Month: March 2025

Let’s have a word about Felix.

First a little back story.  Before Felix, I had Sam.  I had Sam the Cat for a little over 22 years.  From the inception of this blog, I signed off, Love and Stitches Sherri and Sam. 

At first it was almost a running joke with some of my readers.  If I taught a class or met up with other quilters who read my blog, they always asked about Sam and what he was up to.  Sam was smart.  I don’t care where I was, if I was at home when the clock hit 9 p.m., he would find me.  It was couch time.  TV, yogurt, and bed.  That was our routine.  In June 2021, the gray furball broke my heart by going over the Rainbow Bridge. 

You don’t easily get over the death of a companion of 22 years.  You just don’t.

Tired of seeing me moping for over a year, in November 2024, the hubs bought me Felix.  Felix is a rescue cat.  His mother was hit by a car when he and his two brothers were two days old.  A rescue team took in the babies and bottle fed them.  When they were old enough to be socialized, they were moved to a rescue in Trinity, NC.  The lady who ran the rescue had Felix and his two brothers at Pet Smart in High Point the very day I happened to be looking for a cat.  Two of the brothers were short-hair domestics.  Felix was a furball.  The two short-haired cats were bonded.  Felix was a free agent.  He did understand the assignment, though.  He either stayed in my lap or by my side during the entire interview. 

There really wasn’t a lot to discuss.  I paid the fee.  After the background check on me, the rescue team delivered the cat to my house the next day.  “The cat” was actually named Batman then.  The grand girls said he looked like a Felix.  So Felix it was.

Felix is smart.  Way smarter than any other cat I’ve owned.  He can open any door in the house.  He can turn on the water in the bathroom sinks.  He’s learned to flip the wall switches for the overhead lights and turn them on.  For a week we went through being abruptly awakened out of dead sleep by bright lights.

Two months later, he learned how to turn them off.

He’s a treat-begging, Churro-chugging sweetheart who currently can’t stand the sight of me.  Why?  Because I broke cat-code.

I took him to the vet.

For those of you who are currently worried about the state of his vaccinations, no, he’s had those, but he was so young he doesn’t remember them.  Nor the short overnight stay he had at the cat hospital to correct a small issue when he was about 10 months old.  However, Tuesday he began throwing up.  Not hairball throw up (for those of you with no cat experience, hairballs are a very distinctive kind of sick).  After cleaning up the fourth mess, I decided a trip to the vet was in order.  So one phone call and forty-five minutes later, he was in his blinged out carrier on his way to see Dr. Lori. 

One urinalysis, three blood draws, and a few tests later, the result was he seemed to have eaten something that disagreed with him.  We have no idea what, but something did.  Felix was given his rabies and feline leukemia boosters as well as an injection for nausea and sent home.  He still doesn’t have a great deal of appetite, and is resting in places just out of my reach. 

And when he does make eye contact with me, he’s all kinds of grumpy. 

His tests came back fine, he’s fine, no temperature, and according to Dr. Lori, he should be fully fine in a few days.  Meanwhile, His Royal Highness, Sir Mr. December of the 2025 Pawprint Calendar, Lord of the 300-piece Pawprint jigsaw puzzle, is sulking just a bit while he’s recuperating.   

Lord help me if his eyes could shoot lasers.  I’d be in trouble.

_______________________________________________________

The rest of this blog concerns a topic a reader suggested:  How to mark your quilts and when to mark them, and what do you use to mark your quilt top for quilting.  This is one of those topics which concerns both long armers and domestic machine quilters, although I do tend to mark the quilts intended for my M7 more than I do my long arm, because I use quite a few pantograms  for my long arm quilting.  Pantograms are designs printed on long sheets of paper.  You tape these down on the “back shelf” of the quilting machine, and use a laser attached to the head to “trace” the design.  While this is done from the back of the long arm, the needle in the front of the machine is quilting the pantogram design.  Thus little to no need for marking.  However, if I am freehand quilting or using rulers, I do tend to mark those quilts destined for the long arm. 

When to Mark Your Quilt

Ah….at this point, we’re on the downhill slide.  We’ve carefully pieced or appliqued or pieced and appliqued our quilt.  The corners match.  The quilt is square.  The applique is sumptuous.  Now all we need to do is sandwich it and quilt it. 

It is super easy to go super fast at this point.  After all those weeks (or months….or years, but no one here’s judging), our quilt top is finally done and we’re anxious to get to the quilting part so we can move to the binding and labeling part.  But let me caution you to slow down just a minute or two.  Unless you know exactly how you are quilting your quilt, let’s just pause for a while.  Think about your quilting plan.  Ideally, you have some kind of idea in mind when you begin making your quilt (most quilters get better with this the longer they quilt).  The quilting process is the final flourish you can put on your top.  Decisions have to be made about design and thread.  Sometimes this is easy.  If the quilt is a play quilt, cuddle quilt, or a charity quilt, a simple all over design (such as an all-over crosshatch) may be perfect.  But if you want a little more “Ooomph” some decisions must be made.  This is why pausing for a bit is a good idea.  You can look through Pinterest or Google images or any of the countless quilt magazines and books to get an idea of how to quilt it.  You can search through your stack of stencils to see if anything is appropriate.  But I have found that (unless you have a definite quilting plan) jumping right into the quilting process is usually a mistake.  Take the time to think about what you want to do. 

I can tell you how I go through the process.  This works for me.  You may find something else that works better for you.  I lay my quilt top out somewhere I can look at thoroughly, from top to bottom and left to right.  I’m looking for several things:

1.  If the block has a lot of tiny pieces, can I outline them and move to the next block?
2. Are there ways I can keep moving from one block to the next without breaking thread, unless I want to change color?  Zone of Truth here – I think changing thread is easier on a domestic machine than a long arm. 
3. What would be a good “filler” motif?  This is important, especially in applique quilts where the background needs to fade, and the applique takes center stage.  Personally I like a micro-meander, but you may find something else works better for you.
4. If you like feathers and enjoy quilting them, now is a good time to see if you can work those into blocks or borders.  I’m not a huge fan of feathers, so I keep a few other motifs up my sleeve, but I know many quilters are feather aficionados. 

After I’ve made some decisions, I try them out by tracing the designs on my quilt with my finger to make sure they will travel well, and I can minimize backtracking.  If I’m not sure, I pull this out of my kitchen cabinet:

I love Press and Seal for a myriad of reasons, mostly concerning food.  However, it also works well in your quilt room.  I pull off some Press and Seal and press it over a few quilt blocks, overlapping the edges if needed. Then I grab my water-soluble marking pen (just in case I do get ink marks on the top I can easily rinse them out) and draw the quilting design on the Press and Seal.  This gives me a visual and a real feel for how the quilting will work. If it doesn’t work, I just remove that sheet of Press and Seal, replace it with a new one and try again.  I have also quilted directly on the Press and Seal if I needed some extra time to get used to the motif.  It’s a bit tricky to remove the Press and Seal from your quilt, but I have found a lint roller works great to get the tiny pieces off, once you’ve removed the larger ones.

