Unconventional Quilting Tools

Not all the tools we use during our quilting projects are conventional. Quilting Contessa explores some fascinating alternatives you can use today!

Chopsticks

These great little wooden tools are very helpful to “poke” out corners when turning stitched shapes.

Binder Clips

Those little (or not so little) black and silver colored clips are a great way to hold seams together that you don’t want to pin and they also are great for holding bindings in place for your quilts.

Magnetic Tray

These little bowls or trays are commonly found in automotive departments. They can be quite helpful to hold straight pins and safety pins near your workspace, but beware if you have a computerized machine or thumb-drive as the magnets can be quite powerful and may erase the memory in your devices.

Telescoping Magnet

This tool can also be found in the automotive section of many stores. Some even have an LED light. They can be great when you have lost your needle or pins on the floor and you can just swish the telescopic magnetic tool back and forth over the furniture or flooring to help locate the illusive items before you get stuck!

Flashlights

Flexible flashlights that wrap around things can be quite useful in your quilting studio to add extra light in just the right places. Sometimes they can wrap around your machine or even stick to it, other times you may want to wrap it around a curtain rod to light up your workspace.

Sandpaper

Sandpaper can be used to hold your fabric still while you write or draw on it. Or small dots of sandpaper can be glued to the back of rulers to help hold them in place while you are cutting.

Gardening Gloves

Gardening gloves with rubberized palms and tips can be very useful when free motion quilting to help you move your quilt around more easily. They can also be useful when trying to get a grip on a stubborn needle when hand quilting through thick seams.

Vodka

Now I know you probably will not find this at the local quilt shop! But, some recipes for pressing sprays use “cheap” vodka. Others find it particularly helpful to “loosen-up” before free motion quilting.

Pool Noodles

Yes pool noodles those foam noodles that children and adult alike use to float around a pool are great for quilting. You can purchase a new one and wrap your quilt around it for transport so that it will not get creases. Some machine quilters also wrap their quilts around them to keep the excess fabric controlled while they are working on the other side of the quilt.

Rubber Finger Tips, Tweezers, Needle-Nosed Pliers, and Hemostats

Some of us have a hard time getting used to thimbles or have dexterity issues that make pulling needles through fabric more difficult and rubber finger tips can help. When those are not quite strong enough, tweezers, needle-nosed pliers, and hemostats (traditionally used for surgery) can be used.

TV Tray Tables

They are not just for eating any more! Wooden TV tray tables can be covered with batting and ironing board fabric and used as an extra pressing surface, or just a staging area beside your sewing machine. They are fairly inexpensive and a great take-along for additional workspace at retreats also.

Design Walls

Design walls can be fairly pricey when purchased for their intended use, but there are less expensive options. A flannel-backed tablecloth pinned or taped (with painters tape) to your wall will hold your blocks in place so that you may move them around and get the design just right. Another option is to purchase a piece of foam insulation and cover it with batting and flannel. This is a more “permanent” option if you have a dedicated stitching space.

Light Table Option

If you don’t really have space for a dedicated tracing table, you can always just purchase a component. Removing a leaf from your dining table, place a lamp underneath the opening, and then place a piece of plexiglass on top, and like magic, you have an instant light table that is great to use to trace your patterns.

Graph Paper/Freezer Paper

These papers are great to draw out new designs and color them in to see how your block will look after stitching.

Parchment Paper

When you want to protect your work surface from pressing sprays, adhesives, etc. Parchment paper can help you keep your work surface clean and dry. It can also act as a pressing sheet when in a pinch.

Last But Not Least…

Don’t forget to purchase a great extension cord with a surge protector. Our irons and machines can call for a lot of power, and we just have to protect them whether at home or on retreat, don’t forget the surge protector!

Have fun and happy stitching and – don’t forget the candy!