Sister's Choice Quilts

Current Favorite Sewing Tools

I thought it might be fun to talk about some quilting/sewing tools I have been using lately. I truly believe they are responsible for making my sewing more accurate.

First up is starch. I buy it by the half dozen cans or more at Walmart, where I have found the best prices. If you haven't discovered the benefits of starching your quilting fabric before cutting it out, it might be time to give it a try. I go through two or three cans of it when I prepare my fabric for a new project. There are loads of YouTube tutorials that extol the benefits of starch and explain how to do it. I like the ones by Kimberley Jolly and Lisa Bongean. Starching gives your fabric a body that really enhances cutting and sewing accuracy.

My new CHI iron. Oh my goodness, I love this iron. It supposedly has 400 steam holes. I didn't count them, but I can tell you that it puts out a lot of steam. And the 30-minute-auto-shut-off feature is easy to love too.

These funny things are called tailor's clappers. Mine are made by Riley Blake and are some kind of hardwood. After pressing a seam you lay one on top of the seam and the heat from the pressed fabric passes to the wood and back to the fabric and somehow all that hot goodness makes the seams lie flatter. It really works. I liked it so much I bought another one. And you know something? One of them is noticeably heavier than the other. Bummer, right? I want two equally heavy clappers.

Some of my favorite quilting tools are trim tools. This clever device is a "Cute Cuts" trim tool by Lori Holt. I bought a set of them in various sizes and don't regret the expense one bit. This little tool is perfect for hourglass blocks or blocks such as the one in the picture above. Those blocks come out wonky 100% of the time unless you make them larger and trim them down. With the center, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines clearly marked on the trim tool, your block units will now come out perfect without fail every time.

Any BLocLoc tool you buy is worth it. Flying Geese, Half Square Triangles, Strip Cut Ruler- they are all excellent. They come in many sizes, but for half-square triangles, you can use a larger one and use the markings on it to trim your unit down to the right size. I am using a 3 1/2" tool to trim my HST down to
2 3/4". For flying geese, it is best to have the exact size you are making.

I love my BlocLoc rulers for half-square triangles, but I use triangle paper too.  Back in the 90s I purchased a ton of Thangles triangle papers, because they were new on the market and I wanted to try them. I have since purchased Star Singles triangle papers and Kimberly Jolly's Triangles On A Roll papers and think I prefer them to the Thangles. However, I have a drawer full of Thangles and decided to use them up on a project I am working on that calls for a lot of 3" hsts. I'm sure they are still sold in stores, but you won't get the price I paid back in 1996!

You know how sometimes when you are making a project, you find yourself repeatedly cutting the same size strips of fabric over and over? These Creative Grids rulers come in 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" widths. There are more sizes available, but those are the two that I got, and I love them. No kidding, I grab either of those rulers non stop when I am cutting out fabric for block units. Of course, you can use a bigger ruler, but I love the accuracy of these that are the exact size I want.

You know those projects where you have to trim dozens of corner triangles? It gets tiring to snip each one individually. So, a little trick I learned is to place a number of them on your cutting mat, and with a ruler with the quarter-inch marking clearly visible, line it up and use your rotary cutter to trim a bunch at once. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the tools I have been reaching for a lot lately. If you have a special tool or sewing aid you like, please share in the comments! And if your favorite sewing tool is M & M's, that's fine too.

Having the Right Tools for the Job

Well, I did it. I spent another $100 on an iron. As far as I am concerned I will never bring another Rowenta into the house. They have disappointed me hugely over the years with their awful leaking, so no more. I had just about made up my mind to get a cheap iron and be done with it, but recently I got a couple of suggestions for pricier irons that might be worth the expense. One reader suggested the Rowenta ironing station, where the water is stored in a large base that sits under the iron itself. She said she gets great steam, no annoying auto shut off, no leaking, and it's been working great for her. But at $299 I wasn't sure I wanted to throw any more money at Rowenta. 

