Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Non- quilting essentials


Yesterday I cleaned and straightened up the sewing room.  So many odds and ends scattered all over the place.  As I was putting things back in there place, I was struck with the thought on the things I use all the time that are not originally intended for quilting.  So here are a few of my favorites before I put them away.
Brushes of all types to remove lint and fuzz from the machines.  Soft bristles like the  tiny artist brush and the craft brushes  and  a stiff one from the  my husband's workshop (he uses it for gluing) are kept next to my machine. 
 Alcohol prep pads used in hospital labs are  for wiping off lint  from the brushes.
The red netting over the cone of thread is recycled from  produce at the grocery store. 
The black base used as a spindle to hold the thread is from a  pack of CD's. 
An old medicine bottle with a small hole punched in the top is my used needle disposal case.
Small screw driver for removing the bobbin cover plate on my Janome.  Russ found this at  Harbor Freight and gave it to me for my birthday.  It has several different size bits.  It's easy for me to hold.
 Forceps, not too large, for turning project corners inside out. 
Plastic straws?  Yep, I have a collection of them from fast food places.  I cut a short length of straw and slip it over the thread spool holder on my featherweight machine to keep the spool turning evenly when sewing. 
The metal pin dish is magnetic and from the parts store for automotive supplies.   Only $2 rather than the $8 or $9 at the fabric store.
 The blue plastic strips are cut from a self-adhering storage bag for traveling that I found at the $ store.  It's great to use as a spool  wrap to keep the thread from being a tangled mess. 
And the shelf liner, also from the $ store is cut up for a lot of uses.....under my  smaller cutting  mats to prevent slipping,  and a section under the machine pedal  to keep it in place, and stitched onto pincushion bottoms, and sometimes used under my featherweight to protect the table top surface. 
I am sucker for gadgets and things that make my life easier.  I probably missed a few, but would love to know about things I haven't discovered.  Till then, happy stitching.

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