Unusual quilting tools
 

Several times on this board I have read threads about unusual things that you use in quilting that have nothing to do with sewing or quilting. The list of items and how you use them is so interesting. I would like to use it as a starter discussion on our next quilting group but cannot find the threads. Can you please point me in the right direction to find those? And, feel free to add anything you might like to share. Thanks for your help. Love this Board. So glad I found it.

From my kids' set of blocks - (can also be purchased at hobby stores and lumber/home improvement stores)

A round dowel - great for pressing tube seams and Barbie doll clothes

I use my dh 4ft T-Square for marking and cutting batting off the roll.

I have made those pressing sticks out of wood trim and I just picked up a porcupine quill to be used as a stiletto. I also bought a Telescopic Magnetic Pick-Up Tool from Home Depot for picking up pins and needles.

Just do a search on the board for the other threads about tools.

how do you use these?

I bought a six foot and four foot straight edge from Lowe's. It's 2 1/2" wide. Perfect for getting the quilt top straight and for marking across the quilt for crosshatching or straight line quilting. Very inexpensive too.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_119896-1099-...ght+edge+ruler

Using a plastic suction bath/shower holder to put on the car window when traveling and sewing.

I've used baskets, even large bowls, when I'm ironing long strips in half for binding. I also use a "basket purse" from my decoupage days of the 70's for fan-folding so the binding is ready for feeding around the quilt.

Try this thread

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...g-t249301.html

I use a floss threader found in the dental section to thread my upper and lower loopers of my serger. My fingers have a heard time manipulating thread in this small area.

chap stick for conditioning thread for hand sewing, couldn't find "Thread Heaven" at Joanns

like the chap stick idea, gotta use that one.
I use chop sticks for a stiletto or turning thngs inside out

I use painters tape as a guide for crosshatch quilting. I bought a long nosed locking tweezer at Harbor Freight for turning tubes. It looks like scissors but it has long points. Also a HF I got one of those magnetic bowls for pins

Thanks for this tip; I'm just learning how to use a serger and this might help me.

I use a wooden clothes peg for opening and closing my safety pins when basting. I removed the spring, took one half and cut a notch in the end. Works perfectly and if I lose or misplace it, it's super quick and cheap to make another one :D

I use a long a long tweeter to get get thread that just gets through the needle..but ur fingers are too big to grab..also it is great for picking up lint in the bobbin case if u are using cotton thread..and don't want to take it all apart while quilting to clean it..I also use a small basting brush on my Viking..it has a top loading bobbin..when I clean it I run the brush into the side holes when I turn the casing..it pulls bunches of lint out ..that would settle in the bottom of the machine case..I do it very gentle ..so as not to force..also..I took a long one piece ball point pen apart..use the shaft on the thread holder for big and tall thread spools..use plastic wrap to draw a quilt design on over the quilt to see if I like it before I begin to sew..bags with zippers for sheets and pillow cases..etc..put cut pieces in them..use plastic from packages for temples..use note books with plastic insert sheets for all loose patterns..like ones I cope from the net..I can go on..lol..but won't..

Thanks everybody. Love all your tips. Will make sure you get credit for the help.

Now that's a great idea. I'll have to try that. My Brother has an auto threader but my vintage Kenmore doesn't.

I use a table top paper towel holder my step father made to hold my binding. It doesn't have that extra piece on it that prevents the towels from rolling out......but it allows the binding to unwind as I need it. PERFECT!!!

I use a pair of long tweezers...with a bent end to thread my serger. DH had them for rockhounding (haven't figured that out yet)....and a doctor I worked for used them for surgeries...... Long handled, and small at the tweeze end. :) Makes threading a LOT easier.

I used the big letters from the rubber ones that go on the floor. Works like a charm. On the quilt I am working on now I am using a round cake plate to draw the big circles and a yard stick to mark the squares. Almost anything works as a tool.

I bought a package of "proxa brushes" (in the toothbrush aisle) to use for getting into little areas of the bobbin race to remove lint. They work great and do not "shed" like the smaller paint brushes I was using.

I just use the back of an antique silver tablespoon. Works great.

