l agree,Chasing Hawk, the purple grips that look like almost square embroidery hoops with rubber grips on bottom. The idea seened good when l saw them at quilt show...but when using even the large one, l keep bumping into it with my hopping foot. l use the Fons& Porter grip gloves now & LOVE them.

Books, books and more books. What was I thinking? Same patterns just pictured in different fabric. Could have gotten most on line for free.

It would have to be Alto Quilt Cut 2. Nice product, but never really liked using it, so I gave it to my friend.

What does everyone feel about magazine subscriptions? I get Fons & Porter and American Patchwork and Quilting (I think it's McCalls). Although I continue to subscribe to these, I've cut down on others. I think I'm going to get inspiration from them, but am not sure anymore. Which ones do you continue to subscribe to? Are you finding that they are the "same" patterns--just different patterns? Trying to justify to myself when they come up for renewal next year.

A six inch round carousal for cutting.

"My waste is the Curve Master foot. My curved piecing is STILL a disaster!"
I thought so too until I realized you hold the top piece up in the air while piecing.


Sharpener...hands down was my waste..

All those fancy quilt marking pens. Can't see the lines on most of the fabrics. The worst was when I bought the purple one & marked these wavy intersecting lines for on my placemats. It was one of my first quilting projects & took me longer to quilt than expected. By the time I finished the first two the placemats, the lines I drew on the last 2 had disappeared. I now use Crayola Ultra Clean markers or crayons & am super happy with them. 8 colors to choose from & they stay put until I wash them away.

The other thing, though it's not a notion, was all the money I spent buying crappy thread and fabric from JAF/HL. I was so happy to get rid of huge spools of low-quality threads at my latest guild auction. I got $1.50 for my quilt guild, but am not really sure those spools were worth that much. Ah well, at least it was for a good cause, right?
I had one fabric from JAF that actually became thread-bare just from piecing. It was a nightmare to repair, patch or strategically quilt those areas. It was the background fabric for several blocks with intricate applique work. I wasn't about to re-do 10 hours of applique work on a quilt for my niece, but it was definitely frustrating!

I get a quilting magazine with my subscription to AQS. I like the patterns in there & it has a lot of great ideas, photos & stories too. Plus, I get 10% off my order at Joann, regardless of whether it's full-price or sale because an AQS subscription qualifies me for JAF's VIP program. Wonderful for buying batting, notions (other than thread) and the occasional book.

so sorry you didn't like this one......I use it ALL the time instead of having to rethread my machines...only problem is, it wont rewind the bobbins for the really old ladies, the bullet bobbins. .any one figure out how to do that yet?

it just seems like there are so so so so many free ones on line that its a waste of dollars to pay for getting patterns in the mags, (just this one humble opinion) and I know I have more already than I will live long enough to use.....

A battery powered seam ripper that looks like a shaver. A seam ripper that puts a hole in the fabric, is garbage.

Second would be the Simpicity Bias maker. Way easier to use the Clover ones. I do like the bias strip winder they make though.

Most all my gadgets get used often. Love my AccuQuilt Studio . . .worth it's weight in gold.

right now I have to say the ScanNCut for quilting. I purchased it for applique and have had a 10% success rate. I will keep trying because I spent $450 on it.

There are are so many things to remember (blade depth,pressure,direction of design, etc.). The time it was meant to save me on cutting the fabric is being spent on trying multiple times and then cleaning the mess left on the scan sheet. I know I must be missing something.

I'm not big on gadgets really, but I did buy a ruler a while back that you can position to make whatever curves or such you like with (supposedly). Apparently I'm too thumb-fingered to get it to work! So far, any curves I've made with it, I wouldn't want anywhere near my quilts!! Thankfully not too expensive.

Quilt books with the same patters I could have gotten free from one of the many free pattern websites right here in the comfort of my home.

Sorry about your slidelocks...I use both of mine all the time. I also like the bright ruler that came with mine.

Not a quilting item but for the cutting mat. Its a disk that is supposed to clean up your cutting mat. Worthless in my book.

My DH got me one for Christmas one year. Mine was the same way. I still use it if nothing else is handy.

This thread was fun to read. Nearly every post had something in it that I have bought and no longer use, never used, or did't work...blade sharpeners, specialty rulers, Pinmoors (although I may try cutting them in half so they lay flatter), gadgets to help with FMQ, books, etc., etc. When I think of all the fabric I could have bought instead (sign).

Don't remember the name, but it was a tool for sharpening blades - totally useless!!!

I buy a calendar...twelve patterns but if you never use them, at least you had a calendar for the year. I use it to keep track of my quilting bees, Guild meetings, and classes.

One of my friends who has been working in the sewing industry for years told me to never have anyone but Gingher sharpen your Gingher shears. I have a pair I've had for over 20 years and so far I've never had to sharpen them. But then I'm a scissors Nazi and threatened by husband with death or worse if he so much as touched my sewing scisors.

This sums it up pretty well for me to.

I am looking at that notation about fifteen pages of comments-that says it all, does it not! I have some of those rulers that are one use also-wish I had the money. I have too many patterns that I have purchased and not used. But, I guess if I had the money I might buy something else that I might not use either. Wouldn't it be fun to have a giant garage sale and get rid of the stuff we are talking about.

I bought the Alex Anderson 4 in 1 tool, and put a bit of painters tape around the spindle that holds the end pieces on... haven't had any issue with them falling off when I go to use it now, and still easy to remove the ends when I need the tool on the inside. However, for the cost of the thing, I shouldn't have had to do that... but I would rather have to "fix" something and get it working properly than let it sit in a drawer not being used.

