Good thread! Useless purchases for me were the Flynn frame, Quilter's Calculator and gift of a cutter called something like an Accucutter or Accuquilter??? I love my Sidewinder. Several rulers were duds. When I first started quilting a new quilter friend pointed out several times that gadgets I wanted to buy were just like things I already owned, but were used in a different way, for example. I started to really check things out before purchasing and I saved a lot of money. I really appreciate how clever and careful she is with gadgets. My biggest money waste has been books or patterns which I have not used.