Another reader told me about her Chi iron. Chi is a company that is known for hair tools. Dryers, straighteners, curling irons, etc. It turns out they make a steam iron priced $60-$100, depending on the model. She loves hers. Great steam, no leaking, and a 30-minute auto-shutoff. In a weak moment, I ordered one, which arrived this weekend.

And I think I love it. It is quite heavy and has 400 steam vent holes, similar to the Rowenta. The steam it puts out is impressive. It also holds a lot more water than my previous irons. I also love the fact that I don't have to "wake it up" every 8 minutes due to the annoying shut-off feature. I will keep you posted, but so far, this seems to be a great iron.

I remade my Moda Blockheads block from last week. The seams on the center area on my block were kind of puckery, and would not lie flat. I don't know if it was better sewing on my part or the new iron, but the center of this second block is behaving much better. I made the bonus block as well, which has a similar construction and that center section came out great too.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Happy sewing this week!

Moda Blockheads 4, Block 6 and a Rowenta Iron Update

Yesterday Moda Blockheads 4 released their 6th block in the sew-along. This one is called Spinning Into Spring designed by Linzee McCray. It is the yellow and grey block on the left. A darker less busy grey print would show up the "spin" factor better, but I kind of like the subtle colors. Last week's bonus block wasn't my cup of tea, so I made a different block, which is on the right. I think it might be called Spinning Star, but who knows. If you think you have a name for it, let me know.

A year or so ago I did a Sentimental Stitches sew-along called Comfort and Blessing, and this was one of the block patterns. At the time, I changed up the size of the sew-along blocks to 6 inches finished when I made my quilt. However, the free Comfort and Blessing patterns were all given in a 9-inch finished size. So, I am good to go with a slew of great 9-inch blocks if I want to replace any of the Blockheads offerings. 

This little trim tool was perfect for trimming up those tricky little units. It is called Cute Cuts by Lori Holt. This is the 3 1/2" unfinished size. I bought a set of them from Fat Quartershop and they have been great. I use them all the time. The markings make it so easy to perfectly center your block units. 

As promised, here is an update on the gazillion-dollar Rowenta iron my husband gave me for Christmas a few months back. What a colossal disappointment that thing has been. It leaks like a son of a gun, and has stained many a piece of white background fabric. I gave up on it a couple of months ago and went back to using my old iron. In a weak moment, I forgave it this week and gave it one more chance to redeem itself. Nope, it leaked all over the place.  Part of the problem is that it auto shuts off way too quick, and has to heat up again. Who has time for that? I am done with it. I love steam. I have to have steam. I do not like a dry iron. At all. I want a steam iron that gets hot, puts out a lot of steam, doesn't leak, and preferably stays on for 20- 30 minutes before it shuts off. I do not know why I cannot have that. One of life's truly terrible disappointments. 

An Hour in the Sewing Room and Two Trim Tools

I have decided to take my own advice and try to sew for one hour a day. Back in 2009 I was working two jobs and not getting enough sewing done. I made a promise that I would try to squeeze in one hour of sewing each day. No matter what I had to give up: emptying the dishwasher, doing housework, exercising. It didn't matter, that hour would be sacred. It went pretty well, as I recall, and I did get a lot done.

Yesterday I went up to the sewing room and made the block you see above. It did take just about an hour. My fabrics were all starched and making the half square triangles was a cinch. I am going to see if I can keep up the momentum and try to get up there most days at least for one hour.

I do have two trim tools to share with you, both of which I purchased recently. The first is Creative Grids Perfect 10 Ruler. This tool works so great for squaring up blocks. I have some other square up rulers, but they are smaller sized. The largest is 6 1/2". This larger ruler works great to square up larger blocks up to 10". It also is wonderful for trimming layer cake squares if that zig zag edge bugs you.

The other trim tool is much larger, but is perfect for these 15 1/2" basket blocks I am making for the Flea Market Sew Along. This is one of Lori Holt's Cute Cuts trim tools. She makes them in just about every size you can imagine. You line up the marked lines with the seams on your quilt block and find the center. Then you can trim away the excess on the edges and get your perfect size 15 1/2" block.