This is the one that most people comment on when they step into my studio:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]520098[/ATTACH]

It's a pot holder rack meant for the kitchen. No room in my house has ceilings high enough for it, but it works well over the cutting table because I don't have to walk under it. It's a little sword of damocles-ish though when I leave a rotary cutter open and hung up there. ;)

I use cinder blocks under each leg to raise my folding table to a comfortable cutting height.

Years ago I gave my son a big long magnet with a sturdy plastic handle, for some science project. I now use it to scoop pins off the floor and the table.

I got a small tool box to keep my tools such as all the above in one spot. If you have old razor blades and wrap one end you can use them instead of a seam ripper. Exacto knives work well also. Mechanics telescopic mirrors with the magnetic tips are great for picking p pins.

ArchaicArcane I LOVE your 'tool holder' At first glance, it reminded me of the scene in Twister where they try to shelter in a barn but it is full of hanging (and swinging) scythes etc. I will try the Chapstick on thread. Hard to find Thread Heaven in Canada.

I use a long carpenter's tape measure to square up my quilts. If the diagonal dimensions are the same, the quilt is square. I use kids' colouring books for simple applique designs.

LOL! I know that scene! I just had the wind (one of the first times I've been able to open the window this year!) make it start swaying. Good thing I have all those blocks in the way to amuse the wind before it gets to the sharp stabby things.

I find raising the humidity helps a lot with misbehaving threads. It dropped to 19% this winter and I had no end of trouble. I raised it (It took 2 humidifiers and a water fountain running!) to 40% and my problems went away. I suspect the low humidity sucks moisture from the thread and makes it brittle. I got a clue to that in an old Elna owner's manual. It said something to the effect of if your thread is breaking, put it in an open window over night and it will regain its strength overnight. I wasn't about to start leaving the window open but humidity is the main thing that would affect the thread. I don't own a bottle of thread conditioner of any kind, and I'm in the arid prairies.

I use toilet paper and paper towel holders for freezer paper, patterns that I have enlarged or made. I had a dowel that broke on an angle. I smoothed it down, still angled and use it to press seams.

I use a white plastic disposable teaspoon for threading my sewing machine. I hold it behind the needle and it helps me to see the eye.

Razor blades... for ripping out seams.

Great thread! Keep it going. Most interesting things come to light.

I love all these ideas. There is no telling what I could come up with if I would just open my eyes and use my imagination. Thanks for getting this thread going! Susan

I use the cutlery holder from an old dishwasher that broke down. In it are my rotary cutter, scissors, little rulers, chalk pencils, etc.
The bigger plastic salad containers are used to contain my batik scraps, sorted by color.

Harbor Freight has loads of good tools that can be used at for assisting in sewing. Prices are great also.

I used masking tape to tape three store bought frosting containers together for great storage. Scissors, marking pens, seam rippers, etc

I found a metal stand for drying hand washed dishes and use it for my plastic rulers. It works great.

Using floss threaders. What a great idea! Thanks

I use: Tweezers to grab the needle when I am hand quilting. My fingers just won't grip it.
Large plastic pre-wash lettuce containers for cut pieces of fabric.
Dollar store sticky tape rollers to pick up all the loose threads on my quilt top and on the floor.
I'm short, so I place a couple of small rubber door stops under my machine to tilt it a bit in my direction so I can actually see the top of what I am sewing.

So many ideas thanks
when hand embroidering -when threading the needle wet the thread and the eye of the needle. much easier.
post it notes to mark rows and squares in each row
file holder for templates
bobby pins for bookmarks
lint roller for stray threads
paint brush for much can also use paint brush to brush flour off of lefse grill when making lefse
hair barretts that click open and closed for holding binding when hand sewing
for circle templates use round lids, glasses and etc.
metal magnetic dish and telescoping want for picking up dropped pins
Zip lock bags
Use old CD's for reflector on mail box
use a kitchen sponge, soak it in water, put in zip lock bag, freeze and use it in a cooler for an ice pack.
mouse pad - use for a pin cushion I cut mine into smaller pieces and glued 2 or 3 lalyers together.