A couple of notions that I just recently got and am LOVING... the QTools Cutting Edge and Sewing Edge.

The Cutting Edge ones are vinyl strips that you put on the bottom of your ruler, along the line you want to cut. And it butts up against the fabric to keep it in place while you cut. I use that on my Creative Grids rulers. I do take my time to get it on as perfectly as I can, so it is straight and even... if you don't then it is useless... but when done properly it works great.

The Sewing Edge is also vinyl but with a sticky back, that you put on the bed of your machine, at your seam allowance, and it sticks. I have mine at the 1/4" and it lines up perfectly with the edge of my 1/4" foot, and much easier to keep the fabric straight going into the foot. Again, you need to take your time and get it lined up precisely, not just slap it on the bed and hope for the best, but when it is on there, it doesn't move. You may need to clean the machine bed with a bit of alcohol to make sure there isn't any dirt or oil so that it sticks well. I can't compare it to any of the other seam allowance type gadgets since I never tried any of them. But compared to just using the 1/4" foot, with or without a guide on the foot, I love the QTools Sewing Edge.

The prices for either of these is under $10, but seems "expensive" for a few pieces of vinyl, but since I got them and started using them, I absolutely love them.

This is a great thread! Can't believe how many of those "gadgets" I bought and never used as well....

Hi NoraB, I don't get subscriptions to magazines. But, have seriously stopped buying so many. I find that most, not all the patterns in the magazines are the same. Just different fabrics. I do enjoy buying Quiltmakers 100 Blocks magazines. It usually comes out 1 or 2 times a year. I figure if I can make a block, I can make a quilt. And, someday maybe that will stop. There are SO many free patterns on the net. So, I do purchase other magazines at times. But, my purchases are few and far between. (Sorry quilt magazine manufactures.) That has also done a lot to help stop my impulse buying of fabric. Having a compulsive, collecting personality comes with it's own challenges.

I think my biggest waste of money would be cheap seam rippers. They are dull and work like cheap seam rippers. Never again. Just pay a smidge more and get a nice one. If I didn't loose them in the sewing room all the time, They practically last forever. And, I truly wish I could just buy another one like the one that came with my sewing machine. I accidentally broke a small piece off. Was the best ripper ever.


Thanks for all your comments. Your saving me money that can be better spent. :thumbup:

In the 1980s, an oval hoop on a flimsy stand. I'm thinking of inserting fabric and using it to display doilies.

Single use rulers -- now I don't take a class if I have to buy a special ruler for the class. Blade sharpeners -- I have had several and they all got donated. Fancy needle threaders -- haven't got any of them to work so I use the little silver one that I have been using for many years.

I did not buy it, but I wanted to take a class to do a quilt out of a book I had and was told that since I did not buy the book at the shop I had to buy it again (decided not to do the class).

Incidently, I love the shape cut rulers -- I use them all the time.

Halo thing that was supposed to help with free motion quilting. A large collection of rulers. I only use the 3 different sizes of my O'LIPFA rulers, my two Simple Rule Sharon Hultgren rulers and my Quilters Board Square Up Lap Board.

I love my Martelli binding system. The learning curve can be steep, but the big thing is getting the handheld thingy properly adjusted to both the top side of your binding and the bottom. Once you've gotten the hang of that it gets a lot easier. I use mine every time I need to bind a quilt. I just bound a table topper for a banquet table in about 3 hours. The topper measured 79" x 45" and I didn't have to go back and do any hand stitching. The minute miters really help getting the corners on both the front and back nicely mitered and I love the zip clips--they're useful for a lot of other things as well.

I've bound a number of lap sized quilts with the system in addition to larger quilts, the table topper mentioned above and some large place mats. It doesn't work with smaller items like pot holders, but I think you could use it for 12" square or larger hot pads.

I don't have as much luck with the binding tool even though I've watched the MSQC videos numerous times and follow the directions printed on the tool. I always end up futzing around and cutting, stitching, ripping, re-cutting and re-stitching before I manage to get the two ends of the binding joined and the right length for the remainder of the quilt--once they are joined at the correct length, it looks nice and neat, but I've been using that thing for years and have never managed to get it joined and have the binding be the correct size on the first try.

The think that I bought that I'd never buy again is a strip cutter that I bought used off Ebay. It is set up with a handle that hold two rotary blades. You can adjust the distance between the blades to whatever strip size you want and it seemed like a good idea at the time. At least I didn't pay more than a couple dollars for it, but I soon realized why it was being sold LOL.

Rob in VA

Many buy the Pounce and don't know how to use it. You don't pounce the chalk when using the Pounce tool. Your gently rub it over the stencil. The only pounce you do is when you first fill it. Take it outside and hit it very hard against something hard for about 50 hits. I use my picnic table. No more pouncing after that. The chalk does not rub off and stays on until it is touched with an iron.

I found a source on Ebay a couple of years ago for the seam rippers that come with sewing machines and bought a bunch of them. Check out ebay's listing under crafts/sewing you could maybe still get them. As I recall, I think they came in bags of 25 for $10 or $15. They were being sold by someone from Japan or China, I can't remember which, and they looked just like the ones that came with both my sewing machines and they were every bit as sharp.

Rob

Thanks Rob. I will definitely check it out! Appreciate your tip.