Product Review: Clover No-Hassle Triangles Gauge

I think I might be one of the few out there that doesn't vocally hate making half square triangles.  Actually, when I am sewing for fun or want something that is instant gratification, I tend to lean towards half square triangles.  And I do them both ways; the "cut square in half diagonally and sew it' way, and the "take two squares right sides together, draw a line corner to corner and sew on either side of the line" way.  Both methods have their purpose and place.  But damn it if I can ever remember what size to cut the original square to to yield the HST that I need.

So there's this.

Specs

• Plastic with movable gauge piece
• Cost: About $15

Pros

• Clear labels make knowing which pieces you need to yield what size HST easy
• The gauge make it it very easy to differentiate square sizes - it clicks in place so there is no confusing what you need
• The gauge itself is a really good double check to make sure your squares are indeed cut accurately

Cons

• This is a one-trick pony.  It isn't a ruler, so can't double for cutting.  All you can really use it for is stenciling in the center line down the block
• Block sizes are limited to 2.5"-7.5"
• There is no no-slip on the back, so it is prone to slipping if you're in a groove and not being mindful

Conclusion

★★☆☆☆

So.  The block measurements are cool!  But...the tracing is all this tool is good for.  To be honest, I use my 1.5" x 12.5" ruler, and I have the block thinger taped to the wall by my cutting table already (thank you Pinterest!).  So, I probably wouldn't get much mileage out of this personally, hence 2 stars, but someone else might find it extra handy!

Product Review: Elisa's Back Porch Designs Crazy Curves Path 7" Ruler

Occasionally I like to try new shit.  And occasionally I fail at it, and try again, and fail, and try again, and fail, and have someone sit with me and show me, and fail, until I get frustrated and give up because I am #rad.

Curved seams was one of those things.  Swear to God I tried and tried and could not make my brain get it. Even sitting down with someone who was good at it, seeing it, and understanding it did not work because when I tried with them sitting right there, it went so wrong they couldn't even explain what on Earth I did wrong. 

Fast forward like five years later when my rage subsided (it's a slow burn over here), I finally got smart and watched some Youtube videos about how to do them.  This template here did the trick.

Specs

• Clear acrylic template
• 7', but does come in a variety of other sizes
• Cost: $17.95 for the 7"

Pros

• I CAN DO CURVES NOW.  
• NO SERIOUSLY, IT WORKS
• Very easy to see where your straight of grain should be.  
• Durable.  I have dropped this a lot, and stepped on it a couple times.  No cracks. 

Cons

• There is no non-slip stuff on these...so you have to be very attentive and very careful when cutting so you don't slide and warp your cut.  
• You have to buy additional templates for other sizes.  It's a one trick pony. 

Conclusion

★★★★☆

One ding because it's a one trick pony, and lacks anything to prevent slippage.  The latter is an easy fix, though.  I LOVE using this ruler.  I never thought I could do curves, and I can now.  So...get one! 

Product Review: Pat LaPierre's Supreme Free Motion Slider

I love to free motion.  Sure, I'm not the best free motion-er that has ever stepped up to a machine, but I do all right and it's fun.  One of the issues I have is space (no room for a long arm!) so I use my domestic machine.  I generally hire a professional long-armer for my bigger quilts, but every now and then I find I have to do one myself.  I don't have a huge amount of space in the throat of my machine though it's pretty decent, so in between battling a small table not supporting a large quilt very well and a smallish machine throat, I am always down to try whatever tricks and products that allegedly make to process easier. 

So awhile back a customer of ours told me about Pat LaPierre's Supreme Free Motion Slider, which is supposed to make free motion quilting soooo much easier.  So I bought one and tried it. 

Specs

• 8.5" x 11" (ish)
• Silicone sheet with hole in the center and a repositionable, self-adhesive backing
• "Regular," Queen, and King sizes
• Cost: I think I got mine for $30ish, but prices vary between $23 and $30 depending on the vendor.  

Pros

• The slick surface truly does make a difference...the quilt moves SO nicely and with less resistance
• The sheet covers your feed dogs, but not your needle hole so there is also less snagging if there is bare batting on the edges beyond the backing
• The backing keeps its stick after cleaning
• If you keep the packaging, it is a great place to store it when not in use to keep it clean
• Adhesive leaves no residue.  

