barbsbus

One of my favorite tools is a gadget that I made from half of of two ended knitting needle (I had for knitting socks but I lost one from the set) and a piece of a 1 inch dowel. I have a small lathe so I turned the dowel into a wooden presser and drilled a hole in the other end and inserted the half of the knitting needle, So now I have a stellito and wooden iron. I do a lot of paper piecing and this is perfect for guiding the little piece when I sew them with the sewing machine and pressing the just sewn pieces before adding others. I also like to hand quilt and when I do I cut the tips of the fingers from disposable vynile gloves and put them on my thumb, and ring finger of my right hand. This makes it a lot easier to pull the needle through the quilt and prevents getting blisters.