Tools & Notions: The good, bad and horrible

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on January 29, 2011 at 2:58pm

Well, if I were going to start over, I would have at least a basic portable machine, large rotary cutter, small rotary cutter (for curves), large cutting mat, small cutting mat that reverses to a firm pressing surface for individual cutting and pressing or for taking to classes, basic iron, good cotton sewing thread on a cone in off-white for piecing, good cotton sewing thread in several basic colors for hand applique, freezer paper and Bubble Jet 2000 or similar product for labels, Rodale Press's "The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide" by Ellen Pahl (my go-to reference book for all things quilting), Mary Ellen's Best Press Starch alternative unscented, very sharp pins, Roxanne's betweens size 11 quilting needles for hand quilting and hand piecing, a  Warm & Natural quilt batt in queen size to use as a design wall, an Ott Lite, some marking pencils.

My favorite quilt shop is Connecting Threads. I especially like their line of thread! (Just hit the "shop" tab, above.)

I don't do machine embroidery, so someone else will have to provide that.

For photography, I use my Canon PowerShot A1000IS with good rechargable batteries and my iPad (my only computer) and the Photogene app. (You can get Photoshop, but it's more expensive and not needed for what I do.)

Permalink Reply by Julie Hollister on January 29, 2011 at 5:01pm

Thanks, Peggy! Great suggestions.

Permalink Reply by Julie Hollister on January 29, 2011 at 11:16pm

Oh, my gosh. Look at the resources offer by Dritz! Just what I ordered. Hope these are of use to other Newbies!

 

Visit: www.dritz.com/tips

 

Permalink Reply by Janice Aitkens on January 30, 2011 at 1:24am

The first things i got when i thought of taking up quilting was a cutting mat, rotary cutter (45mm/medium size) & a ruler, the mat was 18 x24 & the ruler was 6 x 24 these i feel are needed more than anything else of course you can get smaller or larger items, myself i would if starting out again go for a larger cutting mat as i since got one

Also a good selection of threads i use 1 or 2 basic threads for sewing blocks together they are same type just different colours I have since also got more coloured threads some of which is machine embroidery which i got for a good price off eBay

I would also say look in your library or online & get a good resource book i had one given to me & it great especially for me as most patterns ect are USA & what you call one thing we may call another.

A good start to the quilting world would be to do some pot holders (we call hot pads) you can get a book or if you go to e-pattern central they do a book you can buy & download but if you want to print it all off it takes some paper so shop around you may find one cheaper that is a hard copy

With this book you can do blocks but in small items to practice more without going too much in to a project so it will finish quicker & you can see your work also these make good presents

It took me about 2 years after buying my mat ect before i actually did any part of it was we decided to move so it got packed away then when we arrived here i started buying supplies so i had them before i started

I got a lot of Fat Quarters which was fine especially if your doing small projects but can be a pain when you have a fabric you love in there & you don't have enough to do a larger project but they do come in very useful

I hope this helps

Hugs Janice

Permalink Reply by Julie Hollister on January 30, 2011 at 11:41am

Just looked around e Patterns and it was great. Thanks, Janice, for that resource. I also saw a pot holders pattern book. Great idea! Instant gratification for impatient people (pick me!). Great ideas and thanks for sharing.

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on March 4, 2011 at 8:52am

I just opened a 2011 calendar and discovered a cardboard square in it to keep it stiff until purchase. It's a perfect size for stacking blocks on!