New Tool Monday:Oh The Places You'll Sew

Oh, the Places You'll Sew

If you haven't heard, we are super excited at OTS about grandson Joshua's upcoming nuptials in the Czech Republic this July. With this being said, his mom Nanci is heading to Europe to celebrate. She is planning on taking a travel quilting/sewing kit with her, so we thought we'd let her share some of her favorite traveling tools today.

Thread Heaven- One of our favorite tools

The first tool is Thread Heaven although I just found out that the company is no longer making it. I would therefore be the first to tell you if you see this in a store, BUY IT!!! I never thought hand-sewing without a thread conditioner was a big deal, but after using this for four years, I must say I won't hand-sew without it. It keeps your thread from knotting, strengthens it and helps to make hand- sewing way easier.

I am so serious about this that on a trip I had everything I needed to work on an embroidery project, but I had left my Thread Heaven at home. I ended up not sewing as the frustration level would not have been worth it. I cannot recommend this enough, so be sure to get some when you can find it.

Makes threading sew much simpler!

The second item I want need to use is a needle threader. This one from Clover is available all over the place and works like magic. It works for regular thread as well as embroidery thread which is super helpful when your eyes aren't quite what they used to be.

Sew Many Colors!

I have to admit, I  am kind of a thread snob. I used to not care at all then I was introduced to Aurafil Thread. My attitude towards thread has totally changed after trying it. It is fine but strong and 100% cotton. It comes in a bunch of different colors and is what I used for almost all of my sewing and piecing.

As for needles, I have an assortment of different brands and sizes that I take with me. I don't have a particular brand that is my favorite, but I do like to have a variety of sizes to be ready for whatever I may have to sew. When we were on a recent trip to Virginia one of the suitcases busted a seam, so I just pulled out my travel kit and sewed it right up. I was thrilled to see it was still in place when we got back to Oregon!

A Snip Here, A Snip There

I generally don't take a large pair of scissors with me. What I do take are my Snip-A-Stitch Snip Scissors made by Havel's. I like them because they are lightweight, easy to pack and perfect for snipping all kinds of thread. I really think they are the perfect travel scissors.

And a place to store it all!

I love my travel bags! I've had these for a while as they were a gift from my oldest daughter when she worked at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest. I actually have a couple of sets. I use one for all of my toiletries and the large one of this set for my travel sewing kit. Called The Elephant and I, and designed by Jennifer Sampou, it's still available from C&T Publishing. It's big enough to hold all my supplies plus a project or two depending on what I am working on plus it is so bright and cheerful.

 Feel free to share with us as we are always looking to expand our collection of sewing goodies, gadgets and tools. We'd love to see what projects you like to take places as well! 

Monday- New Tool Review

With all the measuring and marking that goes on during quilting and sewing, it's important to have the "write" tools! I wanted to share a few of the tools that make it easier for us to do what we do.

A few inky helpers

The first are the water soluble/erasable markers. These have been around for a long time, but they still work well on finer fabrics as well as light colored fabrics. The only issue with these is that they tend to dry out quickly, so you need to be sure to keep the lid on when not using them.

Hi-Oh Silver Quilter's Pencil

This is the first official marking pencil I was given about 25 years ago. Jeanette used it on a wedding dress she was making last week, and it worked really well. I like to use it for embroidery as it gives a nice defined line that is easy to see on both light and dark fabric.

FriXion Pens don't cause us any friction

These FriXion pens are the newest marking tools in the arsenal. With a wide assortment of colors, they are great for any color of fabric. They come off with heat, so they're great for marking binding or other pieces that you'll be ironing when you're finished sewing.

Pressing with the Best (Press, that is)

Okay, so these are obviously not writing or marking tools, but I thought I'd give you a little bonus review. I know Jeanette's been using Mary Ellen's Best Press for a long time, but I hadn't tried them as I have been trying to finish my can of spray sizing that I have had for a long time. When my daughter, Carissima, went off to college, she left me her bottles of Best Press. I must admit as soon as I used it, my can of sizing was relegated to the back of the shelf. This is a wonderful item! It's great on everything from fine fabrics to quilts to embroidery. If you haven't tried it yet, be sure to get some today.

We're sew glad you stopped by OTS for our tool review today! Next week, I'll be sharing about the importance of thread and what we use here in the studio.

Monday- New Tool Review

 "If you cannot measure it, you cannot control it." ~ Lord Kelvin
"Measure twice, cut once." ~ English Proverb
"Measure seven times, cut once." ~ Russian Proverb
"Better measure short of seven, than spoil all at once." ~ Gaelic Expression

As you can tell from the above quotes, measuring has been an important part of creating for a very long time. Here at OTS, we use a few different ways to measure, and always follow one of the above adages. Today, I'll share some of those measuring tools with you.

