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I garbage picked a drafting t, which is great to draw long straight lines, tweezers, razor blades, the blue paintng tape and my favorite thing is is my carpenter's awl. I have one with a bright soft rubber holder part which works great to guide fabric while sewing and is easy to find. Got it at Home Depot.
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Originally Posted by the casual quilter
I use a gizmo from Loews to store my worn out rotary cutting blades. It's called a Contain-it. It's a round (perfect size for the 45 mm blades), plastic container about 4 inches high with a soft plastic lid with a slit across the top. I just pop the blades thru the slit until I have enough to take in for recycling.
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Originally Posted by GrannieAnnie
Originally Posted by dallen4350
I found my smallest crochet hook works great for closing and opening safety pins when I was quilting.
I also have a tweezers handy when sewing. Use it to pull up thread from the bobbin, pick off any stray threads, pull out pins from under the pressure foot (but not yet under the needle), etc. I use the back to poke out corners as it has a rounded point. What non-sewing items do you use? one of the sticky lint rollers works wonder for pulling out threads when you've had to rip a seam. And of course, it's great to pick up loose threads and lint while piecing, too. |
I use so many that are already posted here. I love PIZZA boxes! My godfather's people love me. They looked at me funny the first time, but now they just ask what size and how many I want. LOVE IT!
I use plastic stackable shoe boxes to hold my scraps FQ and smaller, they are assorted by color. I use a plastic thing you put wet dishes in to dry in your sink, I have it on the bookcase in my sewing closet and it holds all my rulers. You can use a lot of household items when handquilting. I have a hard time holding on to a hemostat to pull the needle out. I like using balloons. My kids are trained. They see one that has popped and pick it up for me. Works great to pull the fabric through. |
I prefer an orange stick to chopsticks as a stiletto. It has a flat angle on 1 end & a sharp point on the other end.
I use pipe cleaners to keep a spool of thread together with any related bobbins and for cleaning. I bought a laptop case for $1 at a garage sale that I fill up with supplies for any classes. Needle-nose pliers. Lots of the others mentioned above too. |
I put three file cabinets together and an old closet door on top, to make a nice size table, and put it behind my machine( to support the quilt); I have half bushel baskets sitting on top of my fabric cabinets, with labels, for things that I dont need to get to too often;I have the plastic buckets (that cat litter came in) for my scraps, labeled by color; I have plasic, see thru, shoe boxes for scrapes, labeled by size (from 1 1/2 to 5 inche squares);I have a dollar store table cloth haning on the closet door (attached with thumb tacks) for a planning board; a used computer desk for cutting fabrics; love the magnetic wand for picking things up; a ribbon holding the small cutting scissors, tied to a drawer pull;a coffee mug to hold the large cones of thread;looseleaf binders to hold printed out patters from online sites;a mouse pad under the machine foot to keep it from sliding around;thanks for all the great suggestions you ladies are putting on here!
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I use plastic chop sticks for poking corners and I keep a pair of slanted needle nose pliers handy when I can't pull my needle through when quilting or when I tie a quilt. Keep my small supply of crochet needles in a round plastic container with a screw on lid (grandkids candy came in it).
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I use non skid shelf liner under my sewing machines, a post it note to cover the throat plate while changing needles, a fork for perfect pleats every time, a potholder folded to hold my scissors, large plastic hooks to hang scissor holders from on my sewing tables, revolving trays to hold accessories, coffee cups and cute wicker baskets hold small necessities, a nuts and bolts storage container for presser feet etc. A prescription bottle for needles, just to name a few.
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I store my safety pins in an old cottage cheese container. When I want to use some, I shake some out into an old pie plate. Then while I'm sewing, the pins go back into the pie plate. At the end of the day, the pins in the plate go back into the cottage cheese container. (Don't leave them out for the cat.) I also use the pie plate when doing hand sewing (which may do while watching TV) to hold the necessary stuff: pin cushion, needle, thread, scissors, etc -- like a tray.
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swim noodle to wrap my finished quilt top arround after final pressing ... until i can layer it with back and batting and then whole thing rolled around noodle till i quilt it
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