Cell phone and quilting
 

Besides the obvious of taking pics of completed projects, what hints do you have where your cell phone can make you life easier or quicker? On you mark, get ready, SNAP.

I like to take pics of the process, I love using my calculator, keep notes on it, look up & take pics of coupons, watch demo videos, pinterest, and use a quilt app.

I have found that taking a picture of your machine setup
(stitch length, and/or any changes you made for a quilt)
helps if the machine accidentally looses power.

This has happened to me several times.

Use my cell phone to "stage" fabrics that I am thinking
of using together to get a feel for how they look.

Take pictures of ends of bolt info in case I run out and
need to to (hopefully) buy more.

I KNOW there are more ideas, but can think of them just
yet.

Tartan do you just snap a photo of the coupon or is there another way to do this?

AND you can also change the picture to black & white so you can check your value range. :thumbup:

A lot of places will send coupons via email, which you can pull up and show the cashier.

In addition to what others have said, I use the clock/alarm feature on my cell. If I don't set the alarm, I tend to get lost in my sewing and next thing I know, dinner's late, chores aren't done, I stayed up way later than I should, and I haven't seen or spoken to other members of the household for 3 days!

I use the calculator function a lot (especially at JA's to figure out what my total fabric is going to cost me with the coupons). And I have the Robert Kaufman app installed on it that I use a lot to figure out how much fabric I need for a quilt, how big to make the setting triangles, etc.

My Innova has excellent 24/7 service. When I have a problem I can take pictures with my cell phone and send to the technician who is helping me.

I had no idea you could change color to black and white! I am iPhone challenged though I'm sure my hubby can show me how to do that.

If you have a long arm, you can take a photo of the first border to see what you did. By the time I get to the end I've forgotten and have to unroll it to check.

Quilt Calc! This is a free app by Kaufman - does all kinds of quilt math for you. Binding measurements, setting triangle sizes, square in a square calculations, yardage calculations (# of pieces per yardage), borders, backing size.
I LOVE it!

I have the craftsy app on mine and often check out my classes - either for a refresher or a reminder. Sometimes I use it to take a break.

I am just learning how to use my phone....took me several tries just to send a pic to DD about a quilt I was making for GD. I just make phone calls:o

On my iPad I have a light box app which can be used for tracing small appliqué pieces.

Well I'm not familiar with iPhones, but usually you can go into your photo gallery, select the picture you want, and edit it. The editing options usually include a B&W option.

I also use the color to black and white feature. Great tool!
Recently, I had a top on the design wall but I didn't have all the background fabric. While I was waiting for that to arrive, I started some of the piecing, using what little background I had. Well, I kept getting lost. Thank goodness, I had snapped a photo before I started. It made a great reference to keep me on track. I haven't figured out how to resize my photos so they will fit here but you can see it here and see why I could keep getting lost.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wheate.../in/datetaken/

Turn it off????

I have been working on a paper pieced grandmothers flower garden, a large one. When I had pieced all the flowers I laid them out on my bed and after a great deal of thought and swapping about, finally decided on a layout. Then realised that I would never remember the layout. However my brain clicked in and I took various photos. With these at side of me, piecing the quilt top together was quite easy.

Never thought of that! Do you know the name of the app? Sounds like a gret idea. :-)

MSQC has a free app that will send a new free pattern. The alert signal is the quack of a duck!
The Robert Kaufmann Quiltcalc is great, use that more than a regular calculator.
Take pics of completed quilts for Show and Tell on the QB, Facebook, check value's, etc.

I use my phone for quite a multitude of different things especially groceries. I have a gallery of quilts for ideas and color placement. Apps for hobbies, apps for work related, Notes for birthdays and amount of money sent for each special occasion (helps with budget for holidays, who gets what amount). Most of the time I know what my bill is going to be by the time I get to any register. I also note my family's favorite colors and things to do.

Lmao!! Ain't that the truth!

It's called Lightbox

I still have one of the old flip phones and the best I can do is take a picture.
I don't think that I can afford all the extras with the smart phones (time and usage).

So many great ideas - I knew and do many of them but learned some new ones - especially switching to black and white to check out fabric.

Thanks to all who contributed!

I have a smart phone that I pay $10 a month for ($13 including taxes). I paid $150 up front for my smart phone, and my no-contract monthly charge for unlimited voice and text is $10. I get data (unlimted) only when I'm around wifi, which is easily available at my house, work, and nearly every store I go in. I've had it for 3.5 years. I did the math and saved $1500 over the first two years (INCLUDING the cost of the phone) over the typical monthly-contract carriers such as Verizon and AT&T, which at the time were only offering plans @ approx. $70/month.

It's probably more affordable than you think! :thumbup:

Taking a photo of the layout before assembling a top is always a good idea. An out-of-place or flipped block stands out like a sore thumb in a photo, and you'll spot it before sewing!

Thanks! :-)

re: the timer feature ?? I don't see the problem here.........

Thanks for the good ideas ladies. I knew a few of them and learned of a few new ones. The only one that was sort of alluded to, that I knew, is if you are disassembling something (possibly the bobbin area) to deep clean, take a picture before you start and before you lift out each piece so on the return trip you have a pic of how it is supposed to look. That's got to be an invaluable one - ask me how I know! Situation that birthed this thread.

I had a Tracphone flip phone that didn't have much on it, no camera. I now have their "smartphone" with camera & other goodies. The phone was around $35.00. It came with 3x minutes & since it isn't my 'lifeline', I run out of days before minutes.

Interested where you find this bargain. I have a flip phone but my kids keep telling me I need to modernize.

I do it all the time.

Thank you for asking this question. The answers and comments are helpful and interesting.

I do a lot of research on mine. We travel and it's a simple, off the cuff sort of way to find and preview quilt shops. Depending on where you find yourself, that "preview" business is a time and effort saver. I look at the dynamics involved in the actual fabric but I also look at stuff that has to do with the store and how it's run and how it presents itself. All that is probably all me but it sometimes makes a real difference in what I can expect to find when I walk in the door.

Another thing I use the phone for is figuring out where traffic tie ups are located. It helps me avoid accident areas as well as the places that road work is causing slow downs. It also tells me whether it's worth the effort to figure out an alternative route or I could equally well just "tough" the problem through. Helpful when I'm on a voyage of discovery especially if I am going to be on my own.

Again everyone, thanks.

Alvie

My machine is calibrated in mm. I ask the phone to convert to inches so I know how large the embroidery image will be. I guess eventually I'll catch on, but right now my phone is an important part of sewing! Who'd have thought?

What is the name of the MSQC app???

If I see a quilt on t.v. I will get my phone and take a picture of it or on the the computer I will take a picture.

I did a search for "Missouri Star Quilt Company app" and found it for both Android and Apple. Google is your friend.

It's called Quilting Tutorials by Missouri Star Quilt Company.