I wouldn't give up my Fiskars spring action microtip scissors and shears without a fight, but the item that has been the most useful to me in the last few years has been my battery operated bobbin winder. I was never happy with the way my bobbins would fill on my old 1970s Viking, and unthreading the machine every time I needed to fill a bobbin was so maddening. This saved me a lot of time and frustration.