A standard 120 inch tape

The tape that gets used the most is this standard 12-inch measuring tape. The length is important as many of the quilt tops we get run from 90-110 inches in length. We always measure the quilt top and back as well as the batting when we receive a quilt and then re-measure before it goes up on the frame. Everything is written down on our intake paper, but it's always good to be sure.

  

The second tape we use is this 14' centering tape. It is really helpful when having to adjust the size of quilt backs before they go on the frame as well as making sure everything is centered once it's ready to be quilted.

The spring tape measure

Another tape measure that we don't use a lot in quilting but in other sewing is the little spring tape measure. These generally aren't very long, but they're similar to a construction tape measure in that they will stay at a chosen length once pulled out. You simply retract the tape when you're all finished.

The FabriCalc

Jeanette has had one of these Quilter's FabriCalc for a while in the studio. It's a huge help for figuring out how much fabric you need for backing, binding, etc. when you're putting a quilt together. 

The Robert Kaufman Quilter's Little Helper

Nanci's newest favorite measuring tool is this quilting calculator from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. It's a free app (available on the app store) that helps do the same sort of thing the FabriCalc does, but it is much more user friendly. 

We're sew happy we were able to share some of our favorite ways to measure with you today. Thanks for stopping by On The Stitch!

Monday- New Tool Review

So last week we went over some of the small but mighty tools we use at OTS. This week we're bringing in the big guns...or rather big tools, that we use in the studio. Of course, you've read about our new "baby", the HandiQuilter Infinity quilting machine that we use on a daily basis, but we also have three other sewing machines that get quite a workout. 

First, I'd like to introduce you to the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 15000. This is my favorite to work with, but Jeanette also is learning to enjoy it as well. It has a number of features that make it just right for OTS.  In the technology department, I really likes the four apps that come with it that you can use with your iPad or iPhone. Practically, I have big hands and appreciate the actual work space. You can read more about it here.

The Janome

Of course, Jeanette's studios have always have at least one Viking sewing machine in them. I can remember going out to the garage "studio" when I was growing up and getting to sew a bit on her Viking machine she has way back when. Well, just like most of us, it seems as Viking has grown up and now has the Designer Epic. I've enjoyed this although I still tend to prefer the Janome, but Jeanette totally favors the Epic. It also has a touchscreen and lots of very cool features. You can learn more about it here.

The Viking Designer Epic

The one machine we both agree on is the Viking Huskylock 936 Serger. There have been a few bad reviews on the internet, but both Jeanette and I really like it. As a matter of fact, we both own one. These are great for both regular sewing- they're perfect for knits- and they are a terrific help in piecing large quilt tops. I just finished a quilt top on my serger because my other machine was in the shop, and it turned out really well. Viking has come out with a newer Huskylock, and you can read about it here. We would suggest, if you are needing a new machine, to look for the 936 model as it's got everything you'd need in a serger.

The Viking Huskylock 936

Hope this was a little helpful. There are a lot of sewing machines on the market, and these happen to be the ones we both use and recommend. Feel free to comment with questions about any of these machines, and we'll be happy to help. Thanks for stopping by, and have a sew-tastic day!

Monday- New Tool Review

One of the cartoons I grew up with was Mighty Mouse. I was always amazed when he saved the day even though he was so small. Here at On The Stitch, we have a number of small things that can be a mighty big help. Today's New Tool Review will focus on three of those small things that are super helpful.

First will be this small bottle of Fray Check by Dritz. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once opened, it can be a huge help for any quilter. We tend to use it mostly when there is thread that needs to stay where it is or when something needs to not come unravelled. The best part is you only need to use one of two drops. Here's a little hint: after using it on your project, iron it immediately to keep the fabric soft and pliable. It's also terrific for other sewing and crafting, and at only around $5 per bottle, it's well worth having a bottle on hand.

The next little item is batting seam tape by Bosal. This may seem a bit excessive (pardon the pun), but I can assure you it is a valuable part of the OTS arsenal.  There has been many a time where a customer has given us the wrong size batting, and we need to adjust in order for it to work with the quilt they gave us. That's where this comes in handy. Simply butt two pieces of batting together and cover the seam with this tape cut to size. Iron the tape on the batting and voila, you have a perfect size batt               ready to be on put on the frame!

Our final tool to share are these Wonder clips by Clover. While we don't always use clips with our binding, sometimes it's good to have a little help. These are especially on curved binding. I also like to use them when designing quilt tops as they make changing blocks around a lot easier than pins. I think they're super!

Thanks for checking out our new tool review. Next week we'll look at a few of the bigger items that help us here at OTS. Happy quilting and see you soon!