Once I’m fairly certain I have decided on how to quilt the quilt, I back away from it for 24 hours.  I need this mental space.  If, after this time, I’m still good with the design, we’re off to the machine to quilt. 

If the quilt is a type of sampler quilt and each block is a bit different from the next one, my favorite approach is to use a copy machine.  I copy each block and then lay the paper blocks out in order.  I use a pencil or Frixion pen – some kind of writing instrument that I can erase if I make a mistake – to plan out the quilt design for  each block before I mark my quilt.  I’m not going to lie.  This is a time-consuming approach, but it works for two reasons.  First, by the time you’ve decided on your quilting, you’ve traced and re-traced the design, so your arm and hands have muscle memory.  This will definitely help you when you’re quilting.  Secondly, you always have a visual to refer to if anything goes sideways while you’re quilting.  I absolutely do not do this with every quilt, but it really helps with the “special” ones.

With any three of these approaches, the one consistent thing which follows through with each of them is this:  I mark my quilt top before I sandwich it.  Once batting and backing are added, you have soft surface that’s difficult to draw straight lines on, copy the blocks, or manipulate the motif in any way.  I know quilters who mark their quilt after it’s sandwiched, but I find it’s a lot easier to mark it before it’s layered with batting and backing.

What Do I Use to Mark My Quilt Top?

The list here is long, and your personal favorite is a personal decision.  I’ve tried all of these, and they all work well.  I usually use a different marking tool for my quilts I plan to put on my long arm, but there are a couple of crossovers.  No matter what marking tool you use and no matter if you’re quilting on a long arm or domestic machine, you’re looking for marking tools which:

• Will leave clear, distinct marks that are easy to see
• Are easy to use
• Shows up on light, medium, and dark fabrics
• Are safe to iron over without setting the marks or making the marks disappear before you’re ready for them to disappear
• Are easy to remove
• Leave little-to-no residue
• Will not return when there’s a change in temperature or humidity or exposure to sunlight

So, without further ado, here’s my list.  Granted, I realized there are hundreds of additional marking tools out there, but these are in my personal arsenal.

• Painters Tape – Strips of painters tape place across the quilt sandwich are a great way to perform straight line quilting – crosshatch, diamonds, hanging diamonds, or a grid – painters tape make a great reference guide.  The strips can be repositioned more than once before they lose their “stickiness,” and have to be discarded.  Two words caution:  First I recommend only painters tape because it will not leave the residue that scotch or masking tape will.  Second, personally I think this technique works best on smaller quilts. The great thing about painters tape is it comes in several different widths and can be found at hardware stores, Walmart, drug stores…just about anywhere.   I do not use this method with my long arm. 

• Hera Marker – This is a Hera marker:

When you press the marker against your quilt top, it will form a crease as a mark.  You simply quilt over the crease.  The quilting process will eliminate most of the crease and a good press with an iron will get rid of the rest.  I have used Hera Markers throughout my quilting history and like them.  I’ve never had an issue getting rid of the creases.  I have found the creases are a bit difficult to see on darker fabrics.  However, as I’ve gotten older and am now dealing with cataracts, I also have some trouble seeing the creases on light fabric!  I have had better luck using a Hera while quilting on a domestic machine verses a long arm. They are also a little tricky to use when marking sharp curves or circles.  Let me also add I understand you can use a dull butter knife in place of a Hera Marker, but I have never tried that myself.

• Finally! Silver Marking Pencil — Bucklebee’s Finally! Pencils are the result of years of searching for a fabric marking pencil that is truly removable. The pigment is completely water soluble, and disappears with a spritz of water and your fingers, or a damp cloth. There’s no wax to leave a mark after ironing, either! Laundering will also remove the marks. The silver marks show up best on dark or light fabrics. You’ll get two pencils in a protective plastic case—keep them in the case to protect them from humidity. Quick tip: Pop the pencils in the fridge for a few minutes before sharpening for a perfect point.  I  have successfully used this pencil on quilts for both the long arm and domestic machine.

• Clover Pen-Style Chaco Liner or Regular Chaco Liner – I prefer the pen because it seems to be easier to control and get a more definite line with, however, both are really great.  The liners come in white, blue, pink, and yellow.  There is some discussion about the ease of removal with these, but I haven’t had any issues.  I especially love to use the white liners on dark fabrics for the quilts I put on my long arm.  My long arm has a black light and the white chalk marks under the black light really stand out.  I tend to stay away from any type of yellow markers – I’ve always had issues with the yellow ones being difficult to completely remove.

• Soapstone – This handy-dandy natural mineral pencil can be found in hardware stores and at Amazon.  If you really like soapstone, you can buy it in bulk for under $10.  It can be easily sharpened.

• Tailor’s Chalk with No Wax – While wax can help you sharpen the Tailor’s Chalk to a sharp point, it will leave a residue on your quilt top.

• Chalk – Regular, school-grade, what-we-used-to-use-in-the-classroom-before-white-boards kind.  Use a piece of sandpaper or a fingernail file to make a point on one end and mark away.  This is actually one of my favorite marking tools.  It brushes away completely, works awesomely beneath the black light on my long arm, and each stick of chalk is nearly completely consumable.  If it crumbles, simply resharpen it and keep moving. 

• Ticonderoga #2 Pencil – This tool is kind of like chalk.  We associate with elementary school and maybe never dreamed about what an awesome quilting tool it would grow up to be.  I like this brand of pencil better than any mechanical pencil (including those made for quilters).  The lead doesn’t break easily, and it leaves a dark enough mark you can see it clearly but does wash out cleanly.  Just be careful not to iron over it.

• Ultimate Marking Pencil for Quilters and Crafters – This is a quilter’s mechanical pencil which refills with washable graphite.  I have used this pencil a lot with applique and it works well, but the lead does break easily. 

• Bohin mechanical pencil, white chalk –This has been one of my go-to fabric markers for years for dark material.  It works well and if you want to use a stencil to mark your quilts, but dislike using chalk, try this pencil. It has a super-thin lead (.9) so it can get into all those narrow places on a stencil.

• Sewline mechanical pencil, white ceramic – This is another quilter’s mechanical pencil, except instead of lead, it writes with ceramics.  It does offer sharp, clear drawing lines and it has an eraser at the top which is retractable.  This pencil comes with gray, white, green, or pink refills as well as refills for the eraser.  It has a cushioned tip to keep the “lead” from breaking under pressure.  Lines are removed by a damp towel or sponge or by using the eraser.  Don’t iron over the marks, or they will set. 