Cons

• The back does get linty and requires cleaning after a couple uses.
• Even with the stick, it isn't fail safe - if you aren't attentive, it can and does shift especially with larger quilts which may accidentally snag a corner and lift it while you're heaving it around into the different positions you need it in.  
• If you don't get it stuck down properly - either there are air bubbles preventing a complete seal, or if it is too linty - it will move on you (which isn't always noticeable) and get stitched onto your backing. QUICK, ASK ME HOW I KNOW.  
• If you stitch through it, and try to remove it, it is VERY easily torn and ruined.  AGAIN, ASK ME HOW I KNOW.  

Conclusion

★★★✩✩

That it loses its stick so quickly and requires cleaning just about every time you use it is a turn off due to the consequences of losing that stick.  I have ruined two of these because I didn't feel it slip out of place on large quilts, and I do try to be very attentive of what the quilt is doing and check the sheet frequently for seal.  This seems to be less an issue with smaller quilts and wall hangings, but it is enough have made me stop using it on large quilts...which is where the benefit really is.  If something happens to my current one, I probably will not bother to replace it. 

Product Review: Clover Trace n'Mark Air-Erasable Marker

I don't find myself needing marking pens very often.  I tend to be an old school girl in the sense that I don't need no stinking fancy pen when I have a mechanical pencil in my sewing drawer.  But uh, somethings call for more oomph than what a pencil can provide AND the line needs to go away.  regular pencil is a pain in the ass to get out if you screw up.  I'm not a fan of the water soluble pens, because I so often forget to complete the erasure step, and a lot of the air soluble pens vanish too fast. So I wanted to try something different.  

This is Nancy Zieman's Trace n'Mark Air-Erasable Marker through Clover.  

Specs

• Two sided, thick and thin felt tip pens
• Bright pink ink
• Air soluble
• Cost: $7.99

Pros

• The ink is BRIGHT.  Very, very visible on most fabrics, even in the medium-dark range.  
• The dual tips are cool.  I never thought I'd need the fat end, but I use that more often than the thin one
• The ink stays put for quite a while - takes longer to disappear than other pens I've used.
• It does vanish completely
• Ink is long lasting.  I have had mine for a couple years now and use it with some frequency, and haven't had to replace it yet. 

Cons

• It is absurdly easy to to split the felt tips with the cap - There is a water soluble version of this same pen in blue and I split the tip right away on that one not realizing there is like a little cap inside the cap.  
• The fat tip doesn't fit in most stencils
• If you're looking for the ink to disappear quickly, it might freak you out when it takes longer than anticipated

Conclusion

★★★★✩

I wish this baby came in more colors!  I would buy them all. My only real criticism is how easy it is to damage the felt tip with the inner portion of the cap.  

A Scrappy Point of View

So when I was writing this post, it kind of led me down an unexpected thought path and as promised, here is my rant.  It's not really a rant like Lewis Black-style.  Just some observations and where I find myself in it all.

So I have worked in a quilt shop for coming up on 9 years, I follow umpteen blogs, and I am part of another umpteen Facebook quilting groups.  And I have found that there are three main schools of thought on scrappy quilts and scrap quilting in general:

1. People who love scrap quilts/quilting - they love the challenges scrap quilting presents, that no two quilts will ever look the same, love the widely varied scrappy look, and they feel good about using up every little usable bit. 
2. People who like scrap quilts/quilting, but only in certain contexts - they like to use scraps, but maybe only for certain patterns, or maybe they only use scraps for applique pieces or in places where it's not evidently scrappy, but they too like knowing that they have used every little bit they can, but only where appropriate and where it makes sense.   
3. People who hate scrap quilts/quilting - they like colors to match and "make sense."  They might think scrappy quilts and using scraps makes quilts look amateurish, sloppy, or uncoordinated.   

Hey.  To each their own.  There are no Quilt Police.  No one is going to rappel from the ceiling to rip your quilt out of your hands if it is scrappy, or not.  But it should be clear at this point which teams I play for...I am a scrap lover all the way. 

 Scrap heap o'doom piled "neatly" under my cutting table.  

 Large, folded up scraps for...stuff.

 Pre-cut scraps so I don't have to cut later.  I love me some squares y'all. 

Yeah.  Scraps are my bag, baby.  That's not to say I don't love yardage too.  I also have that addiction.

 Part of my organized shelf.  Only part. The floor is a mess soooo

More disorganized shelf.  But only part. Because it's a mess.  But also, it's insulation.  IT'S AN INVESTMENT, OKAY.

