Category Archives: Quilting Gadgets

Let’s Talk About the Quilt Ruler-Splosion!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

When I started quilting 30+ years ago, there was no such thing as using a quilt ruler, rotary cutter and mat.  At least not that I recall.  I learned to quilt using templates.  Lots and lots of templates traced onto fabric and cut apart with a good pair of sewing scissors.  I made my first Lone Star quilt within a year of learning how to quilt, just by using templates.  I wouldn’t say it was pretty, especially if you looked at it close enough…but, my brother loved it and that is what makes a quilter’s heart go pitter-patter.  A quilt that is loved and is used is the best kind!

I certainly cannot recall when the rotary cutters, quilt rulers and mats made their appearance for quilters but I do recall MY first quilt ruler – and I recall it because I’ve bought a half-dozen of them over the years!  I still USE the very first quilt ruler I ever purchased all those years ago.  It’s nothing special, lightweight plastic and easy to accidentally cut if you don’t pay very close attention to where your rotary cutter is cutting.  🙂

My first quilt ruler was a Dritz Quilting See-Through Drafting Ruler.  When I looked it up with a search engine, I giggled because it not only showed up at sewing places such as Joann’s but it also showed up at Sears!

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Dritz Quilting See-Through Drafting Ruler

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After a while, some better crafted quilt rulers came on the market.  The new rulers were still just straight rulers, though they varied in the color of the lines, the size and the markings on the rulers.  I think this is the second quilt ruler that I purchased:

OmniGripRulter

Omnigrip Neon Quilter’s Ruler-8-1/2″x24″

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But WOWSER, in the last five (at least) years, there’s been a quilt ruler-splosion!!!  I cannot believe the number of quilt rulers that have cropped up lately!  There are numerous quilt pattern books that require a special ruler all over the place -from proprietary usage to universal usage!  There are professional and amateur quilters who have designed their own rulers, to be used with their own patterns or with other patterns.  And there are professionals who have designed their own special quilt rulers, who have gone on to sign the rights away to a larger company to distribute them for the designer.

I believe I now possess the following quilt rulers beyond the two that I mentioned above:

  • Omnigrid Quilting Square Ruler 12.5″ x 12.5″
  • Omnigrid Quilting Ruler 6″ X 12″
  • Omnigrid Right Triangle-Up To 8″
  • Omnigrid Quilting Grid Ruler 6.5″ X 6.5″ Diagonal
  • EZ Quilting Easy Rule Jr. Acrylic Ruler 3 1/2″ x 9 1/2″

Not a whole lot but they fulfill all of my quilting needs perfectly.

Besides these basic shaped rulers, I have noticed something else about the new quilt ruler-splosion…many of them have truly created templates into rulers.  We’ve come full circle from when I learned to quilt 30+ years ago to today.  Templates are fabulous and I would recommend any new quilter learn to quilt the more difficult way (with templates) than staring anew with a quilt ruler, rotary cutter and mat.  They will learn the true basics of quilting and then increase their quilt knowledge through independent study (aka trial and error) or by taking quilt classes.

The quilt ruler-splosion doesn’t seem to be stopped anytime soon, but make the most it while it lasts!


Temporary Spray Adhesive

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I make a number of raw edge applique quilts.  Although the ‘raw edge’ concept is not for everyone, I prefer it and LOVE how a raw edged quilt looks after a few washings.  A few years ago, I went to my local quilt store and found a well-known and trusted brand of temporary spray adhesive to use, to help keep the applique template pieces in place so I could sew them to the background blocks.  Since I had never used this type of product before, I suppose I was happy to have found it.

Last year’s BOMquilts.com “Pendleton Inspired” quilt was also a raw edge applique quilt (although the instructions and templates could have used different applique techniques).  Just as I was finishing up the final blocks, I ran out of spray adhesive.  And since we live 45 minutes from a quilt shop, I had to do without or find something else.  And of course, all of this happened during the Christmas holiday, when I had a million other things that needed to be done!

On one of my Christmas buying adventures (I do NOT shop, I do my research online and then go and BUY), I had to go to a craft store to buy something I needed.  Since I was there, I asked about a spray on adhesive.  They only had one brand of adhesive and it was not the brand I had purchased at the quilt shop.  But since I physically was done with the holiday crowds, I picked it up and bought it…figuring it would either work or not and that it was better than nothing.

This is what I purchased:

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I have absolutely no clue whether it is a good brand or not, but I do have to tell you it was TEN times better than the higher priced (and smaller can) that I had previously purchased.  And when I was done, my hands were not sticky, as they were from the previous adhesive.

Sometimes, taking a leap of faith on a product turns out to be a great thing!

Electric Seam Ripper

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

One of the gifts I received from Linda at AbbiMays.com this Christmas was this Galaxy Notions electric seam ripper.

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I have to tell you, I considered sewing something and then ripping it out with this gadget, but I refrained from doing so.  Then yesterday morning, I was binding a quilt and realized I’d put the silly thing on backwards!  So, without further ado, I now had a reason to break out this seam ripper and WHOA!  Amazing little gadget – and now one of my precious ones in my “must have’ basket of quilt needs.  I will tell you that it did not like to rip out back-stitched areas of my quilt…but, once I manually ripped those out, this little tool went to work and I can tell you I have never had so much fun!  🙂

After I received mine, I purchased two more for special women on my Christmas list.

If you do not have one, you NEED one!  Go to AbbiMays.com right now and order your own.  You will fall in love with this modern miracle for ripping out seams!!!