Rotary cutters, rulers, mats, and sewing machines are just some of the items that we as quilters can’t live without. Can you even imagine a time when these things didn’t exist?! We really are so lucky to have all these gadgets and notions to help with accuracy, precision, speed, and durability. Nowadays there are so many other gadgets to help us as well, so we thought we’d take a look at the things that make our quilting lives a lot easier and help give us the perfect finish as well.
1) Purple Thang
It might have a curious name but this little pointy thing is just what you need to help you push out those corners on your cushions, zipper pouches and bags. With a gently curved end, it can reach into those really tight corners and give your corners the nice, crisp finish you’re looking for.
2) Tailor’s Awl
A tailor’s awl is a pointy metal tool that can be used in tandem with your sewing machine to help you guide the fabric through the machine and keep everything nice and flat, instead of using your hands and fingers. The sharp point allows you to accurately position the fabric and it means you don’t have to risk getting your fingers near the needle and accidents happening. This is a much safer way to do it! Just remember to put the protective cover on it when you’re finished as it’s very sharp.
3) Hera Marker
Another small but mighty gadget is the Hera marker. This small plastic tool allows you to ‘score’ the fabric with an acrylic ruler, and the crease acts as a line for you to follow for hand quilting. The beauty of this method is that you don’t have to use a pen or marker on your fabric, so you don’t have to worry about lines not fading away. If you make a mistake, you can just iron it out and start again.
4) Quilting Gloves
Talking of quilting, one thing that once you use you won’t ever want to be without again is quilting gloves. They have rubber grips on the tips of the fingers and on the palms, and they help you guide the quilt through the sewing machine with that little bit more control, as it makes the quilt easier to handle. They are particularly useful if you’re quilting a large quilt as it makes it easier to manipulate.
5) Rotating Cutting Mat
When it comes to cutting, it’s important to take good care, and it’s always safest to cut away from you. Sometimes we need to cut the fabric at different angles, and we can end up twisting our bodies awkwardly which is not safe and could result in accidents. The beauty of a rotating cutting mat is that you can rotate the mat and therefore the fabric, and happily and safely cut away from yourself.
We hope we’ve given you some ideas for making your sewing and quilting easier. Next time, we’ll be sharing 5 more of our favourite gadgets, as there really are so many!
Need help tracking all your quilt gadgets? Our Quilter’s Planner Design Book has a quilting tools inventory!
The dreamy fabric collection used in the photographs is called Stardust by Elizabeth Olwen for Cloud9 Fabrics.