Now, I can't speak for all scrap lovers, I can only speak for myself.  Why do I love scrap quilts and scrap quilting?  The challenge really gets my creative gears spinning.  I love strategizing placement and usage with the knowledge that I can't just cut another piece off my yardage.  Quilting is already like a puzzle, but this adds another problem solving element that I just find really enjoyable.  I love the challenge of making a quilt solely our of leftover blocks from other projects, and making it work.  It never gets boring, because there is always something new to consider and it forces you to look at things in a different way; it becomes less about pattern and more about color and value.  I love how the chaos comes together to make something beautiful.  But if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, scrap quilting means you are getting the absolute greatest value out of your fabrics.  Imagine if you tossed a 2.5" strip off of every yard you bought just because it was surplus off of a project?  Or if you had a few 3.5" or 5" squares left that just got pitched?  Those are very usable sizes, and they add up.  If you wanna get real about it, making a scrap quit means you have reinvested very possible cent of what you bought that yard for.

But the best part is it is UP TO YOU how "scrappy" it looks.  It could be a free for all with all the colors. You could do it like I did in my blog background.  Or you could do it only for an element of the quilt, like I did for the background in this quilt.  Or, you could just use scraps to make up your appliques - no one would ever know where those pieces came from...for all they know, it was yardage all the way!  Scrappy doesn't have to be synonymous with a lack of cohesion.  A scrappy quilt can be harmonious and flow just as well as a quilt built with matching yardage.  That is the challenge right there that I love. 

If you have never done a scrap quilt, that is my challenge to you.  Try it.  Dive as deep as you want.  Make it chaos, make it calm, it's yours.  Sometimes it's fun to just play.  Who knows, maybe you'll fall for scrap quilting too :-) 

Finished! Scrappy Jewels

Another quilt that languished in "I'll get to it when I get to it" binding land.  This one is an original pattern I did...not that it's hard, but hey, it's mine.

More apologies for the potato quality.  I bind in my cubicle and pictures are tricky.  Could I get up?  Yes.  Is it practical?  No.

More quilting by Frances Heinrich.  She did a LOT of my stuff back in the day.  I say back in the day not to imply a falling out, she is still a friend, but she has stopped quilting professionally. 

So this quilt reminded me of a thing about which I must rant.  And rant I shall.  In another post.  Hint: It's about scrap quilts.  Like this one.  Stay tuned.  

Product Review: OLFA Quick Change 45mm Rotary Cutter

Since the advent of the rotary cutter back in "the day" there have been some uh, unique, variations on the original model.  I am not a gadget girl and I generally don't give a rip about ergonomics.  Arthritis is going to come for me someday I know, so I am unwilling to go to those models until I must.  Arthritis can suck it.

There are some real die-hards out there *cough*Mom*cough*.  Yellow basic OLFA or GTFO.  She uses the 60mm and I use the 45mm.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  But one time we had this weird, pressure activated rotary cutter at the shop behind the counter that became "mine."  Secret's out, I only used it because I knew no one else would use the weird one and that way my blade stayed good and sharp and un-nicked.

But uh...it changed my stodgy ways.

Specs

• 45mm blade
• Rubberized grip
• Pressure activated blade
• Cost: $21.99

Pros

• The blade is not engaged unless it has active, firm, downward pressure on it.  IF YOU JUMP YOUR RULER, YOU WILL NOT -I REPEAT- WILL NOT CUT YOUR FINGERS OFF.    This is important.  Quick, ask me how I know.  More appropriately, ask my still-there fingers. 
• Changing the blade is quicker than on a regular rotary cutter
• That no-slip grip is nice.  

Cons

• If you do a lot of cutting like I do, then the plastic cover that is pushed upward when you cut wears out and flattens due to the repeated friction of going across your board.  At a certain point (a few years), it no longer covers the blade and there will always be a tiny piece of blade exposed to give you surprise and surprisingly annoying tiny cuts.  Quick, ask me how I know.  Not a huge con though given how long it takes for this to happen.  

Conclusion

★★★★☆

I love this rotary cutter, and haven't gone back to the regular kind at home.  I would use the 60mm if they have it - they may, I just haven't been bothered to look it up.  The long term wear and need for replacement is why I am not giving this five stars; some folks have the basic ones that have lasted for 15+ years because there isn't the issue with friction wearing the plastic down.  But other than that...this is my preferred cutter.  Very literally saved my fingers on more than one occasion!