Gadgets Anyone?

Are you a gadget girlie or guy? You know who you are. When something new hits the quilting market, you're one of the first in line to buy it. I admit it. I am a gadget girlie. Heck, sometimes I see something in a magazine BEFORE it's in the shops, and I go crazy searching for it. I am always sure that this new magical item is going to save me time, or make my life easier, or both.

Since I like to reorganize my workspace in January, that means I've spent some quality time over the past few weeks looking at all these gadgets. It made me wonder, "Which of them do I really believe I can't live without?" The ones I love.

I love to piece quilts, and make bags and other pretties, but I also have a longarm quilting business, so I decided to let myself identify my favorites from each category. So, without further ado (and in no particular order)...

My "seam ripper on a stand". It is so handy when chain piecing. (And those who know me understand the importance of the purple base.)

Creative Grids rulers. I've tried a lot of rulers, but these are, by far, my favorites. They are easy to read with sharp black and white printing on a clear plastic ruler. I love the textured "dots" on the back side that help keep the ruler in place when cutting. I have many of these and my two favorite sizes are the 6 1/2 x 24 on my cutting table (and in my bag) and the 3 1/2 x 12 next to my sewing machine for all those quick trims.

I'm a bit addicted to marking pens and pencils, and these Frixion pens by Pilot are wonderful. They come in a variety of colors to make marking easy. The best part is the marks disappear with a hot iron!
(I have heard that to be sure the marks are really and truly gone it's best to wash them out, but since I'm only using them on the wrong side of the fabric, I haven't needed to do that.)


I have only one photo to share regarding my two favorite longarm gadgets. The first is another Creative Grids ruler in a 20 1/2 inch square. It really helps when squaring up backings.

I cannot say enough positive things about my headlamp! It was a gift from my son. I am positively anal about thread tension and have been known to look at stitches under a magnifying glass. With my headlamp, I can crawl on the floor, under my frame, and check my stitches to my heart's content.

So now we know about my favorite things. What gadgets do YOU love?

Lizzie at Frolicking Threads