Hope you are all having a great week! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A Wooly Bun Pincushion

My Little House pins arrived, as did my new "Wooly Bun" pincushion. I love this little purple ball of wool. My new pins slid right into it like buttah. I am so tired of getting jabbed every time I reach for a pin in my magnetized pin dish, so this will be a welcome change.

Unfortunately, I haven't spent much time sewing, so I haven't given the new pins a spin. I'm going to start having Eva an extra day each week due to a schedule change. However, if I budget my time properly I should be able to find an hour or so a day to escape to my sewing room. 

Helen Stubbings had a great post on Instagram: "There should be an eighth day of the week called Sew Day, where all you do is sew all day long". 

Hope you are all having a great week!

Let's Talk About Pins

Can we talk about pins? Do you have a favorite quilting pin? Do you find after a period of time your pins become dull, or begin to "catch" on your fabric? Have you ever used a pin cushion that seemed to rust or otherwise deteriorate your pins? And finally, do you ever just dump all your pins in the trash and start over with fresh ones?

I never hear anyone talk about the pins they like to use in quilting. A fine pin seems to be ideal, but do you like the long ones or shorter varieties? I recently bought some fine pins that were so insubstantial that every time I put them through a couple of layers of fabric, they actually bent! Now that's not good. I forget what I bought, but I do think they were labeled "extra fine", which did not work at all.

I used to use Clover Quilting Pins, which came in a box of 100 with green and orange glass heads. These pins are great and I used them for decades. Then I went through a phase where I made my own little pincushions, which I filled with walnut shells or kitty litter or fish tank sand, I can't remember. Whatever I used, after about a year, the pins rusted! (On a side note, if anyone can recommend a pincushion filler that doesn't cause pins to deteriorate, I'd love to hear about it).

By happenstance, a friend I had been doing some "stunt sewing" for, sent me a box of pins from Japan as a thank you gift. They were called "Little House" pins and came packaged in an adorable little metal box that was completely useless but cute as can be.

As soon as I started using these pins I realized that they were a cut above any quilting or sewing pin I had ever used. They were thin, but strong and extremely sharp. They also were a bit shorter in length than the Clover pins, which I liked. Over the past ten years or so I have repurchased these pins a number of times. They are the absolute best pins I have ever used.

Which brings me to my question to you. Lately, I have noticed that my pins are maybe not so sharp, and tend to catch on the fabric. Probably because I sew over them all the time. If we looked at them under a microscope I am sure they are all dinged and gouged up. Keep in mind I probably have been using these pins for over three years or more.

I just purchased two more boxes of them and plan to get rid of all my old pins as soon as these new ones arrive. Do you do that periodically too? I never really thought about pins getting past their prime and becoming less than useful. 

I'd love to know your thoughts on this subject, as I don't really recall it being discussed elsewhere!

This is a low content week for me. I haven't been doing much sewing, but have been reading every chance I get. I think I have blown through three books this week. Honestly, I feel almost like I am on vacation. I haven't had Eva for the usual amount of time, so I spent it reading. 

Hope your week is going well too!

Cat's Cradle Trim Tool and Red Sampler Quilt Week Ten

This is week ten of Lori Holt's Red Sampler Sew Along from last year. Six more weeks and I will be done with all the blocks. You make three or four blocks each week following patterns from three of her books. I am enjoying my slow and easy pace with this one. It's going to be a beautiful quilt when I finish it.

The twelve-inch block in the photo above features four "cat's cradle" units. You may recall last week I remade a block from my Sewcialites quilt that had the cat's cradle unit in it and I complained about how it always gave me trouble because of all the triangles. A helpful reader mentioned that there was a trim tool that made this fussy unit easier to make.

Duh. I had a lightbulb moment. I actually own that trim tool made by Creative Grids. And sure enough, you can make this cat's cradle unit in several sizes without a single triangle. I rummaged around until I found it and put it to use. 

It couldn't be any simpler. You sew squares and rectangles together, mark stitching lines with the help of the ruler, then cut the units apart.

