I think it's great how we're all different. I love my Side Winder and haven't wound a bobbin on my machine since I got it. Mine was a requested gift. I have a couple of specialty rulers I've never used, and several types of quilting thimbles I tried probably once each. I have found many helpful suggestions here. (And I use most of my Harbor Freight Tools.)

Did you try soaking your blue pen in glycerin? That helps sometimes.

I agree the Martinelli zip bind system was on of the biggest wastes that I purchased

I love all of my gadgets even if some of them must feel like neglected red-headed stepchildren.

I'm a natural tightwad and don't spend much on gadgets. I've bought only 2 or 3 rulers (my original 6x24 plus 12" and 5" squares), and a couple of books. One, highly recommended by other quilters, is to calculate how much and the cost of fabric; I never use it and probably never will, so I consider that a bust. Other quilting aids, including magazines, have been given to me as gifts. I have bought a number of thimbles, trying to find one that I like for handquilting. I finally decided what works best for me is the thumb cut out of a old leather glove. Anything else I've bought--mat, rotary cutter, pins--just come under the same category as fabric: necessary purchases that I use and use up.

also holding pins between your teeth. My dental hygienist asked me if I sewed and I said yes and she said "I can tell by the grooves in your front teeth.

Ok I've read all the post before me. My add a quarter is truly my friend. Love it! But the add a quarter wheel , put a pencil in the hole draw around temp-let is junk. On classes , well I could write a book. Some of the most famous quilter are so bad and I wouldn't waste another minute in their presence. I can't even look at them on TV. You hear nothing but who is backing them and vocal ads for their stuff. An ad for the sewing machine company and give nothing back. One long commercial. Never will I sit under another full of baloney teacher. Save your money and refuse to buy their books.

I have a GO that I've only used a few times so far but I am IN LOVE with it!

Most of the tools I have bought, I use often but one of my expensive mistakes is the Sashiko machine. It doesn't have a good stitch and the machine company I bought it from knows nothing about them. On top of that I have two Bernina machines that has about the same type of stitch. Live and learn, I guess!

I bought one and I sent it back and bought something else with store credit.I could not keep the fabric in it to cut what a waste.Have talked to others who sent theirs back. Good luck with yours.

I like the tag gun, but I don't use it for basting. I am thinking that we buy these things,gadgets and try them and then pass what we don't like on to others. We all like different stuff, what doesn't work for us may work just great for others!
I do like my fabric weights, but I just made them myself with pennies in a pouch. I try to be careful these days.

About the mini clover irons, the first ones made. They have to be heated about a half dozen times before they reach top temp. Once the top temp is reached then it get hot from then on and it gets very hot. DH tried to explain it to me but I got bored, only know he was right. LOL

??? The add a quarter ruler for pp has a 1/4" lip on the back of the ruler. The ruler is much wider then 1/4". Here is what the ruler looks like:

http://www.connectingthreads.com/ima...ular/81903.jpgIf you have this one it is not for pp.http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21jpowD31OL.jpg

Never use my Add a 1/4" ruler...wasted money. Worst thing ever bought were rotary cutting blades at Harbor Freight. I know some of you love them, but I've had 6 packs (all bought at different times) and none of them are sharp.

I like to bring my "unloved" to my quilt guild where we swap for gizmos that we want or need. We do this with fabric as well.

Just my opinion....

Anita

A plastic cone holder. It falls over every time you try to use it. Now I have a homemade one out of a plant saucer and welding rod that hubby made for me. It even has a spindle for filled bobbins. I love it.

I threw my plastic cone holder away the same week I bought it! Now I use a coffee cup and it works like a charm!

Prism, thanks for answering me..

Ditto on the blue twisty rotary blade sharpener. Unfortunately, I also got sucked into an electric sharpener with stones ... haven't been able to get it to work either.

Bought a rotating cutting mat; don't find it useful

Printable "fabric" for labels, from Joann's. It's like vinyl! Not pleasant to touch at all.

And last, I bought an attachment for my Janome that's supposed to let you sew a perfect circle. It was very expensive for what it is, and leaves kind of a big hole in the fabric at the pivot point. Lots of folks have talked about using a thumbtack taped to the table with a piece of cork; that would probably work better and will be what I try the next time I need it.

My list would be the John Flynn frame, the Quilter's Calculator and another machine quilting frame you screwed to a table. I forget what that one was called. I did use the Flynn frame to do some hand quilting and tying a couple of quilts but I can't hand quilt anymore.

Freckles48
I use a popcorn tin for my binding. Just roll it up and put it in the tin. Has plenty of room to move around in and tin stays in one spot .. Also keep all unused pieces in there and when finished just pop the lid on till next time.

