Onebyone

Why are so many so negative about anyone buying new quilting tools? I buy new quilting tools. It may seem foolish, silly or wasteful to others that I spend $ on an item that is in their opinion unnecessary or say it's over priced for what it is. Many quilters have spendable income to spend and don't have to justify the cost vs. need. I use to give new product demos for my guild. I quit because of the negativity from many of the older members who never tried it but deemed the product silly or expensive. They sucked the simple joy out of every demo for me and others.

AshleyR

Nothing outstanding about the seam ripper itself, right? The thread remover looks like the end of a tension rod for curtains, don't you think?

stillclock

hm. it's like the wedding industry i guess. if you brand something for weddings, you can charge a lot more for it than you could otherwise. i think this happens with quilting too. call it a tool for quilting and you have a market that will spend more money for something than it would otherwise.

our national fabric store, fabricland, has started to carry a lot more stuff for quilting. they had the fons and porter mechanical marking pen. is there something really different about this mechanical pencil that would justify it costing $18? the local office supply store had a range of mechanical pencils from $2-$12. so i could buy the f&p leads for $8 and still come out a few dollars ahead. i use #2 leads so i skipped the whole thing, but the point remains.

there are lots and lots of notions that are very useful and no one is to say how another should spend their own money. quilting changes all the time, and some of the quilts we see just wouldn't be possible without some of the new technologies. that's not where my sense of derision came from.

but i do feel that there is a certain amount of advantage being taken, and that maybe if we did stop and think for a minute about what we need and what we want and leave aside whether or not we can afford it (and saying i can afford it as a reason to buy it you know?) we'd probably buy a whole lot less generally.

but this is probably more political than warranted here at qb, so i say hey man, if you want to spend $12 on precut little rubber squares made for quilters, the peoples republic of china thanks you for supporting their manufacturing sector.

aileen

CAS49OR

I thought it looked kind of like an eraser, I'm guessing it is made of something that grabs the threads. I would love to have it because my fingernails are like cellophane so I use a tweezer to grab the threads. I couldn't find the place that actually sells it but there are many on YouTube who love it!

I really enjoy buying any tool that makes quilting more fun. Last Friday I found a mini iron at Target for $9.99 (plus my 5% discount). It is made by Sunbeam, and the steam lasted a surprisingly long time! The similar irons I saw on Amazon and eBay were $25. I've been using it and it works great. The thread was about that Clover mini-iron where I heard about them. I got that for Christmas but didn't like burning myself so I returned it.

My hubby encourages me to buy tools. He is an auto mechanic and always "has" to have a new tool, I'll never catch up to him, lol!

MimiBug123

I haven't had much luck with bicycle clips. Unless your quilt is absolutely huge, they keep falling off. No matter how much I smush them, they just won't fit for me.

CAS49OR

I haven't had any luck with clips. I have very little throat space so I find it easier just shoving the bulk of the quilt through. I do not think I'll make a full size quilt again unless I can send it out after piecing.

JNCT14

Take a look at the method of dividing your big quilts into 3 sections - you cut your batting into thirds, then insert the middle batt panel nto the quilt and quilt as desired. Then add the second panel on the side and quilt again, then add the third. There is a tute on it somewhere. Its a great method for handling big quilts without bulk and works well on machines with small harps.

JNCT14

Carries how do you you use zip ties for tube turning? i do a lot of applique and could use an easier method than a saftey pin!!!!

QuiltE

All the talk about all the "official" quilting tools, and the "re-assigned" tools, made me think of this thread. You might get some ideas ... and perhaps you have some more to add!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...g-t152963.html

About the binding clips vs. hair clips .... same ones yes, and much cheaper if you just buy them at the $ $tore. And you can find some pretty fun colours too, instead of the boring dull silver ones sold in quilters supplies.

katesnanna

Fluff & Stuff works for me. As you say it's much easier.