• Roxanne Quilters Choice Marking Pencils, Silver and White – First, let me state that I love Roxanne products.  They are Ph based, so they will do minimal (if any) damage to any part of your quilt.  These chalk pencils glide smoothly and evenly across fabrics without crumbling, leaving fine visible lines to guide your quilting stitches. They do not contain waxes, dyes or harmful chemicals. 

• Water Soluble Pen – This may be the marking tool most familiar to my readers.  Lots of folks manufacture these pens, but my personal favorite brands are Mr. Pen and Clover.  You simply mark what you want on your quilt, quilt it, and the marks come off when you rinse your quilt or spritz it with water and use a damp cloth on the marks.  A couple of things to keep in mind with this marker.  First,  the marks do fade over time.  I marked a quilt top with one of these markers, life happened, and I didn’t return to the quilt for a year.  The marks had faded.  They were slightly visible, but you really had to squint to see them.  Second, don’t press them with an iron.  That heat sets them, and you’ll never get them completely out.  Also be careful what type you order.  Fine line is not the same as extra fine or ultra fine.  Since a water-soluble marker is really a type of magic marker, the ink does spread a bit as you mark, so you may want an extra fine tip.

As you’re considering which marker to use, let’s enter Sherri’s Zone of Truth and let’s talk about our age.  I am 63 at this moment, and I’ll admit my 63-year-old eyes are not the same as my 30-something eyes were.  I need darker lines and the product to work accurately.  So as you’re making marking tool decisions, you will probably want to consider the following:

1.  How dark do I need my lines to be, and can the marking tool stand up to the pressure I put on them to get darker lines without crumbling?
2. Have my fabrics been prewashed?  Sometimes the finishes put on fabrics prevent the marking tools from working the way they need to.
3. How your climate may affect your marking tools.  Are you in a humid/wet/hot climate?  If so, you may find your water-soluble pen marks disappearing.
4. Is your water chemically treated?  That can make a difference in removing marks.
5. Think about your laundry detergent.  If it contains brighteners and color-fast bleach, this may affect the way your quilt top dispels the marks.   

How Do I Decide What Quilt Motifs to Use? 

The answers to this question are many and entirely personal.  I can offer some helpful hints, but the answers may change according to the quilt and according to your mood. 

I really like quilt patterns which suggest quilting options.  Those save a great deal of time and mental energy.  You may not like all of the motif, but may be happy with parts of it.  Quilt magazines in general have gotten really good about offering suggestions with most of their patterns, so if you don’t like the motif chosen for your particular quilt, you have others to chose from.  However, still the majority of our quilt patterns offer these three dreaded words:  Quilt as desired.  How do we know what we desire?  Like I said, I can offer some suggestions, but the final decisions are up to you.

Scenario One

The Fabric or Piecing is the Focal Part of the Quilt

If this is the case for me, I generally go for an all-over, easy design, such as a crosshatch or meander with a lightweight thread. If I’m quilting on my long arm, I use an edge-to-edge design. This allows either the fabric or piecing (or both) to take center stage.

Scenario Two

The Design of the Quilt is the Focus

For example, let’s say the quilt top is comprised of star blocks.  I would either try quilting stars all over the quilt or echo quilting the star blocks themselves and carrying that out into the sashing and borders. 

Scenario Three

The Quilt is an Applique Quilt

To me, this is the most fun quilt to quilt.  Typically I outline my applique with either a monofilament or a very lightweight polyester thread.  With applique quilts, you want that applique to stand out, so once it’s outlined you can make the decision to echo quilt around it again or proceed to the background.  You really want the background to recede as much as possible, so an overall meander, swirls, crosshatch (or something similar) is used in the background. 

There are hundreds of sources for how to quilt your quilt out there.   Angela Walters has an excellent website and YouTube videos, and I really recommend her, especially for beginners.  But before closing, I will tell you this about quilting your own quilts:

•  It makes you a better quilter.  Suddenly all that emphasis I put on squaring up your blocks and your quilt will make a lot more sense, as well as how to press. 
• Practice.  Practice.  And practice some more.  Get used to dropping your feed dogs and stitching.  Get used to manipulating the bulk of the quilt in your machine’s throat.  Make a stack of small practice quilt sandwiches and keep them near your machine.  A couple of times a week, quilt on them.  Draw a quilt block out and decide how to quilt it.  Try meandering and free hand.  And this is a GREAT use for leftover or orphan quilt blocks.
• The longer you quilt, not only the better you’ll get at it, but you’ll also discover certain motifs are your favorites.  You may find out you like quilting half-square triangles a certain way, so much that the motif literally flows from your fingers when your come to a HST.  Pinwheels may be the same way, and four patches.  I have discovered that I have a couple of favorite quilt pathways for basic block units and they’re generally my go-to.
• Study the way other quilters quilt their quilts.  This is a great way to get new ideas.
• I don’t often recommend books, but there are three I think quilters need in their library if they plan to quilt any of their own quilts:
• The Ultimate Guild to Free Motion Quilting by Angela Walters
• Quilting Dot-to-Dot Patterns for Today’s Machine Quilter by Cheryl Barnes
• The Grid Design Workbook by Cindy Seitz-Krug

I hope this blog has given you a bit more confidence and good information about how to quilt your own quilts.  I promise you’ll have fun with this process.  Even if you “quilt by checkbook” (have someone else quilt your quilts), some of this information is good to know.   When you discuss with your longarm quilter about the quilting design for your quilt, it’s good to have some idea of how and what you want. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

Zone of Truth right here, right now…

I’m not going to do this topic justice. 

Yup.  That’s right.  Because technically, all fabric can be applique fabric.  Any fabric.  Silks.  Satins.  Fleece.  Lace.  Applique is the unifying quilting technique which brings all fabric under the quilting umbrella.  Unlike piecing, where the quilter is strategically positioning lights, mediums, and darks for the best results, the applique quilter is going for effect – what fabric will give the best representation of what I am trying to convey?  So applique is a wide-open field for all fabrics.  The trick is knowing how to handle them and what fusible to use (if you’re machine appliqueing). 

But before we delve into what makes good applique fabric, I’d like to stress four points:

• Be well-versed in your fusible webbing.  And by this, it’s not just what fusible you like better than another.  If I had my way, I’d use Soft Fuse for almost everything I machine applique.  But it’s not always the best fusible webbing.  If a fabric such as canvas or denim is used, a fusible with a heavier adhesive (such as regular Heat-n-Bond) may be needed.  Likewise, if you want to add lace to your applique, it’s good to know that Misty Fuse has an ultraviolet fusible that completely disappears to the naked eye and is great to use with lace or netting.  However, it’s also good to know that Misty Fuse handles differently than any other fusible and is a bit time consuming, but worth the effort. 
• Batiks work for machine and hand applique, but each technique requires different handling. If you go here:  https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2022/01/12/sewing-with-batiks/ you’ll learn that batiks are processed differently from standard quilting cottons.  Batiks are constantly introduced to a wet environment and then dried.  So by the time you get them home and add them to your projects, the Batiks have a really tight weave because of the shrinkage.  This makes them the ideal candidate for raw-edge applique.  That tight weave prevents nearly all fraying.  

