Quilt in a Day Forums

I've gotten lots of useful tips from others. Let's share! What little thing do you have, or do, that makes your sewing/quilting life just a little bit easier?

I use sturdy plastic vitamin bottles to store my old sharps - broken or dull needles, blades, pet immunization needles, etc. If I get an opportunity to dispose of them in a proper 'sharps container' at the vet, doctor's office, or (heaven forbid!) the ER, I do it. Otherwise, when they are full, I put the lid on tight, wrap them with duct tape, and toss them into the trash. I hate the thought of trash workers getting hurt on them if the bottle breaks under the bulldozers at the dump.

Another thing I do is keep a little dish next to my sewing machine. I am always using a stray pin for something, changing "foots", or looking for my stylus or seam ripper. This keeps it all corralled for me.

So what do you do??

mary

I use a plastic honey jar for disposal of my sharps. The lid really has two lids. The one that screws to the jar has a small hole in it then, there is a flip up lid on top of that.For needles or straighe pins, I just flip up the fliptop, for larger sharps, I can unscrew the lid. Very handy. I keep my "tools" in plasitc food containers that in their first life held a TV dinner. I have two embroidery machines, a quilting machine and a surger. Each machine has its own container. I use a baby wipe container with a lid for all my marking pins, pencils, etc. I recycle a lot but so do others. However, I do use one thing you won't likely find in any other sewing room. I use a bubble wrapped brick to keep a quilt I am working on from sliding off my sewing desk. I use a big desk to hold my quilting machine. The top is very slick but when I plop that brick on a quilt...it is not going anywhere I don't want it to go.

I like to use the little pill bottles to hold bobbins. If they are clear I can see the thread colors and this keeps them clean and handy.
I use wooden skewers to hold fabric as it goes to the needle if it needs help to stay in place as it reaches the needle.

I have a bright piece of ribbon tied to my little scissors that I keep on my stand beside my chair and by my sewing machine. With all the implements that one has all you have to do is look for the ribbon and you've found your scissors. I gave one to my friend last year for Christmas and she said she didn't know how she lived without it.....jan

I cut a drinking straw in half and put it over the spindle of my thread rack. I can put two spools of thread on one spindle or hold the bobbin to the matching thread spool.

I just read a tip today for those who wwash thier fat qt before using.
it said to use a salad washer put fat qt in it and spin it in sudzy water then do same for rinsing, no more tangles . i didn't try it but it sounds like good tip.
Barbara

Windows Vista features a post-it like sticky note you can put on your desktop. I keep it there to list my quilting projects with due dates for swaps. That way when I am wasting time on the computer, the one place I spend more time than my sewing area, I am reminded what needs done and when.
Sue

I know this is probably so obvious to everyone but this is one I have.
When I'm sewing my quilt and it's getting rather larger, since I don't have an extension on my table to hold it up, I lower my ironing board to the height of the table and use that for the excess. It's also nice to have when I need to iron a seam that's giving me problems.

Wow, I'm making myself a list of these ideas! Here's another thing I do to save my projects - I make a cat nest close to my machine but out of reach of the needle. The secret is to try to get the cat to believe that you do NOT want her in that nest! then of course, she'll make a bee-line and perhaps not lay on your freshly washed fabric. Admittledly this doesn't always work, but I always try!

I keep my markers in a ziploo bag. it keeps them from drying out so they last much longer. I also put my small scissors on a piece of 1/4 inch elastic like a necklace around my neck. That way I can stretch them out as much as needed to cut strings etc and they are always there to use.