CookieZenmilk

these posts are hilarious. we are so gullible. i agree with the rulers. now i just buy things i need, rather than things i want. how bout a rotary cutter with a light on it. what is that for? cutting at midnight?

JNCT14

Marking pens and pencils. Ugh. Only one I found so far that works is a chalk one with the different colors from JoAnns. And even that I'm not thrilled with.

moonrise

1. I used to have (past tense) a ruler that had the rotary cutter attached to it. I think it was made by Fiskars, but I'm not 100% sure. In theory, it was an awesome idea, but in reality, it was a pain in the patootie. The stoppers on the ends kept coming off, which would allow the rotary cutter mechanism to come off the ruler. You had to really pay attention not to push the mechanism right off the end of the ruler. Eventually both stoppers got lost, and after that, the cutting mechanism fell off and got lost as well. Even before the ruler fell apart, the table under your cutting mat had to be 100% PERFECTLY smooth and level, or the cutter would miss whole sections of the fabric. It was easier just to use a regular ruler and rotary cutter.

2. My DH bought me a set of June Tailor rulers one year for Christmas. If I remember correctly, there was a 4-1/2", a 6-1/2", a 9-1/2", and a 12-1/2" ruler in the set. The problem was that the rulers have a 1/4" border (seam allowance) around them, and the measurements start AFTER the 1/4". It's very confusing to cut specific-size fabric pieces, because you have to subtract the 1/4" to get the size you really want. They're made of a flimsier material than Omnigrid rulers are, and several times I've taken slivers out of the edges of them with my rotary cutter.

Sewnoma

I'm with you on that! I was super excited to get it, but it's so clunky and difficult to use. Even with a Wacom drawing tablet I can't get a good tracing, yet I can trace just fine in photoshop or on real paper. I can't get appliques to work properly - can't figure out how to tell it NOT to lay a heavy border over parts that will be overlapped. Very frustrating. I've never stitched anything out of it because it always turns out terrible.

Thanks for letting me know! My niece & nephew (9 & 13) are getting into sewing and quilting and so far I've been afraid to give them a rotary cutter to use on their own; I was thinking one of these might be a safer alternative but now I'm thinking maybe not!

coffeecozy

Oh, those paintstiks and the class on how to use them. Never made anything but a mess with mine. Rulers, rulers and more rulers. I always fall for the magic way to make that complicated block and I usually find an easier way to make it when I spend some time looking. After i've bought the ruler of course.
Oddly though the fabric mover which some people mentioned I consider r money well spent. It allowed me to get very comfortable moving the fabric and creating nice designs. I don't use it or the stitch regulator on my sweet sixteen but they were learning tools for me.

imsewnso

Last year I donated a TON of quilting and knitting books to a used book store. The owner told me she didn't even have a craft section until my donations!

I donated a lot of books to our local library. No more subscriptions and no more buying books.

imsewnso

This posted wrong. The first part is a quote from someone else. I donated to the library.

pokeygirl

I "Second that Emotion".

JNCT14

Me too. Fabric, batting and thread. Replacement blades for rotary cutter. Thats it!!!!!

charity-crafter

I'm just the opposite. I really like the Fiskrs ruler/cutter combo I bought both the square and the 24" one. I have CT and I can cut a lot without pain. The table does have to be really flat.

My waste of money was the babygo and applique dies.