QuiltE

Thanks, JuneBillie!! ... I'm sure there'd be many interested in your suggestion for a new thread and would have lots of ideas to share. So why don't you start a new thread about that?

Wanabee Quiltin

I can't live without my little paintbrush. I use it to clean out my sewing machine under the needle and then to clean out the bobbin area.

Nancy Ingham

I loved going back and reading every post; what great ideas! Many of the suggestions or ideas listed I already use so I won’t repeat here but I think that I have some new ones:

Inexpensive plastic place mats (found a new set of 4 pretty flowered ones at a yard sale for 50 cents) placed under my sewing machine and serger so they do not walk, and protect my dining room tabletop.

I have very small corks that I use instead of Pinmoors as pin point protectors, that are used as “plugs” for inserting into small holes by paint shops so that the holes do not clog up with paint when sprayed. (Sure eventually they will break down after some time of repeated use but they are cheap money for a whole bag of them, and they last a long time.)

I use a small Clorax disinfecting wipes container with hinged lid by my sewing machine and serger for threads and small fabric scraps.

Squares or circles of rubber shelf liner, to grip needle and pull through fabric.

burchquilts

Tweezers for all sorts of things sewing-related. Coffe mugs to hold thin rulers, small rotary cutters, etc & as a thread snip cup. Butter (oleo) containers to keep various odds & ends in. Spice jars to keep various sizes of pins in.

burchquilts

Oh, I forgot that! I use either a small (cheap) paintbrush or an old make-up brush.

burchquilts

Yes! What a great idea! I love it & will be watching out for it!

LavenderBlue

This is fascinating reading. Hope many other quilters will enjoy all the ideas!

maviskw

But you didn't say why farmers use them. They put them down the cow's throat. It ends up in the cows stomach so that if the cow eats something metal, (sometimes there is metal in their feed) the metal sticks to the magnet and doesn't pierce the cows stomach lining.

maviskw

I can't believe I read the whole thing! Took about four hours and I learned a lot.
I'll add just a few more.
* I have mugs with handles broken off on the kitchen table, coffee table and sewing table for pens, pencils, SEAM RIPPERS, letter openers, white out, SMALL SCISSORS, 6 IN. RULER, highlighters, etc.
* Only one other person mentioned Tupperware. I use a sweet saver to pour water into my iron; it has a spout on it meant to pour syrup and such.
* I have a Modular Mate rectangular 1 next to my machine for STUFF. When I go to a class, I just put the seal on and go.
* I put my three tiered table next to my machine to hold a heavy quilt while I am FMQing.
* I have an old stereo stand on top of my table and have all my fat quarters and small stash piled up there on three shelves so that I can see the folded ends of each one. (Well, sometimes they get lost in there under other ones.)
* I have a small metal cabinet with 15 little plastic drawers meant to hold screws, nuts, washers, etc. Only mine is full of buttons, snaps, needles, D rings, and lots of other sewing findings.

grammasharon

I have problems keeping 1/4 in seams. Can you show a picture of your machine where you have it placed. Maybe I can get an idea from that.