but, like you, my big mat and cutting table get the most use.
My spinning cutting mat gets an occasional spin, but, like you, my big mat and cutting table get the most use.
04-06-2013, 07:22 PM
#152
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 4,393
I have to say that I bought one of the fabric covered pressing sticks and if you are talking about what I bought it is one of the best purchases I've ever made. As a matter of fact on Pinterest you can see how to make them for yourself. I am in the process of making about 30 of them to give as gifts at a quilting retreat I am part of. I can hardly wait to give them away because I know the participants will be so thrilled to have them after they see how they are used and how beautifully a seam can be pressed open or to one side!
04-06-2013, 07:23 PM
#153
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Posts: 1,653
I bought a seam ripper thing made by Martelli. I forgot how to use it, so asked at their booth the next time I went to a show. Watched her use it numerous times and then have promptly forgotten how again. I too bought a plastic cone holder. After struggling with trying to use it and have it move around while trying to get the thread to come off it and into my machine, I gave up, threw it away and ordered a heavy metal one, which I use almost everyday. Another thing is probably the most expensive thing is an Easy Quilter 3.1 & Tracking System. I used it once and just couldn't get the hang of moving the machine instead of the quilt when fmq. I also didn't like only being able to stitch in a small row and all the extra fabric and batting you had to have for the edges and to wind on the rollers. I do have some rulers I've never used, but someday I will use them. I bought a couple diamond rulers 10+ years ago and just used them a few months ago for the first time. You never know. I'm also a sucker for buying books and then deciding I don't like the pattern once I can read all about it. I probably liked the fabric colors, in the first place, and that's what made me want the book.
04-06-2013, 07:27 PM
#154
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Posts: 1,653
I have to say that I bought one of the fabric covered pressing sticks and if you are talking about what I bought it is one of the best purchases I've ever made. As a matter of fact on Pinterest you can see how to make them for yourself. I am in the process of making about 30 of them to give as gifts at a quilting retreat I am part of. I can hardly wait to give them away because I know the participants will be so thrilled to have them after they see how they are used and how beautifully a seam can be pressed open or to one side!
04-06-2013, 08:24 PM
#156
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Not Here
Posts: 3,817
My biggest "mistake" so far seems to be geting intersted in the vintage machines, I spend so much time rehabbing and rehoming them, that I don't seem to find the time to quilt.
04-06-2013, 08:26 PM
#157
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Blue Springs, Missouri
Posts: 2,481
I bought binder clips to use for binding the quilt. They worked well at first, but as i aged, they became harder to open. Plus, they became cat toys, and they aren't fun to step on when the cats leave them everywhere. I'm still looking for those bendable hair clips to try instead, or I may buy the clips everyone's talking about. This isn't quite a boondoggle, though, because they are still useful as binder clips, if I can find out where the cats hid them.
Maybe the round headed pins are a boondoggle. Who ever expected to buy pins that melt if the iron touches them. I was very disappointed in that.
I have an add-an-eighth ruler. It's very useful for trimming as you're paper piecing. I have a bobbin winder. It was much cheaper than having my machine's bobbin winder fixed, and easier than using my drill, and it works great. I have very few other things - one reasonable size cutting board, and one very small, several rotary cutters, one long ruler (too long - doesn't fit in my carrying case), and a Starmaker 5, 6, and 8. Also have spring loaded scissors, which I use, but find a little hard to squeeze.
I haven't bought an accuquilt. The hardest thing for me in using it would be the weight in moving it around, so it would have to have a dedicated place to sit. I'm still not sure I would make full use of it. I like to make larger blocks, and to have only a single size available would make it less useful for me.
Maybe the round headed pins are a boondoggle. Who ever expected to buy pins that melt if the iron touches them. I was very disappointed in that.
I have an add-an-eighth ruler. It's very useful for trimming as you're paper piecing. I have a bobbin winder. It was much cheaper than having my machine's bobbin winder fixed, and easier than using my drill, and it works great. I have very few other things - one reasonable size cutting board, and one very small, several rotary cutters, one long ruler (too long - doesn't fit in my carrying case), and a Starmaker 5, 6, and 8. Also have spring loaded scissors, which I use, but find a little hard to squeeze.
I haven't bought an accuquilt. The hardest thing for me in using it would be the weight in moving it around, so it would have to have a dedicated place to sit. I'm still not sure I would make full use of it. I like to make larger blocks, and to have only a single size available would make it less useful for me.
04-06-2013, 08:34 PM
#158
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: East Kootenays, BC
Posts: 947
I agree, the basting gun I had broke without getting too far, and I didn't like the big holes it made in my fabric. Hancocks was good about letting me return it as defective, which it was. Good idea, just not engineered very well i think.
04-07-2013, 03:13 AM
#160
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: England Alton Towers
Posts: 6,673
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