For perfect accuracy, you then line your unit up with the correct markings on the trim tool and trim it to the exact size.

I ended up with four perfect cat's cradle units, all the exact size and with no cut off points. No bias edges, no triangles at all. Thanks for the reminder about this trim tool! You readers are the best. Perfect timing for this block. I did look at a Creative Grids tutorial on YouTube, which was helpful.

Hope your week got off to a great start!

Red Sampler Sew Along Week Nine

I feel as if I've been on vacation for two weeks. Today is the day I get back on a schedule though. I plan to make the most of any free time I have during the week and not lose momentum with my projects.

The red and white blocks above are week nine of Lori Holt's Red Sampler sew-along. Those cheerful red fabrics put a smile on my face. The little framed four patch is so cute.

I wanted to share a tool I have been enjoying a lot. It is called "Cute Cuts" and is a block square up trim tool by Lori Holt. You can buy the tools individually or in sets of various sizes.

If you love crisp, accurate blocks you might like this trim tool too. It is great for squaring up small 3 1/2 inch blocks, but I found it indispensable for trimming 3 1/2 inch block units in the 12-inch blocks I was working on recently. Looking at the photo above, you may think "Wow, Nicole was pretty spot on with her 3 1/2 inch unit".  Ahem, thanks, but check this out:

I was pretty close, and maybe it would have been just fine as is without trimming. However, if you love accuracy, you can see that there was a fair amount trimmed away to achieve the exact 3 1/2 inch measurement. My 2011 Designer Mystery blocks came out great, and I credit this trim tool and a lot of fabric starching for my good results.

Another Way To Make Square in Square Units

After I posted on using Fatquartershop's Square in a Square foundation papers yesterday, I got an email from my friend Barbara. She reminded me that there is a ruler/tool that she has used for years to make this unit, and that she didn't see the need to purchase the foundation papers, good as they are.

And you guessed it. I too, own this ruler and forgot I had it. It is Deb Tuckers Square 2 ruler/trim tool. It actually is quite brilliant. It turns out the center square unit for the Square in a Square block is always a very strange, impossible to measure size. Like 3.1576" or something. So, the beauty of using a foundation paper or ruler with the center square already marked for this oddball size is the key to having the units come out perfectly. 

The first step is to cut your center square according to the finished size block you need. This is clearly marked on the ruler. I was making the 3 inch finished unit. Next you cut your triangle units according to the finished size. You get an overly generous measurement because there will be a final trim down. In my case I had to cut the squares for the triangle pieces 2 3/4".

Once you sew the triangles onto the square you use the Deb Tucker tool to trim to the perfect size, which is also marked on her ruler.

Do you see the X marks that you line up at the corner points? Isn't that brilliant? You line all four Xs up then trim around your unit and you will have your exact Square in a Square unit.

I compared my Deb Tucker Square in Square units with my Fatquartershop foundation paper unit and they were 100% exactly the same perfect 3 1/2" unfinished size. 

Plus for those of you who care about these things, you use less fabric with the Deb Tucker method.

Here is the YouTube tutorial for the Deb Tucker Square 2 method. 

Thanks Barbara, for the reminder about this great tool. I love the foundation papers as well, but once you have this ruler, you are pretty much all set. Fatquartershop sells both the ruler and the papers. Links above.

Rough day yesterday, but we are taking things a step at a time.

The Cute Cuts Ruler Set

I have to share a new trim tool that I discovered recently. This little set of 5 Cute Cuts rulers is just what you need when trimming hourglass units. The sizes in the set range from 2.5 inches up to 6.5 inches. The rulers are sold individually as well, and there is a large selection of sizes to choose from. The rulers all feature a nonskid back to prevent slipping. They are designed by Lori Holt and put out by Riley Blake. 

When I make hourglass units I like to size them bigger and then trim them down to the correct size. Sometimes finding that exact center spot can be challenging, but not with these rulers. You can't miss the center point with that big dot to help you line it up. And the diagonal lines help you get your block seams perfectly square.

And there you go!