However, also because of the manufacturing processes, Batiks can feel stiff, which makes them difficult to hand applique or use for prepared edge machine applique.  But if you wash them in hot water and allow them to air dry before using, the fabric takes on a silky feel, and makes them ideal for hand or prepared edge machine applique.  Not all batiks need this treatment, but for those particularly stiff ones, a little time in some hot water may allow you to use them as needed.

•  Re-think pre-washing. I’ve admitted in the past  I’m primarily a pre-washer.  Fabric comes into my home, and it’s washed, ironed, and stored.  Through the years of teaching and talking with other quilters, I feel as if I’m in the minority.  But there is a time if you’re not a pre-washer, you may want to change gears and throw the fabric in the washing machine – and that’s if you plan on using machine applique.  And the reason behind this is not shrinkage or color fastness or any of the other reasons I prewash.  In the machine applique realm it has to do with the finish on the fabric.  Sometimes the finish on the fabric keeps the fusible from completely adhering to the wrong side of the fabric.  I’m dealing with this now.  I’m machine appliqueing the cutest Jack O’Lanterns, but since the project is a kit, I didn’t pre-wash any of the fabric. I’m having a really difficult time getting the Heat-n-Bond Light to work.  The eyes and noses and mouths are sliding everywhere.  Oy-vey!

If you are like me and are an avid pre-washer, there is one time you may want to avoid it and that’s for the background of a hand applique project.  After the applique square or project is complete, then immerse it in water and allow it to dry.  The background fabric will shrink slightly and pull those tiny hand stitches just a bit tighter under the applique fabric, rendering almost invisible. 

•  Choosing good applique fabrics takes time as you develop an “eye” for it.  This is one of those quilting things which can’t be taught, but you develop over time.  Applique quilters “see” fabric differently than quilters who primarily piece.  For instance, I rarely use solids in my applique.  They do appear in my pieced quilts, but not my applique because to me they appear “flat.”  Objects – whether they’re flowers, animals, trees, or whatever – have lights and darks, sunshine and shadow.  Solid fabrics don’t.  The fabric I use in applique usually has some kind of print or mottling to them.  Over time, you begin to see fabric in a very different way.  Suddenly even the ugliest fabric has potential.  Take for instance this fabric:

This is definitely not my favorite piece of fabric and if I were piecing a quilt, this fabric would be completely overlooked.  But you know what this would be good for?

A bird’s wing.

Looking at fabric this way takes time, experience, and practice.  A good way to practice this would be to look at your own stash and see what objects it could work for. Or Google ugly fabric swatches and pull up those images (yes, this is a thing) and think how those swatches would work for applique.

The Pros and Cons of Applique Fabric

Let’s talk about the good things about applique fabric first. 

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

Now let’s talk about the not-so-good things about applique fabric.

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

That’s right.  The pros and the cons are the same.  All of this wonderful fabric that manufacturers make has immense potential, we only need “bits and bobs” of it, and even that ugly-hasn’t-sold-in-years fabric at our LQS has promise.  Which means we can easily overwhelm our stash with fabric to the point we don’t know what we have and what we need.

So what should we do? 

It’s impossible for me – or anyone else – to give you a list of what applique fabric you need.  Most of it depends on what you like to applique.  My applique quilts tend to be flowery (if you can’t grow ‘em, sew ‘em – that’s my motto).  For this reason, I have a rainbow of fabric colors for any type of flower my heart desires, lots of yellows for flower centers, and a seemingly endless array of greens for leaves and stems.  However, if landscapes or seascapes were my applique of choice, I’d have fabric which could pass as wood, stone, or brick texture.  I’d need blues, grays, and blue-greens for water.  Light blues for skies, whites and grays for clouds, and even more greens for grass.

Your favorite applique subject essentially chooses what fabrics you have in your stash. 

It’s also important to remember that items – living, such as flowers, and non-living, such as buildings – aren’t all one solid color.  As light hits the object, the colors change.  The area where light hits directly is lighter than the other areas.  The places furthest from the light source are the darkest.  Flowers higher up on a stem are lighter than those closer to the bottom.  So, let’s put this into perspective.

Let’s say I want to applique a purple coneflower.  From past observations, I know purple coneflowers aren’t colors of solid purple.  Coneflowers have petals with streaks of color and a large center.  I set aside my solid purple fabric and begin to look for purples with splotches or streaks of color in them.

This will work for those petals closest to the front viewing area (those nearest the light source).  Those behind will need to be a bit darker, so I find this:

Now for the center.  Coneflower centers can be brown, green, or pink, with brown being the color center we’re most familiar with.  And the center is kind of fuzzy, not a solid ball, with the brown speckled with flecks of yellow and orange.  The search for a brown fabric should include those browns which are mottled with other colors.

Applique Fabric Tools

I would like to introduce you to a couple of tools which may help you as you choose your fabric.  The first is a template.  Take a piece of paper, mylar, or cardboard and trace the shape you want to find fabric for.  Then cut the shape out, leaving the paper, mylar, or cardboard intact, so you have a negative of the object, like this.

Take the negative and place it on the fabrics being considered.  This negative will help you in your search for the best fabrics for flowers, bricks, stones, etc.

The second tool is this:

A flower catalog.  Since most applique patterns are overwhelmingly floral, a seed, bulb, or flower catalog is very helpful in your flower study.  There are closeups of the petals, centers, and leaves, giving you lots of hints about what colors can be used and how and where they change from light to dark.

As a matter of fact, magazines or Google images are great places to start your fabric search, no matter what you want to applique.  If it’s buildings, an Architectural  Digest would probably be a great help.  And nothing beats going for a drive or a walk with the camera on your phone ready to take pictures of what’s tickling your applique itch. 

Once the applique fabrics are chosen, it’s important that the background fabrics support the applique fabrics well.  Personally, I even like applique fabrics with a small tone-on-tone print – they’re just more interesting than a solid piece of fabric.  What you want to look for is a background fabric that enhances your applique.  Backgrounds can be colors other than white or ecru.  I love to use black as a background fabric (even though it’s hard on the eyes when you sew), but if I do this, I need to make sure the applique fabrics are bright and bold.  Pastels may “washout” with a dark background.  Audition your background fabric just as thoroughly as you do your applique fabric. 

Before I close out this blog, I would like to leave you with a few additional applique tricks I’ve learned from almost forty years of loving and using the  art:

•  Notice where you place the light source.

