I lived out of boxes for a full year between the 2nd half of 2020 and the first half of 2021…moving to a new state combined with house hunting in a difficult market meant Mom & Dad’s guest room was home. Talk about figuring out what is most important! These are the notions and tools that I realized I couldn’t live without(aka they were worth pulling out of the boxes even though I had to pack them again.) For any of the items below, click on the photo for more info!
This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Quick Retract Comfort Handle Rotary Cutter
I know not all will agree with the brand or style, but I am clumsy and once you cut yourself on a rotary cutter once, you learn just how painful it is and how much you want to avoid a repeat. Therefore, I use a quick retract cutter.
Bloc-Loc ruler
I was a latecomer to this tool…I didn’t think I could figure out how to use it. And now I use it for almost every quilt I make! It comes in multiple sizes, but I find that I use my 6.5″ the most.
Stripology ruler
Another ruler that I use with just about every quilt project I do. It is a little pricier, but I swear it is super worth it. Even if you don’t use the XL one, the regular wide one is amazing!
3/4″ Binder clips
These small binder clips make the best clips for binding! They aren’t fancy or expensive and you probably have some buried in the drawer of your desk at this very moment. The only thing to make sure of is that the coating is intact and they are clean.
Large surface lint roller
These are a MUST for when I reach the end of a project and have snippets of thread and pet hair and everything else under the sun all over my quilt.
Little snipper scissors
So handy for snipping apart chain piecing, sniping off extra threads and so much more!
2×18 ruler
I love this ruler and think it is amazingly underrated and unknown. This one is from EZ Quilting, which is not widely sold, but is available under the old company name, Wrights, on Amazon. I like that it is simpler and has the easy to read numbers, as well as a bolded 1/4″ line. I actually use this ruler significantly more than the 6×24 that everyone says is the must have, though this is partially because I can do almost all of my cutting using this guy combined with my Stripology ruler.
Bobbin holders
I know everyone has different solutions for their bobbins and some may not like this one because it doesn’t keep the bobbin with the main spool, but I love these because they come in multiple colors and keep all of my bobbins in one place. Not to mention that I can easily hand them on my pegboard to get them out of the way.
Extra wide and extra tall ironing board
Y’all, I am not a short lady. I’m as ‘mini’ as my family gets at 5’8″. So ironing boards were always too low and honestly, often flimsy. Then I discovered this genius Better Homes & Garden board from Walmart. It pulls up to a higher height than every other ironing board I have ever used, is wider, and has a lovely rest for the iron, as well as a shelf to hold the folded fabric you haven’t gotten to yet. It has saved my back like you wouldn’t believe!
Faultless spray starch
Everyone is probably going to try to sell you on the more expensive Best Press that is made specifically for quilting and sewing. That’s all well and good, but the truth is that when you are ironing a bunch of fabric all of the time, it gets expensive. I have used the basic Faultless spray starch on all of my projects and have had nothing bad happen. And it is like $2-3 a bottle, or at least it was last time I did a bunch of cutting. This link will take you to a multi-pack, but you can by single cans at your local grocery store. I highly recommend using spray starch on your fabric before cutting to make it easier to be more precise.
Fons & Porter 1/4″ marking tools
I love these tools for working on half square triangles. Especially when I am using the 2-8 at a time methods. I can simply place this down the middle and draw on either side to mark where I need to sew.
Pipe Cleaners
The greatest trick to cleaning all of the fuzz out of your sewing machine, and especially the bobbin area, is to use pipe cleaners. All of the cotton fuzz from the thread and fabric will cling to the chenill-y surface and come out. And they sell them at the dollar store. Sold.
Crafting/Quilting gloves
There are a few different types of these gloves on the market. I own a pair of each of the styles shown and linked above. The top ones I use more when working with a quilt sandwich or multiple layers. The bottom ones I find more supportive when I’m doing a lot of repetitive things like piecing. Both are great and very useful….especially when my day job also includes a lot of hand and wrist work with a computer.
Fabric Color Cards
Come here my pretties! I love looking at these color cards and imagining all of the possible combinations. I probably use the Kona and the PureSolids ones the most. From choosing which colors to use for another quilter’s pattern, to figuring out what palette to use for my own, color cards are a must if you work with solids. And they can also be used to create magnetic tiles for better mixing and matching.
Foam core board
I finally got sick of all of my fabric stash being in bins a few years back and did something about it. Enter foam core board…the cheap kind from the dollar store. Divide a large sheet into 8 pieces and you have mini-bolts! And I can see all of my stash! Thus this foam board became a necessary tool.
There you have it! My top tools. I’m sure I could come up with several more, but I’ll leave it at 15. Happy Quilting!
