sewingpup

I still have my grandmother's cardboard templates and almost finished hand stitched double wedding ring up in the attic....and there it is going to stay until someone else tosses it or finishes it. I can't even get a hand sewn button to stay on. I put all my buttons on by machine

aashley333

I have to vote for Wonder Clips. I despise getting poked by straight pins!

tranum

When I retired, I joined our small church quilt ladies. Nice people. They wanted me to sew but they’d cut the blocks with a yardstick, pen and scissors. Not a good experience - block size could vary almost an inch. One lady sewed blocks at home & when the corners didn’t meet, (bless her heart) she’d just make a fold. I couldn’t do that, so I’d take blocks home & recut so I could actually put the top together in a decent manner. We moved 8 years ago and our new church has modern methods, thank goodness !

mcadwell

Gadzooks - an inch off?

Sounds like my very first quilt. It had 3 square corners and a handle.

Onebyone

They wanted me to sew but they’d cut the blocks with a yardstick, pen and scissors. Not a good experience

This sounds like the first sew group I joined. The used yardsticks and thought they were fancy using the 12 inch plastic school rulers. I was told the rotary cutter cost too much and you had to always by the blades and had to buy a cutting mat and it was a fad, wouldn't be around long and a waste of money. Fast forward a couple of decades and the very same thing was said about the brand new Accuquilt Die Cutter I bought at the time. Now most all guild members have one.

tropit

It's a toss up between the magnetic pin dish and the loop turner. (There's another name for it, but I forget.)

mmunchkins

Is the name "bodkin"?

seazteddy

rotary cutter, cut my 1st quilt with scissors I think every block was a different size.

SherylM

Like almost everyone else, the top of my list would be my rotary cutters and mats. In that same category would be my rotating mats - I love those and would have a hard time squaring up blocks without them.

Next would be my magnetic seam guides. I need a "dam" when I sew - a simple line or strip of tape just doesn't work for me; I end up with a wiggly wobbly seam.

The "big board" ironing boards that I made. I have two of them - one of them is 36"x72" and the other one is 26"x72". They've made ironing so much easier.

Last, but not least, my design wall.

Railroadersbrat

The stiletto.

When I was making the DWR for my sister, I followed Shar Jorgenson's method and she recommended a stiletto. Love it so much I use it for everything now, it's the first thing I pick up when I sit down at my sewing machine.