What was your biggest waste of money?
12-12-2016, 02:45 PM
#401
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,595
Wow, I didn't know you could use parchment paper. I have a whole roll of it from a few years ago when my husband and I were in this dinner group and I was fixing something fancy and needed it. I haven't used it since for cooking. That roll may have to migrate to the sewing room
12-12-2016, 05:25 PM
#402
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Blacksburg, SC
Posts: 731
However... I happened to find directions for a couple of tutorials, so I may walk thru those and see how it goes... if I can find where I put the printout (I need to clean my sewing room again!!)
12-12-2016, 07:36 PM
#403
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: kansas
Posts: 6,407
LOL! I have one of those too! It was my older sis's 16th Birthday present--a turquois desk phone that still has friends' phone numbers written in pencil on the bottom--we use it in our bedroom (has a plug converter that makes it work). When I was a Girl Scout leader I made my Brownie's learn how to call home on both it and a push button phone--you never know what you might run into!
12-13-2016, 04:50 AM
#404
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 108
I'm recently retired and decided to do a ruthless cleaning-out of my sewing room so I can certainly relate to the comments in this thread - all 41 pages! Wow!
My likes - the Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter is a love!! Wouldn't cut without it. The blades slice through fabric like butter and my arthritic hand can hold-up with this cutter.
Like my rotating mat for blocks like the D9P or any other that requires slice/move/slice.
Like the books I have, about 20. I borrow from the library first to see if there are patterns I plan to make before purchasing. Some are just for eye candy but that's okay too.
Somewhat like my AccuQuilt Go but wish I had the Baby rather than full-size. I never figured out how to cut strips without getting a fold in them. I'm cutting lengthwise yardage so there's no stretch but it still just doesn't work for me. I'm selling all of my full-size dies in anticipation of trading for the Baby. It's great for tumblers or applique shapes but I'd rather use a ruler for anything else. Less waste IMO.
Dislikes, Fab-U-Motion. I don't have a Viking anymore but didn't use it even when I did. It works okay but is too fiddly. Plus, I've discovered that FMQ just isn't my thing.
Too many specialty rules and the pounce pad.
The Fabric Glide hoops require too much pressure for them to actually move a full-size quilt.
Last, novelty fabric overload. It's SOOOOO cute but then I have nothing calm to compliment it so more fabric purchases required for each piece (not that this is always a bad thing). I'm donating about 75 yards of it and focusing future purchases on lights, blenders, solids, and sets.
Fun thread!
My likes - the Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter is a love!! Wouldn't cut without it. The blades slice through fabric like butter and my arthritic hand can hold-up with this cutter.
Like my rotating mat for blocks like the D9P or any other that requires slice/move/slice.
Like the books I have, about 20. I borrow from the library first to see if there are patterns I plan to make before purchasing. Some are just for eye candy but that's okay too.
Somewhat like my AccuQuilt Go but wish I had the Baby rather than full-size. I never figured out how to cut strips without getting a fold in them. I'm cutting lengthwise yardage so there's no stretch but it still just doesn't work for me. I'm selling all of my full-size dies in anticipation of trading for the Baby. It's great for tumblers or applique shapes but I'd rather use a ruler for anything else. Less waste IMO.
Dislikes, Fab-U-Motion. I don't have a Viking anymore but didn't use it even when I did. It works okay but is too fiddly. Plus, I've discovered that FMQ just isn't my thing.
Too many specialty rules and the pounce pad.
The Fabric Glide hoops require too much pressure for them to actually move a full-size quilt.
Last, novelty fabric overload. It's SOOOOO cute but then I have nothing calm to compliment it so more fabric purchases required for each piece (not that this is always a bad thing). I'm donating about 75 yards of it and focusing future purchases on lights, blenders, solids, and sets.
Fun thread!
12-13-2016, 04:56 PM
#405
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: kansas
Posts: 6,407
I'm recently retired and decided to do a ruthless cleaning-out of my sewing room so I can certainly relate to the comments in this thread - all 41 pages! Wow!
My likes - the Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter is a love!! Wouldn't cut without it. The blades slice through fabric like butter and my arthritic hand can hold-up with this cutter.
Like my rotating mat for blocks like the D9P or any other that requires slice/move/slice.
Like the books I have, about 20. I borrow from the library first to see if there are patterns I plan to make before purchasing. Some are just for eye candy but that's okay too.
Somewhat like my AccuQuilt Go but wish I had the Baby rather than full-size. I never figured out how to cut strips without getting a fold in them. I'm cutting lengthwise yardage so there's no stretch but it still just doesn't work for me. I'm selling all of my full-size dies in anticipation of trading for the Baby. It's great for tumblers or applique shapes but I'd rather use a ruler for anything else. Less waste IMO.
Dislikes, Fab-U-Motion. I don't have a Viking anymore but didn't use it even when I did. It works okay but is too fiddly. Plus, I've discovered that FMQ just isn't my thing.
Too many specialty rules and the pounce pad.
The Fabric Glide hoops require too much pressure for them to actually move a full-size quilt.
Last, novelty fabric overload. It's SOOOOO cute but then I have nothing calm to compliment it so more fabric purchases required for each piece (not that this is always a bad thing). I'm donating about 75 yards of it and focusing future purchases on lights, blenders, solids, and sets.
Fun thread!
My likes - the Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter is a love!! Wouldn't cut without it. The blades slice through fabric like butter and my arthritic hand can hold-up with this cutter.
Like my rotating mat for blocks like the D9P or any other that requires slice/move/slice.
Like the books I have, about 20. I borrow from the library first to see if there are patterns I plan to make before purchasing. Some are just for eye candy but that's okay too.
