marge954

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.

rryder

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

Onebyone

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.

rryder

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

Judith1005

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