What a beautiful bargello! You do stunning work, I am impressed.

[QUOTE=Onebyone;7759941]I like Clover seam rippers, they are sharp and last a long time. I bought this one and it's great. No pokies and no cap to keep up with. I keep it in my class/retreat notion bag. https://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/notion/199180 Your quilt is very nice!]

I'm thinking about buying one but would like to find a retractable seam ripper that has a hole in it to enable it to be hung around my neck. Anyone have one like that?

this is what I do. I have 8 seam rippers. One in each busy bag and with each sewing machine and the others are "somewhere" but I still reach for my 28 mm rotary cutter.

I've been sewing since I was a teenager in 4-H--more years than I care to admit! And it wasn't until just within the past year that I learned what that little 'wad' is for on the long end of a seam ripper. Leave the piece as is (not pressed open), insert the long end into the seam so the stitching is between the 2 sides of the ripper next to the cutting edge and away you go. That little 'wad' is for keeping the ripper right there in the stitching line and you can unsew in a lot shorter time. So far I've had no problem with it nipping the fabric but I'm careful, too. Sorry this isn't a better explanation of how to do it but that little piece of plastic on the one side of the ripper is there with a purpose in mind! (This idea has been around for a long time apparently, just like the tabs in the end of the aluminum foil box--didn't know it was there for a reason!)

I ripped a crib size quilt in less than 20 minutes with my 28 rotary.

Love the quilt! Love, love, love the clover tools!

I have a basket full of seam rippers and a basket full of scissors on my cutting table. I don't spend time looking for one for the one I 'just had in my hand and it's gone' anymore. I grab another one. They sure can disappear fast.

Your quilt top is lovely and well worth investing in a new seam ripper or rotary cutter blade. Keep up the good work.

Oops! Just went to my machine and found that the little bump thing is on the short end of the seam ripper. CORRECTION, CORRECTION!

Concerning the seam ripper's use, I tell my students that it is not a question of 'if' but 'when' you will use the seam ripper. I also tell them to remember to replace it. I had not even thought about replacing mine FOR YEARS when I heard Angela Wolfe talk about it in an alterations class. I bought a new one and could not believe how much easier it was to use! It is amazing how we skimp on the the simple things (cutter blades, needles, rippers) that would make our projects go so much faster and easier.