quilting notions
 

have any one ever bought a quilting notion and then wondered why i bought it was cleaning my sewing room ans found some old notions that i dont use and then wonder why

Sure have! I figure I must have a good reason before...even if I can't remember why now! :D

Yup!!

Binder clips. I find it easier to use long straight pins that I would have otherwise discarded because they had a bend in them.

June Taylor ruler - the square one where you can cut several strips at a time. I just don't use it.

i bought a Big Foot and have never used it and didn't find a need to when doing my curved piecing

Ok, too many to count. All stashed in their spot in my sewing room. Who knows, someday I might need that specific notion.

I love quilting tools and gadgets. They are small and easy to keep so why not? It's fun to see the old tools become new again.

Too funny, I use my June Taylor every (?) day. I LOVE it. Mine is almost worn out after all these years of use. Is this "one man's trash is another man's treasure" ?

Nope. If I don't NEED it, I don't buy it.

I try not to buy too many gadgets - so many times they really aren't needed and just take up space in my drawer.

So many unused notions that, I make a point to gift them whenever we have a "basket drawing" at the quilt show. At least they go to a good use. Maybe.

I have some stencils that I have never used. I mostly make my own. Oh well. Live and learn.

I picked up a light-up seam ripper at a garage sale just because it struck me as funny. I can't imagine a situation where I'd be ripping seams in the dark.
On another note, one class I took required the purchase of a "purple thang". Didn't use it in the class and haven't used it for anything ever. Still annoyed that I spent the money.

That is funny! You can bring it to a quilting sleepover retreat and be the life of the party! :D

When we moved last year I found stuff I forgot I had. Packed them up and tried to find a better more accessible way to store them. Let's just say it's a work in progress.

I'm a gadget fan too. Quilting, cooking, various other items - I love them, so at shows that have all those places showing off the current new gadget, I watch, usually pick it up, then put it back and keep walking. If I keep thinking about it, then I know it is something I want and go back to get it. (If it is sold out, then it wasn't met to me.) Not all are winners but most are fun.

This made me laugh out loud, really!! I saw someone working on a Celtic knot quilt and was so intrigued, I went out and searched the Internet for the out of print pattern and bought it, waited for the bias tape makers to come on sale as well as used a coupon at Joanns to get the mini iron the lady was using to apply her appliqued knots. They are all still in the packages years later! Ugh! Shhh, don't tell my husband! I try and exercise a bit more restraint these days....:D

I bought quite a few notions usually because an "expert" or a close friend has recommended something. Things that were maybe nifty but definitely not needed. I've been paring down my studio a bit and donating to my quilt guild & quilt group. Now I don't buy much besides bobbins, bobbin holders, rotary blades [love the new Olfa titanium blade though], and thread.

That is so funny! Those are 2 of the things I use so very often. I find my strips are so much better now that I use the strip ruler and I use the clips on several of the items that have thicker bits (the microwave soup pot holders, the fold n stitch wreaths, etc). I guess this is the reason the notions dept is so big - something for everyone.

Being very frugal (read poor) I usually find a way to use what I already have.

Well, I tend to be a notions gal too, but my biggest problem is putting them somewhere that I won't forget about, then when I want to use them...can't find them!

[QUOTE=QuiltnNan;7815344]i bought a Big Foot and have never used it and didn't find a need to when doing my curved piecing[/QUOTE

I have one of those too! I want to try it with the new rulers for our reg machines!?

I only buy notions for patterns that I want to do that are in my bucket and then only on sale and I will use for more then one pattern. I watch Joanns (our closest fabric store)for coupons of 50% and up for notions & batting.

Ha I have more then enough purple thangs. They are one of the cheapest notions to buy so I got most of them as a gift, secret pal, etc.

You know I have a good idea for all those "what did I buy this for". You could send them to barbarakibler23. She could incorporate them into her mystery package give away.
Just an idea.

OH! send those Purple Thangs my way! I keep them everywhere and use all of them! At the sewing machine, long arm, my chair, and my bucket with all the pockets that goes with me to class...on and in my Bionic Gear bag! I use the pointy end as a stylus..and the square end fights RIGHT between the ends of my quarter inch foot. Keeps the seams going the right way when I am piecing!

I definitely have purchased notions that I never have used. I go to a quilt show and when the vendor is giving a tutuorial on a new tool, they make it look so easy then when I get home I feel like I have two left thumbs and can't figure out the process of using it. Hence-the tool goes in a bin and never used. Sad huh??

Last year, oldest granddaughter expressed interest in sewing. So I made her a sewing kit with a lot of my extras including buttons and threads. Still got too much but do not buy much anymore, trying to use what I have ! DD bought me an abundance of pins one year--maybe 8 years ago--still have a lot of those.

I promise myself I won't, I try to practice great restraint, but still, in some mysterious way, quilt notions keep finding their way into my house. Thankfully I have a niece and great niece who are both interested in quilting and so I can "share" with them, especially the ones that seem to magically appear to have mates marching two by two in my sewing room.

I am doing better but still have a weakness for the cute little scissors most often found in displays on the check out counters. My nephew made a board for me with little hooks and now I hang them on it for "art" in my sewing room. And having them displayed like that helps me keep from buying duplicates and also, seeing how many I already have helps to keep me from buying a whole more - I am really trying to limit them to extra special or unique ones.

June Taylor ruler - the square one where you can cut several strips at a time. I just don't use it.[/QUOTE]

I would love to give a shape cut ruler a home. Ah, someday.........

That's toooo funny, I have the lighted seam ripper & LOVE it! Maybe it's my eyes but I really like it for ripping out seams when the thread is too close to the fabric color or too dark (black on black). Like stated one woman trash another's treasure. But I do have some gadgets that are in the WHAT was I thinking category. I am trying to resist things better now.

I use mine often. beats buying pre-cuts.[QUOTE=DogHouseMom;7815337]Yup!!

Binder clips. I find it easier to use long straight pins that I would have otherwise discarded because they had a bend in them.

June Taylor ruler

Ohh all the funny things people have written about gadgets. Wish you could send then to our small quilt guild as we would probably put a lot of them to use since weare a small guild of older ladies making quilts for people who lose their homes to fires. I, too, love gadgets, but have had to use restraint because of limited funds, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying your posts and lovingly looking at them all. Thanks for a most enjoyable thread

I got something, never used it. Years later I had to have someone tell me what it was for. I figured I would never us it and gave it to her.

LOL ... I lost mine and had to buy another one!

I would love to give a shape cut ruler a home. Ah, someday.........[/QUOTE]

Had one given to me. Tried it a few times, don't care for it.

ummm. . . . do sewing machines count as notions?

Macybaby, I'm sure they do. LOL!

I've bought some notions/gadgets and put them in the drawer. I usually end up using them, but not always for their intended purpose.

So glad to know I'm not the only one; however I've been improving about 'putting back' those notions in their rightful places when I last used them. That 'somewhere' is usually together with what was leftover from the project and put in an unmarked area in the sewing room that I later find when looking for something else. Ugh!!!

My husband has a garage full of tools so he needs something, it's right there. Granted, he may go years without using a tool, but when he needs it, it makes his job easier and he doesn't have to run out and buy one. I feel the same way about my quilting tools.