By this I mean, where’s angle the sunshine/lamp shines from?  If it’s on the left side of the image, that side will be lighter than the right side.  And keep the light angle in mind as you work on the right side of the image – that side will be just a shade or two darker than the left.

•  Buds, new fruit, and new leaves will be lighter than their adult counterparts.
• Need a light fabric and can’t find one that works with the fabrics you already have?  Audition the wrong side of the fabric.  Hey, I’ve pulled this trick lots of times, and the wrong side of the fabric has met a lighter fabric need more than once and did it well.  You pay for both sides of the fabric – use them.

• Don’t be afraid to fussy cut your fabric.  This is especially true for those print fabrics you’re not sure exactly what to do with.  For instance, this is a piece of Tula Pink fabric.  I love her designs – they’re whimsical and bright and many times you’ll unexpectedly find an animal image staring back at you.  The pink of this fabric drew me to it, but the elephants caught and held my attention.  I wasn’t quite sure what I’d use this fabric for, but over time I discovered those elephant ears made wonderful flower petals.  What’s left of this fabric now resembles Swiss Cheese because I’ve fussy cut nearly the entire three yards.

• Broidery Perse is always a valid option.  Want a floral bouquet of appliqued roses but don’t want to go through the fuss?  Find a rosy floral, fussy cut out the roses you want, then applique the roses into your bouquet.  It’s beautiful and it’s a lot easier than navigating all those rose petals.

In so many ways, this blog is only scratching the surface of what can be used for applique fabrics.  Developing an “eye” for what would work best takes time and practice and…mistakes.  Give yourself time.  Don’t be afraid to consider fabrics you normally wouldn’t give a second glance at.  Think outside the box.  You’ll only be limited by the boundaries of your imagination.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

When we left last week’s blog, I had just given you a list of quilting tools I think merit having a second look at for this year, as well as a few others which are new to the quilt studio.  This week, I want to give you some ideas about what to look for when you shop for quilting notions and tools and how not to be taken in by the “knock offs.”

As I’m writing this, I’m taking for granted a few things.  First, we want to pay for quality notions and tools.  Unless they’re something consumable, such as freezer paper, we don’t want to keep re-buying seam rippers and stilettoes and such on a monthly basis.  However, we also don’t want to overpay, either.  And since the average quilter is somewhere around 65, we also want notions and tools which are easy to use and easy on the joints.  They should seamlessly into our quilting routines.

It Matters What It’s Made From

When purchasing quilting tools, it’s important to evaluate the material quality of the tool because good quality quilting tools work to greatly enhance your quilting experience.  Poor quality tools can make your sewing time miserable.  When searching for cutting tools, pay attention to what the blades are made of.  High-grade stainless steel or titanium carbide guarantee scissors and rotary cutters stay sharper longer, and will cut cleanly and effortlessly through several fabric thicknesses.  They also will have the durability needed for long quilting sessions.  Natural materials, such as hardwood, are also worth noting.  They provide a sturdy, but lightweight option, improving handling and precision.  Stilettos and pressing tools made from hardwoods are great, long-lasting options.

If the notion or tool you’re purchasing is made from plastic, go for the high-quality ones.  A self-healing cutting mat may be a bit expensive, but you won’t need to replace it for several years.  Rulers can be a bit of a tossup.  Personally, I like the clear acrylic for both cutting and measuring and quilting.  However, there is a fair share of opaque rulers purchased.  As long as they are thick and the measurements are clearly stamped on them, either is a good choice.

Pressing areas received an upgrade with the introduction of felted wool pressing mats.  These retain heat beautifully, allow you to press multiple fabric layers efficiently, and produce a smoother fabric.  If you need to replace your ironing board cover or simply want to upgrade that small pressing area near your seeing machine, a wool cover or mat is well worth the investment. 

There Should Never Be a “One-Trick” Pony in Your Studio

This one may be a bit personal, but in my quilting world, there’s only one uni-tasker in the room:

If you’re paying good money for quality tools and notions, they should perform more than just one job.  A rotary cutter should be able to easily slice through multiple layers of fabric.  Stilettos or seam rollers should be able to hold seams and manipulate fabric.  Those large clippies should have measurements marked on them.  And with rare exceptions, most of them should be portable. Lightweight and compact tools make handling and storage easier, especially when I’m working in small spaces and attending classes and workshops.  Which leads us to…

Size and Portability are Important

Tools which are six and twelve inches are ideal as they can easily slip into a bag or sewing kit.  Weight is also an essential factor.  I like tools which weigh less than two pounds (with the exception of my sewing machine) which means they are easier to handle, and this reduces fatigue during long sewing sessions.  And the more functions one tool can handle means you have less to carry and keep up with.

If you attend classes, retreats, quilt bees, or workshops, think about storage.  Tools which can lay flat, particularly cutting mats and rulers to avoid damage and maintain their shape, are easier to transport. 

Good Ergonomics and Common Sense are a Must

Quilters love when they have extended time in their studios or uninterrupted quilting time at a retreat.  It’s important to take the strain off of your back, arms, wrists, eyes, and fingers as much as possible and this means you have to pay attention to how a quilting tool is made.  Rulers with double color sight lines and large print numbers are really great additions to your sewing kit.  Rotary cutters with ergonomically designed handles can greatly reduce hand fatigue and strain, allowing us to cut for longer periods of time without discomfort.  When looking for tools, check to see if they have contoured grips and strategically positioned handles to enhance control. 

Weight distribution is also important.  Evenly distributed weight takes the stress off of wrists and fingers, feels more balanced in your hand, and makes quilting more enjoyable.  Non-slip surfaces are also a priority.  They improve grip and stability, ensuring precise movements and reducing the likelihood of accidents.

Softer, textured finishes are also important.  They provide tactile feedback and minimize pressure points.  Every quilter’s hands deserve a break and choosing tools that prioritize ergonomic design can make a world of difference.  By investing in these comfortable tools, you can focus on your creativity and less on fatigue, making the quilting experience more enjoyable. 

Now let’s talk about the common sense end of this issue.  I am of an age where I just like to pull the quilting tool – whatever it is – out of the box or the bag and it work.  I don’t want to spend a lot of time setting it up, or have a set of directions in three languages with thousands of pictures like Ikea.  I want intuitive functionality.  I don’t want to watch YouTube videos to learn how to use it.  The set up must be easy – and fairly quick. 

Precision and Accuracy are Crucial

Quilting is wonderfully creative.  It’s colors and textures and shapes.  It’s painting pictures with fabric.  However, any quilter who has been at her craft for a while will tell you accuracy and precision play a vital role in creating wonderful quilts. If you’re shopping for rulers, look for those which guarantee clean, straight cuts and accurate seam allowances.  Obviously every ruler is marked in inches or centimeters for measuring, and some of them even have angles on them, but make sure they’re accurate.  Personally, I think it’s always best to go with a name you trust, such as Olfa, Creative Grids, or Quilter’s Select – that way you know the product is good quality. 