Somewhat like my AccuQuilt Go but wish I had the Baby rather than full-size. I never figured out how to cut strips without getting a fold in them. I'm cutting lengthwise yardage so there's no stretch but it still just doesn't work for me. I'm selling all of my full-size dies in anticipation of trading for the Baby. It's great for tumblers or applique shapes but I'd rather use a ruler for anything else. Less waste IMO.
Dislikes, Fab-U-Motion. I don't have a Viking anymore but didn't use it even when I did. It works okay but is too fiddly. Plus, I've discovered that FMQ just isn't my thing.
Too many specialty rules and the pounce pad.
The Fabric Glide hoops require too much pressure for them to actually move a full-size quilt.
Last, novelty fabric overload. It's SOOOOO cute but then I have nothing calm to compliment it so more fabric purchases required for each piece (not that this is always a bad thing). I'm donating about 75 yards of it and focusing future purchases on lights, blenders, solids, and sets.
Fun thread!
12-13-2016, 05:53 PM
#406
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,111
I have the Accuquilt Studio that I bought used. I use it all the time! To me, it is a blessing for two reasons. First it is not as hard on my arms/hands as rotary cutting. Second, it is far more accurate cutting than me doing it with a rotary cutter.
Half square triangles - I cut two strips the width (or is it depth?) of the triangle, sew them RST (love that acronym!) on both sides of the length (Makes a long rectangular tube), then carefully place them on the hst cutter and let the accuquilt do the rest. My HST are already sewn together when I take them off the cutter. Logically, I know that it is actually the same amount of sewing my way or the usual way, but there is less handling and it seems so much faster to me.
I really hesitated before I bought it, but am now thrilled to have it!
Half square triangles - I cut two strips the width (or is it depth?) of the triangle, sew them RST (love that acronym!) on both sides of the length (Makes a long rectangular tube), then carefully place them on the hst cutter and let the accuquilt do the rest. My HST are already sewn together when I take them off the cutter. Logically, I know that it is actually the same amount of sewing my way or the usual way, but there is less handling and it seems so much faster to me.
I really hesitated before I bought it, but am now thrilled to have it!
12-13-2016, 06:02 PM
#407
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,111
At first, I thought there was a lot of wasted fabric with the Studio, but have figured out ways to limit waste. Also, since straight cutting was never my greatest skill, my quilts seem to be less wonky. Perhaps I am imagining it...
12-13-2016, 06:36 PM
#408
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,111
I have EQ7 and, for the most part, it is worth the money. It isn't the easiest software to navigate through, though, and I would love it if it had a tool bar where I could pick shapes to design a block with. It has a block library, but the library doesn't seem to have the ability to pick single block components, such as a single triangle, a single rectangle, a single star, a single square and then arrange them in an "original" block. There are a few other ease of use changes that I would like to see in it, but overall it works well.
Just be prepared for it to take a while to learn. Be determined. Use their tutorials. Read the user manual- amazingly, it does have useful information in it. I am a 'brute force' type who would do almost anything not to read the manual, so found that out the hard way.
Above all, try to learn only one or two features at a time. Otherwise, it's like trying to swallow a whale in one gulp - impossible.
Just be prepared for it to take a while to learn. Be determined. Use their tutorials. Read the user manual- amazingly, it does have useful information in it. I am a 'brute force' type who would do almost anything not to read the manual, so found that out the hard way.
Above all, try to learn only one or two features at a time. Otherwise, it's like trying to swallow a whale in one gulp - impossible.
12-13-2016, 07:03 PM
#409
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,111
The computer savvy part - I used to design billing and ordering systems, and am "tech support" at home, so consider myself reasonably computer savvy.
EQ7 - when I first got it, I thought it was horrible, not user friendly. (I still think it's not user friendly, by the way.) It does take time - lots of it - to learn how to use it. That scares people off, and I don't blame anyone who gives up on it. It shouldn't be that difficult to learn.
On the other hand, other people love it as is and have no trouble learning it.
Since I am naturally stubborn, I have been able to figure enough of it out and can use it fairly frequently. (I would classify myself as an adequate user of EQ7.) At this point, the features that I like most about it are the ability to print out rotary cutting info/templates and to scan and import the fabrics I want to use in a quilt into the color library. But to get to that point you have to know how to make a block, how to make a quilt, etc.
They do have some tutorials on the EQ website. Maybe that would help you. I haven't used them, so can't comment on them.
EQ7 - when I first got it, I thought it was horrible, not user friendly. (I still think it's not user friendly, by the way.) It does take time - lots of it - to learn how to use it. That scares people off, and I don't blame anyone who gives up on it. It shouldn't be that difficult to learn.
On the other hand, other people love it as is and have no trouble learning it.
Since I am naturally stubborn, I have been able to figure enough of it out and can use it fairly frequently. (I would classify myself as an adequate user of EQ7.) At this point, the features that I like most about it are the ability to print out rotary cutting info/templates and to scan and import the fabrics I want to use in a quilt into the color library. But to get to that point you have to know how to make a block, how to make a quilt, etc.
They do have some tutorials on the EQ website. Maybe that would help you. I haven't used them, so can't comment on them.
12-13-2016, 07:26 PM
#410
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,111
Ask around among your friends to see if anyone has one and ask to try it.
I have the Studio - used - and love it. My one complaint is that some of the dyes for the Studio are so heavy that they are difficult to handle.
All of the dyes are expensive, but you can buy them for 40% off when Accuquilt runs sales. Also take a look at sizzix and other brands of dye cutters. I haven't tried any of them, so can't comment on them.
I have the Studio - used - and love it. My one complaint is that some of the dyes for the Studio are so heavy that they are difficult to handle.
All of the dyes are expensive, but you can buy them for 40% off when Accuquilt runs sales. Also take a look at sizzix and other brands of dye cutters. I haven't tried any of them, so can't comment on them.
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