Quiltingdragon I use to do a lot of online swaps and was in the secret pal one for a couple of years.
Fun things I made:
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Potholders - we all use them and they can be holiday themed, fun fabrics, color palette, any thing you want. One of my most popular were the
fingertip potholders to use in the microwave. Also the microwave bowl potholders may be a great gift.
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Triangular thread catchers
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Pincushions - I know, I know we all probably have a bunch of them but small ones to take on retreats or sew days are great. I made fun owl themed ones decked out for the different holidays.
Things I find to be helpful:
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Bobbin boxes to take on sew days or retreats full of filled bobbins. At $.99 I bought several and filled bobbins for my different machines.
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Magnetic Seam Guides - I have found them very useful for all of my vintage machines. I used them to teach my sister & niece to seam perfect 1/4" seams. Not sure how they will work with the computerized machines due to the magnet. At $.99 each the price was perfect and I have one at each of my vintage machines.
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Stilettos or Purple Thang or Chopsticks - all are useful when needed to help the fabric get under the needle. I have bought and gave both Purple Thangs and Chopsticks in swaps. The handmade stilettos I've received I love. Chopsticks are very cheap to purchase at the Asian grocery stores. I got like 100 pairs for under $5.
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Small hair scrunchies for bobbin threads - I gave plenty of these in swaps to keep the threads from unwinding on bobbins. All of the filled bobbins in my cases have hair scrunchies on them. You can usually get a bag of about 300 from Family Dollar for under $5.00.
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Thread snips, Seam rippers, Embroidery scissors- I prefer embroidery scissors over seam rippers but I know there is a need for all in this category. Thread snips are inexpensive on Ebay as you can get 3 pairs for about $1.50. There are a variety of styles.
Embroidery scissors are about $2.00/pr on Ebay. There are a variety of styles available. Seam rippers are also about $.99 for 4 pieces.
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Rotary blade replacements - there is always a need for new rotary blades. There are some inexpensive buys on Ebay.
~Tote bags - On my sew days at my sister's I take a mountain of stuff with me. I have stuff in all sorts of bags currently. Now I am making me a large upcycled denim bag to tote my things in. There are so many free simple tote bag tutorials online from very simple to more elaborate.
~Miscellaneous - packs of colored pencils (Dollar Store), small spiral bound notebooks to doodle in, quilt marking pens/pencils. You can buy remnants from the LQS and make scrap bags. Some of the LQS sell them for around $3.00 - $5.00. Everyone love scraps right? Also hit the LQS on $1.00 FQ sales. Who doesn't love to get EQ's? These little
fabric baskets would make great gifts or door prizes. Filled them up with other goodies.
One thing I have too many of/don't use is mug rugs. I know they are popular and fun/quick to make I just do not use them.
What guild are you with in St. Louis?
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