Marking Tools that Disappear When You Need Them To

There are so many marking tools on the market.  We have pens whose ink disappears when you press the cloth with an iron.  We have pens whose ink disappears when you wet the fabric and  ink that simply disappears over time.  Then there’s always the good ol’ number 2 pencil.  Which one is best?  Which one should you trust?

Marking tools again are very much a personal choice.  I like the Frixion-type pens which disappear when you hit your cloth with an iron, and so far I’ve had really good luck with no “ghost” lines re-appearing.  But my experience may not be yours.  I believe marking tools are like rulers – stick with the name brands which have always worked for you. 

They Must Be Durable and Low Maintenance

It’s easy to overspend on quilting notions.  The quilting market offers so many options, it’s easy to think we need everything.  However, whatever we purchase, we want it to last for a while (unless it’s consumable).  As you shop, look for tools made of high-quality materials, such as stainless steel, heavy duty acrylic, or durable plastics.  These materials resist wear, bending, and rust and will last for years.

Regular maintenance extends the life of your tools, but it shouldn’t take an engineering degree to keep them in good working order.  Make sure your wooden tools stay dry and store flat to keep from warping.  When purchasing a rotary cutter, make sure the blade is easy to change.  We all know we should change our blades as soon as it begins skipping over fabric instead of cutting it.  But if the blade replacement is difficult, we all know we put off replacing that blade for as long as we can put up with a dull blade.  And when you change the blade, be sure to wipe down the inside of the cutter to get rid of any lint that could gum up your cutting experience.  Personally, I’m becoming a huge fan of titanium blades.  They cut better and longer than stainless steel ones.

Make Sure You’ll Get Your Money’s Worth

Quilting is, overall, not an inexpensive hobby.  Make sure what you purchase will not only last, but that you will use it.  It’s easy to look at a new gadget one of our quilting buddies has and think we need the same thing.   Then once it’s purchased, we never use it.  Make sure the tool or notion fits in your quilting style. For instance, if one of your friends has the latest version of Electric Quilt, and you’re not a computer person, chances are that, even if you purchased it and your friend helped orient you to the program, you may not use it a lot. It would be money wasted.

Multi-functional tools often provide better value.  A good ruler may not only measure inches and help you cut straight, but have angles printed on them too.  Some wooden stilettos sometimes have a pressing tool on one end.  Look for tools that give you more than one user option, if possible.

It’s also important to compare the total cost of ownership, which includes the initial purchase price and any necessary accessories or replacement parts.  This kind of falls under maintenance.  We all know our rotary cutters need blades replaced.  However, the cost of replacement blades isn’t so expensive or so often it negates the initial cost of a cutter.  Neither is replacing a sewing machine needle.  But if the sewing machine has a reputation of needing it’s bobbin mechanism replaced every two or three years, that may negate the introductory, low-price of the machine. 

Do Your Homework

I think it’s a good idea to pause and read the reviews before you purchase any tool from a manufacturer you’re not familiar with.  You can Google it or check on Amazon to read what people are saying about it. Keep in mind there’s going to be one person who didn’t like the notion or tool, and they will give it a negative review.  But if most of the review are good, give it a whirl.  Chances are it may fit well into your quilt studio.

And finally….

Everybody Hates a Phony

In last week’s blog, I discussed how quilters need to be careful while they are online – about quilt groups and sharing pictures.  This week I want to warn you about manufacturers who produce knock-off quilt notions.

One of the reasons I always encourage quilters to purchase from manufacturers and designers they know well or have heard of is this: Their products do what they say they will do and generally their customer service is also good.  Which means if you do have issues with a tool, you can contact customer service and they can talk you through how to use it, replace it if the tool is defective or refund your money. 

Knock-off, imitators, phonies … they can’t, won’t, and don’t.

Like those data collectors I warned you about in the other blogs, knock-off quilt tool manufacturers work in a similar way.  They peruse our Facebook pages and other social media to discover what tools we are raving about and using regularly.  Then they will produce a product so similar, we can hardly tell them apart – except by price.  The cost of these knockoffs is generally well below what we pay for them from our normal supplier.  And the quality is well below what we expect, too.

These imitations can be difficult to identify.  Sometimes the packaging looks identical to the real deal.  There is currently a ruler supplier online whose rulers look exactly like Creative Grids.  Directions and everything (I think they cut and pasted the directions from the Creative Grids website).  The only thing missing is the QR code which comes on the Creative Grids packaging (users can scan the QR code to get a video which gives instructions and tips when using the ruler).

Templates resembling those from Missouri Star are also floating around cyberspace right now.  They’re the same yellow color, but the packaging is simply a clear, plastic bag with no directions instead of the very nice packaging from Missouri Star with all their clear instructions.  And to add insult to injury, their ¼-inch seam markings are off.  Way off. 

These are only two of the many examples of knockoff supplies out there on social media.  I have a few helpful hints to avoid them.

1.  Don’t purchase anything off social media.  Unless it’s the supplier’s direct Facebook or Instagram which links directly to their webpage, don’t order.  As a matter of fact, I would close down the social media and go directly to the supplier’s website.
2. Be wary of emails from stores or manufacturers that promise you a great quilting tool, but you’ve never heard of them.
3. Watch for odd spellings of well-known names.  The fake Creative Grids dealer had his name as Creatives Grids.  They simply added an “s” to Creative.
4. If a deal is too good to be true … it probably is.  Avoid it.

Lastly, if you know the tool is a fake, what should you do about it?  Don’t buy it, of course.  And tell all your quilting buddies about it so they don’t buy it.  You can try to report it to the social media you found the fake thing on, but don’t expect the platform to jump through hoops to take the phony tool off its site and cancel the contract.  And finally you can report it to the real tool’s developer, but expect varying results.  Some may immediately begin tracking down the imposter.  Others may do nothing – it all depends on how successful they’ve been in the past with this situation. 

Be wise as you purchase new tools and notions.  Be open minded to new things and new manufacturers and designers, but do your due diligence.  A Google search only takes a minute or two but could save your hours of frustration and a few dollars, too.  Reading a few other quilters’ opinions about a product can help you make good decisions about what goes in (and what stays out) of your studio.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

This blog is a bit of a rant.  I haven’t ranted in a while, but a few things have occurred in my quilting world that’s sent my normal, sane self over the edge and I want to share these things with you because I don’t want your normal, sane self to be sent over the edge with me. That, and the fact I dearly love quilt designers and want them to be protected from some of the shady stuff going about online.  This blog will be split into two parts – and depending on the length, may be split into two blogs.

