Sunday, March 16, 2008

Best Tips from FVTC Sewing Expo 2008

Must-have tools :

Grid-maker - useful for quickly marking a grid

Supreme Slider at FreeMotionSlider.com. It has a teflon top, self-stick backing making moving your piece effortless

3 in 1 P.E.T - an expansion table, storage tray, and light box. APparently you can get a special price on them at the big quilt shows.

Clover White Marker - good for marking dark fabrics. May take a moment to appear

Totally Awesome Stain Remover - at Dollar Stores
Wool Wash - at Dollar Stores

Orvis WaPaste (spelling?) - at farm supply stores (Fleet Farm), used to wash sheep and horses. Same stuff as Orvis Quilt Wash, but for a better price.

Curved Snips make it safer to snip the threads, not cut your quilt top. Get the ones from surgical suppliers.

Basting Pins - Joanie Zeier Poole likes to use those little golden (brass) pins (also found at dollar shops). They are easy to open and close, won't tear your fabric (They're more likely to break before they rip your fabric.), and don't leave large holes. And they don't take up a lot of space on the quilt top.

Kanson Tracing Paper - goes through the printer and is available at University Supply sotres.

A Ping Pong table might be a good tool to have on hand for basting quilts. (I'll have to comb the thrift stores for a collapsible PingPong table ...)

These are just some of the tips I picked up from the ladies in the classes I attened. There were hundreds of ladies there on Saturday. Just think of all the knowledge and tips I missed!

1 comment:

Michele/TextileTraveler said...

Michele, thanks for the tips! Sounds like you're learning a lot!