deedum

I love the Fons & Porter gloves, but then I cut the fingertips out so I can change needles or whatever without issue.

deedum

Yep, I love my side winder also. Use it ALL the time. I use my HFT's all the time. What about the binding tool? I don't needed, I consider that to be useless gadget, but that is me.

josiegirl

Do you know if this company still exists? Bought a pattern that uses this style of paper piecing and would know more.

jeanharville

I don't use my binding tool either. Last week I bought a green Dritz needle threader where you drop the needle in the hole, push a button and the needle comes out threaded but mine will not thread a needle. I should have bought a Clover, but our Hancocks doesn't carry it. The Fons and Porter easy thread needle eyes didn't work too well for my hand quilting as the head was too large to pull through the fabric without plyers and left a hole. And I've bought many of the same useless gadgets many of you have. I would love to find a rotary blade sharpener that really worked. I've enjoyed reading everyone of your comments as they are very helpful. Thanks to the OP for starting the thread.

ArchaicArcane

Holy cow I was typo girl last night! Thanks Caroline, I saw the post about the dry erase erasers, but believe it or not, I can't find them here. There are crappy wipes, and really skinny erasers, but none of the office supply places I wandered into had them, or Wal-Mart. That makes a perfect trifecta of items. Shout Color catchers are no longer sold in Canada (and I can't find the Dr Beckmans, or the Oxi-clean version), I will have to make my own, and I can't find the Teflon Oven liners anywhere either. *sigh*

I did use part of one of those foam anti-fatigue mats and cut them to the shape of the "Grip and Stitch" grips, but I kept running into the needle clamp and getting hit by it. I went back to my gloves, but I'd sure like an alternative. Gloves make me a little crazy (er)

ArchaicArcane

If your threader is anything like the one I have here (it was my grandma's, and she bought it when I was a pre-teen), sometimes the needle doesn't "fall" in the right direction, so you're trying to thread it through the side, rather than the eye. It might be worth just turning the needle a little by hand and trying again. You may have to repeat that a couple of times. There's probably a limitation on the size of the eye it can thread through too. I don't have the instructions anymore, but I remember threading a lot of needles for grandma, with and without the "gizmo".

If it's the one I think it is, you drop the needle in, eye downward, lay the thread in place, and there's a little flat "blade" that pushes the thread through the eye of a hand needle, correct?

cstout

You are quite welcome Jean....I am always eager to find out ways for us to share our triumphs & mistakes...

cstout

How true Grannie's words were. We never listen until we shell out money & then realize, "why in the world didn't we listen?"....

judylg

I have always wondered about the spinning cutting mat, My answer to that one is put a smaller cutting mat over top of the large one, when I need to turn it, I rotate the smaller mat. I wondered if I would use it. It is pricey. Thanks.

judylg

While at a quilt show a few years ago, there was a booth set up. The fellow was showing how to make the seams, as in a windmill block where all of the seams meet up at the centre, resulting lots of bulk, less bulky. He was selling a hammer, that he used to whack the centre of the block. I could not see spending money on one, when I went home I did some looking through the hammers around here, found one. Now, when I have a bulky seam, I give a whack to the centre bulk, iron it and it is flatter. The tool with a case was over 20.00 at the time, not sure if they are still out there, have not been to a quilt show lately. I should mention I do this on my carpet floor in the basement, if I have a good number to do, I go get my cutting board, but always do it on the floor. It does help with bulk.