In short, I have a lot to say about these shady shenanigans and about the good tools now produced to make quilters’ lives easier. 

Let me begin with social media.  For the purpose of this blog, I’m not stating which social media platform is more sus than the other but I’m looking at you Facebook.  I’m not even saying social media is bad.  I believe those platforms are like most things involved with the internet – they’re neither good nor bad.  They are neutral, but the way they’re used can make them a force for good or evil.  Let’s start with quilting groups.  More specifically those groups you can join on Facebook or Instagram or X (Twitter). 

I belong to several groups on all three platforms.  I enjoy the tips, and I enjoy helping folks in these groups when they have a problem.  I’ve appreciated the fellowship and the encouragement.  And it’s usually not the quilters in these groups I have issues with (there’s always going to be one or two members who stir the pot, but most of the time the admins shut them down quickly).  However. I do think we need to be wary about the way we share our quilts and sewing projects.  This cautiousness is merited due to the number of scammers who have invaded our quilting pages and groups. 

By this time in our internet lives, scammers are nothing new to any of us.  Most of us have been the victim of a scammer or two at least once or twice in our lives.   My worst scammer experience involved someone who found one of my checks, bleached it with a software program, re-did the check number, my signature, and changed the amount of the check to make herself about $3,000 richer.  Yes, the bank was immensely helpful, but it took hours out of my week to get the problem corrected.  Scammers who invade our quilt groups are just as harmful as the one who took advantage of my checking account.  They ask if they can copy the picture you posted of your latest project and use them on another group’s page. 

At this point, it’s easy to feel flattered.  You think they were so inspired by your work, and they simply want to share this point of inspiration with their friends and other like-minded creatives. 

Nope.

Nine times out of then they want to turn your latest, greatest creation into clickbait.  Clickbait refers to content designed to attract clicks and engagement, usually for financial gain or other shady, nefarious, ulterior motives.  And pretty pictures of your project act as bait to foster their motives, which could be:

Data Harvesting —  Scammers often create fake groups and posts to collect personal information from users.  They use enticing clickbait to encourage users to comment, share personal details, or click on external links which may prompt them to enter sensitive information like email addresses, phone numbers, or passwords.  This information can then be used for identity theft, phishing attacks, or sold on the dark web.

Engagement and Legitimacy – Fake quilt groups may use clickbait to increase engagement, such as likes, shares, comments, and followers.  This can make the group appear more legitimate and attractive to potential victims or advertisers.  A group with a large number of members and interactions may seem trustworthy, even if its content is fraudulent.

Monetization – Some scammers aim to monetize fake groups by using clickbait to drive traffic to websites containing advertisements or affiliate links.  Each click and page view can generate revenue for the scammer through ad networks or affiliate marketing programs.

Spreading Malware – Clickbait in fake groups can lead users to malicious websites or encourage them to download files that contain malware or viruses.  These can compromise the security of the user’s device and lead to further scams or data theft.

Phishing – Clickbait may lead users to fake login pages that resemble legitimate websites (e.g., Facebook, email, banking, PayPal).  Users might unwittingly enter their login credentials, which can be stolen by scammers for unauthorized access to their accounts.

Financial Scams – Some clickbait within fake groups may promote fraudulent schemes, such as multi-level marketing, get-rich-quick schemes, investment scams, or other schemes to separate you and your hard-earned money.  Users who click such content may be lured into making financial transactions or investments which lead to financial losses. 

Social Engineering – Scammers may use clickbait to manipulate users emotions psychologically or politically.  This can be done by spreading sensational, false, or divisive information to influence public opinion, manipulate sentiments or inciting conflicts. 

So how do you avoid becoming a victim of clickbait?  First, be skeptical.  Question the credibility of posts and groups that seem too good to be true (because they probably are) or make sensational claims.  Second, verify information.  Before clicking on links or sharing information, independently verify the information through reputable sources.  Third, review your privacy settings.  Adjust your privacy settings in the groups you belong to in order to limit exposure to unknown groups and posts.  Fourth, report suspicious content.  If you come across fake groups or clickbait, report them to Facebook or Instagram or whatever social media platform you find them on.  They probably won’t do anything about it (which is aggravating), but you can still try.  Fifth, educate yourself.  Stay informed about common online scams and tactics used by scammers to better protect yourself and others in your network. 

And last, learn to protect yourself.  Be cautious of the groups and pages you join.  Just because a group has lots of posts and comments doesn’t mean it’s legit.  Look for multiple administrators and observe the groups before joining and posting in them.  Also consider adding a watermark to your photos before sharing them online (any photos – from your dinner to your quilts).  Watermarks take time for a scammer to remove and instead of dealing with all the work it takes to remove it, the scammer will bypass it and go for another one without the watermark.  A watermark is a faint, semi-transparent mark or text that’s superimposed onto an image.  It’s placed in a way that doesn’t distract from the picture, but it makes it difficult for others to steal or misuse the photo.

There are several apps and websites which can be used to add a watermark to your photos.  An easy and free one to use is Visual Watermark.  It’s a simple process and only takes a few easy steps.

From social media, let’s take an abrupt U-Turn and talk about quilting tools.  I know there seems to be no correlation between the two, but trust me there is.  Just hang with me for a bit.

Almost every year, at some point, I give you a list of quilting tools you may want to take a second look at.  Some years have great strides made in quilting notions and other years, not so much.  This year is a mix.  So listed, in no particular order – the tools you probably want if you don’t already have them:

• Wool Mat – These retain heat, come in various sizes, and are portable.  The texture does keep fabric from stretching.  Wool mats also have a few cons, the primary one being the odor.  For a while, a wool mat can smell like a wet dog.  I use my mat almost every day, so either I’m nose-blind to it or the smell goes away after a while.  I know some quilters use an essential oil, such as lemon, on their mat to offset the wet dog odor.  These mats must be stored flat and avoid keeping a hot iron on them.

• Clippies – I loved these little gadgets from the moment I bought my first pack – which didn’t contain but maybe a dozen.  Initially I used them to keep block units together, but then I discovered they work great with binding quilts.  When I began to teach my two grand darlings to sew, I didn’t give either pins.  I supplied them with this cute little tin of clippies:

Now they come in various sizes – from small to large – and the long ones have quarter inch and half-inch increments listed on them.  Now instead of the packaging containing only a couple dozen clippies, there may be 100 in a box, and the price has come down.  The tin of 100 clippies I purchased for my grand darlings was only $9.99.  The only cons of these little wonder tools are they may not work for thick fabrics and some clips may be broken during shipping.

• Savina Seam Roller and Stiletto – If your home improvement projects ever included hanging wallpaper, the seam roller may look just a bit familiar.  A very similar tool is used to seal the seams of wallpaper.  However, in our case, it’s used as a substitute for an iron, and it really comes in super handy when you’re paper piecing.  Instead of taking the time to press the seam with an iron, you can run the seam roller over it and keep moving. 

