Sounds interesting.

I have a set of these and they do work very well. They are about 1/4" thick and the foam (blue part) is very firm and dense. I use them to grip the fabric to move it and to spread it out smoothly to avoid puckers. I find they save my hands from getting quite or tired and do a good job of helping me move the fabric if it is the least bit slippery. When I bought them (probably about 6 years ago?) they were called Quilt Sew Easy Discs and were from Heavenly Notions out of Portland Oregon and I paid $19.98 Canadian.

These are a different take on the Batt Scooters I wrote about recently.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-135423-1.htm

Thanks for the bat scooters post. I am going to cut some foam today...and also sew the shelving gripper to fit the ends of my fingers. Will post which I like best.

Okay...I made a pair of grippers using the shelving liner. They work pretty darn good. I am thinking they might be better made more like a half mitten so that there somewhere for the thumb.
I have not tried the bat grippers because...well....I can't find the foam that I know is lurking somewhere in this house.
Another idea I am playing with is to cut out wood shapes with my handy dandy scroll saw..then glue the gripper to the bottom of the shapes.