Gotta Haves/Wish List
 

Just wondering what most quilters feel they have to have / or have on their wish list as far as quilting needs other than material. Specialty tools, etc.???

Rene

Get the biggest cutting mat you can fit in your space and afford and a good rotary cutter. You can do it with scissors like in the old days but your accuracy and speed will be much better much sooner with the rotary cutter. Good scissors are still a necessity too. It can be a little expensive if you're starting from scratch but once you're set up it's not bad. Then most of your costs are just fabric and thread.
If you're on a tight budget and don't have a machine yet consider a vintage machine. They can be had pretty cheaply and you can construct an entire quilt with nothing more than a straight stitch. I love old machines and spend most of my time in the vintage section. If you ask about old machines there you'll get more advice than you can read. :)
I hope this helps, others will be along with a lot more info soon I'm sure.
Rodney

My wish...My husband to move his hobby out of the spare room (his plan) and into the newly waterproofed basement. My plan is to move into the vacated space! I have plans to expand my table space with 3 kitchen cabinets and a 8 foot counter top. I guess that this will be a winter project.

i have enought stuff.
Sandy

I would add a 6x24 in ches ruler and neutral color threads cream and grey... and that's is. I am not much of a gadget person.

Having a "Big Board" type of ironing surface. I also use it as a cutting table (with the cutting mat on top of the ironing board)

Cutting table at a comfortable height.

Not much of a gadget person here, either. I agree with all that has been said so far. My only other recommendation would be is when purchasing rulers, make sure they are all the same brand regardless of size. A 6 x 24 is a must and if you can find one in a brand you like that is wider, go for that - it won't hurt. I'd love say an 8" wide x 24 but not willing to part with the $$ and can't find a brand I like in that size as well. If you have a tendency to do lots of HST's in your quilts, invest in a rotating cutting mat (with a coupon, of course). Makes life MUCH easier! If you have a tendency to use a lot of 12 inch blocks in your quilts, a 12.5" square ruler to help with squaring up those blocks.

If you are a hand quilter, a good thimble is a must. I use a Thimblelady stainless steel thimble which can be had pretty reasonably. Their fitting process is easy and very accurate.

A good light! I have an inexpensive task light that's very portable, so I can move it all around my sewing area, as needed.

A long arm, so I don't have to wrestle with the quilt, my FM quilting probably won't be any better though, unfortunately. LOL

I so totally agree

When I pack for vacation, I bring a minimal-but-complete sewing setup with me.

This consists of:
Folding adjustable table (for the machine)
Sewing machine w/bed extension
18x24 cutting mat
45mm rotary blade (though I prefer 60mm at home)
6.5x24 ruler (my favorite ruler by far)
Thread
thread snips
seam ripper
travel iron
travel ironing mat

I don't usually do any actual quilting on vacation because I bring a small machine. If I were to plan to do quilting I'd also include quilting gloves and one of those blue water-erase markers.

If I were planning on finishing a quilt all the way to doing binding, I'd also bring some larger shears for trimming the batting etc. off.

At HOME I keep a lot more "stuff". Normally I actually use 2 of the 6.5x24 rulers when I'm cutting; I also love my June Tailor rulers with the slots. If doing HST, bloc-loc rulers are great; and/or square-up rulers. I also agree largest cutting mat in budget is a great idea, I've upgraded mine and now have THE largest mat I can fit on my table and I love it.

I like to do foundation pieced crazy quilts that I then trim down to 12.5 blocks; so I have a 12.5" square ruler for that.