A stiletto is a tool every sewist should have in their sewing kit.  The pointy end can hold fabric steady as it’s fed over the feed dogs and beneath the needle.  This particular stiletto has a wooden handle with a blunt, sloped end.  That blunt, sloped end is the perfect tool for opening up a seam allowance in order to press it open.  Both have an ergonomic design (meaning it’s easy on your hand muscles), they have versatile applications, and are compact and portable.  However, both of the pressing tools do not take the place of a regular iron.  You still need one of those.  The wood needs to be treated with a food-grade oil (other oils may transfer to your fabric), and the pressing end of the stiletto and the seam roller may not work well on thick seams or fabrics. 

• Wonderfil Doublesided Instant Applique Paper – At last – an applique paper which is sticky on both sides.  If you love to applique (and especially if you use the Apliquick method), you realize that glue can be part of the equation – especially if you use the Apliquick or freezer paper method. Typically with either of those, the sticky side of the Apliquick interfacing or the shiny side of the freezer paper is pressed to the wrong side of the fabric, the shape is cut out, leaving about a ¼-inch or less of fabric margin around the shape, and then that margin is glued to the backside of the interfacing or freezer paper. 

But not with Wonderfil’s Doublesided Instant Applique Paper.  Both sides are sticky, so no glue is needed.  This is a brand-spanking NEW notion just recently offered by Wonderfil.  I ordered a roll (around $20 for a 180-inch x 11-inch roll) and will let you know how it works.

• Wooden Clapper

I’ve mentioned these before, but they’re worth another mention.  After you have  pressed your seam and the fabric is still hot, run the wood clapper down the seam line.  The cool wood will push out the heat and your seam will lie perfectly flat. 

• Karen Kay Buckley Scissors – These scissors have been on my cutting table and in my sewing kits for years.  The tiny, serrated blades grab fabric, and the microscopic, pinked edges keep fraying to a minimum.  The ergonomic, soft handles mean they can be used for hours at a time without hurting your hands. 

• Cutterpillar Light Box – There are lots of different kinds of light boxes on the market and they can run the gauntlet of price points from under $50 to over $200, depending on the size and the accessories.  And technically you don’t have to buy one – you can use a window, a glass top table, or — if you have a Lucite extension table for your sewing machine – you can place a light source under it (like the flashlight app on your cell phone) and use it as a light box.  However, if you really like applique, you’ll probably want to consider a Cutterpillar.  I have two of them.  They are wafer-thin and the smaller one has both a self-healing cutting mat and a heat-resistant pressing surface which can be used on top of the lighted surface.  Both have nice carrying cases.  I wish I could find one as large as my dining room table as I seem to be appliqueing more and more borders.

• Rotating Cutting Matt – I think – and this is my personal opinion – a quilter needs three cutting mats: a large one for their cutting surface; a medium-sized one to take to classes and retreats, and a rotating cutting mat.  The rotating mat just makes it easier to trim blocks because you’re spinning your mat around, not your block.  And they are a great tool to have if you like to foundation paper piece.

• Roxanne Basting Spray – If you quilt your tops on a domestic or mid-arm machine, the quilt sandwich must be held together by some means – thread basting, pinning, or basting spray.  There are several different kinds of basting spray on the market, but the Roxanne Basting Spray is perfectly Ph balanced, meaning it will cause no long-term harm to even your most heirloom quality quilts.  

• Blade Saver/Thread Cutter – These little things are a great way to get the very last life out of a dull rotary blade.  While the blade may be too dull to cut fabric, it’s still perfect for cutting thread.  Just load your dull blade into the stand and use it to cut your block units apart when you chain piece.  By the time the blade is too dull to cut even thread, it is well and truly used up and ready to be tossed.

• Washi Tape – I use this tape to mark my rulers.  For instance, if I am cutting out a quilt and I need to cut out a lot of 3 ½-inch squares, it’s much easier just to mark the 3 ½-inch line on my ruler than trying to find it every time.  A strip of neon orange Washi Tape is easier to find than the 3 ½-inch stamp on the ruler.  I also use it to mark angles on the ruler, so I don’t goof and cut a 60-degree angle when I need a 45.  It does sound like a picky, little thing, but after you’ve worked all day and you come into your studio a bit tired, any visual cues are welcome.  And yes, you could use masking tape or painters tape, but masking tape leaves a residue and Washi Tape is prettier than painters tape.

• Rulers – Rulers to use in rotary cutting are now a given.  When I began quilting back in the early eighties, you could find quilt patterns which gave directions for both cutting out by template and scissors and rotary cutting.  Not so much any longer.  Every pattern has rotary cutting directions, meaning you need a mat, a rotary cutter and a ruler.

There are literally hundreds of rulers on the quilting market.  Some are better than others.  Some are “one trick ponies” – they’re more templates than rulers and can only be used for one type of block.  Avoid these unless you plan to spend the good bulk of your quilting career only making that one block.  There are always other ways to make a block without spending a lot of money on a ruler/template. 

Ruler choice is a personal preference.  I prefer Creative Grid rulers because they have grippy circles on the back and along the edge of the rulers, so they don’t slip out of place while you’re rotary cutting.  I think quilters should have a square ruler the same size as most of the blocks they make or a bit bigger (just in case they go up a size in blocks).

A long ruler to cut across the width of the grain of the folded fabric.  My personal favorite is a 24-inch long, 4 ½-inch wide ruler with the locking lip at one end so it won’t wiggle out of place as you cut out fabric strips.

A shorter ruler to keep at your machine or toss in your sewing bag to take to class, sit and sews, or retreats. 

I also like this ruler:

The Creative Grids Multi Size Triangle 45- and 90-Degrees Quilt Ruler.  It allows you to cut triangles out of any size strip of fabric – including jelly rolls. 

There has been an awesome phenomenon happening with domestic sewing machine quilting.  Ruler designers have now come out with sets of rulers you can use on your domestic sewing machine which mimics the look of long arm quilting with rulers.  If you have a ruler foot for your machine, and you are pretty comfortable dropping those feed dogs and freestyle quilting, you may want to invest in some of the quilting rulers for domestic sewing machines.  I will warn you; these are slightly expensive and (once you get the hang of them) highly addictive.  Angela Walters has several in the basic shapes needed to get started. 

No matter who you purchase them from, make sure they will work with a domestic machine and one which allows you to do straight line quilting is a great place to start. 

This is a lot of information for this fairly long blog, so I will stop at this point.  Next week I want to discuss what to look for when choosing quilting tools and how to avoid purchasing the “knock offs” which are greatly inferior to the real deal – but can look enough like them to confuse you.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix