Railroadersbrat

Hands down - Tostitos dip jars. I use it to put all my broken/bent needles, pins, sharps inside and once it's filled, I hand it off to our junker and he disposes it for me. Then I get another jar and repeat.

I also use the back of my flashlight, has a super strong magnet on it so if I drop a pin, I just run it around my floor until I find said pin and put it back in place.

aashley333

I had the 10 colored drawer rolling organizer from my old classroom. I use it for thread, and it sits next to my machine. blue drawer-blue threads...

lberna

I hand quilt lap size quilts. I use a saucer to draw curved lines. I use a quarter and a silver dollar to draw circles.

SuzSLO

Just returned to quilting this year after an almost 20 year hiatus and I find my self using the camera on my cell phone often: to check for value and contrast, to remember which fabric I choose for which block and to audition layouts.

SandyinZ4

Some good ideas have been added recently. Thanks everyone!

BonnieJP

Painters' tape to use as guide lines when doing straight line quilting.

Carpenter's glue bottle to glue the quilt sandwich before quilting.

Carpenter's 4-foot t-square and miter rulers to square up quilt.

Rff1010

I realize many people are fond of Wonder Clips ... But I liberated some small binder clips from the office and use them for the same purposes

QuiltE

Best Point Poker Ever = Long Wooden Golf Tee!!!!!!!!

Beats grabbing scissors, and accidentally poking the end out.
Or pushing with a pencil and ending up with a grey tip from the lead.
Or???

Yes, I just happened to have that golf tee in my sewing machine drawer ...... have used it for keeping bobbins with the matching thread in the past and it just stayed there.

sewingsuz

I use a silverware tray from a dish rack I don't use anymore. I put ripper, pens, pencils, all those things in there beside my sewing machine. plastic zip loc bags for flat templets and rulers . I punch a hole in the bag and hang on a nail in the sewing room. A magnetic strip screwed to the wall above my machine to hold all cutting items and other metal things.

Lalla

I use constantly four little tiny tailors’ bean bag weights (about the size of cotton reels) to keep fabric in place; really useful if working with long strips of binding, say, that seem forever to be aiming to dive off my work table; or to keep templates in place, or fusible backing while I’m drawing or tracing on it - endless uses. They are less trouble than using painters’ tape to fix things down, and are really easy to make oneself to any specific size. I’d had them for ages and never thought to use them for quilting, but wouldn’t now be without them. Someone’s probably talked about these already, that’s the problem with being a newbie! But maybe reminders don’t matter, anyway?! Forgive me if I’m teaching my grandmother to suck eggs - is that peculiar expression used in the US? I’m from the UK where we have such oddities of language!