I love my sidewinder too. I bought the pink one so I could wind Viking bobbins on it. Works great and I've also rewound the prewound bobbins on it when they are empty.

OMG, your right on that! That drat plastic cone holder! What a waste of money! Yep, done that one!

Super Slider, genie bobbin washers, fabric covered stick that is supposed to help iron seams, and the Clover measuring tool that Nancy Zieman pushes---prefer the metal ones.

The purple "sit upon" cushion.....I guess my butt was too big, and I ended up by putting it in our quilt guild auction, the cushion that is. lol

I stand corrected on condeming the Dritz brand just because the Dritz items I used were inferior. Thanks for reminding us that it is judge an entire bag of apples by one bad apple in there.


As for the spinning cutting mat, I have never used it...just sitting there reminding me of how I just thought I had to have it because it would make my cutting jobs so much easier. Ha! My big old cutting mat & rotary cutter on my dining room table allows me to move around to all sides to get cut whatever angle I need to cut. I have kicked myself for yet another "mistake".

Glycerin to soak marking pens....hmmm...wish I had kept that marking pen, I surely would have tried it. Thanks for the advice.

Yep, your comment made me laugh too. (tee hee)

Your answer made me remember that I bought the zip bind system years ago and it is still in a drawer untouched!

I bought a the large Sidewinder to wind Viking green bobbins because the small one will not. It winds them great and hold the bobbin nice and tight so it doesn't fly off, it even shuts off at the right load point. Problem is, in order for the thread to come off the bobbin in the right direction to actually sew with it, it has to go on the spindle upside down. (The large machine has a blue spindle which is strictly for green Viking bobbins.) When put on upside down, the little spring thingy that holds the bobbin is not quite in the right position so the bobbin doesn't sit square. This makes it wind wonky. It is very obvious that the person who designed the blue spindle never put a wound bobbin in a machine and actually SEWED with it. If the spring holder were just in a little different spot, I'd LOVE it. Or, if my machines were any other brand than Viking. I'm not an engineer, but I am very mechanical and I DO check engineers' work at work. I had to return it and get my money back. It worked great!! Just not for green Viking bobbins. :-(

Get rid of any ruler that is NOT Creative Grids and any gloves that are not Machingers.

Thank you for this suggestion...never thought about this!

You've changed my mind...My thoughts have been that it takes too much time and not worth the effort to contact the mfr. Now you've shown that it is definitely worth the time and effort.

The more I read, the more I agree! I forgot about the plastic cone holder - <<<<LOL>>>> don't buy one.

Had to smile when I read this - I use an old yarn winder (minus the thing that makes the yarn move back and forth), place a toilet paper roll on it and wind away. Be careful not to stretch your binding. I can then write on the cardboard how many inches I have, when binding smaller pieces of left over binding.
Renda in VA

I would love to know if this gadget works with Viking machines. I have an old Husqvarna and I've heard this doesn't work well with the H bobbins. Glad to hear you like the sidewinder bobbin winder. What machine do you have?

I love my sidewinder. Knock wood, I haven't had any problems with it.

During the last 2 years or so, we began to get more info and ads in quilt magazines about "wonderful new"
quilting gadgets, to make the whole process of quilt making "easier and faster" from begin to end. And now that we
get even more of these ads, I have begon to think seriously about what the goal of a quilt lover and quilt maker
should be... Is it to plan and work carefully to make a gorgeous piece of art, or just simply to cut, sew fabrics
together, and finish the project as soon as possible? Many of these gadgets which are on sale in quilt shops,
at quilt expo's and via Internet, are very expensive. What do you do with them, when you no longer need them?
I have always gotten excellent results with well-known products such as quilt mats, rotary cutter, light cardboard
to make templates, pins and (quilt) needles. Our grannies and great-grannies made beautiful quilts with only
simple tools such as scissors, needles and pins, to create their gorgeous projects.

Bella Boo - thanks so much for posting the photos of the two 1/4" rulers. I do have the one on the right and that is what we were told to buy for the paper piecing class. No wonder it didn't work for me!! Now I don't feel so inept.

My favorite mistake was Pinmoors. If you don't know what they are, google them. I paid a whopping $40 for a set of 50 yellow ones. Turns out, they are not as easy to use as illustrated on the website. They are hard to push into the pin, at least for me and some of my pins buckle under the effort. I rarely use them and would gladly return them but too late for that. Let me tell you about one of my favorites, the Sip-n-snip. It is a gadget that went to my quilting weekend and I love it. You attach it to anything, table, cabinet, machine, etc. It holds a 32ounce bottle or large glass and has a scrap bag attached that is very easy to empty. This one was worth the money, about $25.

You are so right there!!!!You are so right there!!!!