Do you have a favorite tip to share?

[purrfect-lady]

I saw this hint in a magazine. It's not my own but a good idea. When you make a quilt, make a pocket in the back and include some scraps of the fabric. They live there and then if/when a patch is needed, that fabric has had as many washings as the quilt.

[morgans4]

Before I start cutting my fabric for my quilt, I make my bias binding, just to be sure I will have enough of it. When it's cut, I press it in half, wrong sides together, then I gently wind it around my hand, safety pin it and hang it on the neck of a coat hanger. Then I cut my borders, press them, fold them a few times and hang them on that same hanger. All of my "endings" are together in my closet where they will stay until all my blocks are finished. They don't get all crumpled up and it just makes life easier for me.

[SewGlad]

For my embroidery thread I buy the colorful small flat hair rubber bands. They don't last forever, but they are so cheap it really doesn't cost me. It is nice to open my drawers of thread that aren't tangled with loose threads.

Ruthie

[girl]

I quilt in my kitchen and my pedal would slide around and my hubby cut me a piece of kitchen liner he had and put it under my pedal to keep it in place for me. I made me a granny pouch that fits under my sewing machine that holds all my sewing notions I need at hand. I was going to add this with my last ideal but it got taken away. God bless and have a good day.

[donnacrazylady]

I use my thread catcher/pincushion's pocket to hold little things like my seam ripper, the sewing gauge with that little sliding pointer for measuring hems, 'That Purple Thang,' a chalk marking pencil, and a couple of small scraps that I use for testing the sewing machine's tension when I thread my machine.

[SCFQuilter]

By luck, my sewing room has one plug-in that is wired to the room switch. I plugged into that plug-in a power cord this mulitiple plug-ins. I have both the room light and the iron plugged in so when I leave the room I switch off the light and the iron is then shut off too. I am a fanatic about shutting room lights off so this works great for me.

I use a piece of left over batting to catch stray threads...

[MsSewNSew]

Such good tips. I don't have any of my own to share, but my machine service technician told me never to use canned air to blow out my machine. It only pushes the dirt and dust further into the nooks and crannies. It's better to use the little brush that comes with your machine. It will collect the lint on the bristles and then you can throw it away.

I like a lot of these ideas and I'm going to try them out.

thanks, Debbie

[sewcarolyn]

My brother gave me a 'sash' last year to use while working it has pockets etc.. I never used it for work but then while using the machine on the frame we discovered that whatever we wanted was always at the other end so John and I load it with the essentials and whoever is quilting wears it. The tweezers I use, scissors, seam ripper and measuring tape are right there on hand (or rather on chest) ready to use
I will upload a photo

[Joannequilts]

Sewcarolyn, that is a cool idea! I'd love to see a photo!

That reminds me about the "garden apron" I made this summer...I made several. They would be great to wear in the sewing room...to hold pencil,measuring tape,seam ripper, small scissors, etc. I'm always having to move stuff off the cutting table, or on the table beside my machine...usually when I'm sitting at the sewing machine, I'm forever knocking stuff on the floor...that would solve that problem!

[suzette58]

I have posted already but reading the others made me remember another. When I have made my binding I have a piece of plastic pipe cut to fit into a diaper wipe container. As I iron the binding i roll it onto the pipe. Then when I am done I feed the end through the opening in the wipe container. I set the conatiner on the floor and pull the binding as I sew it on the quilt.
Suzette58