Showing posts with label Favorite Quilting Tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Favorite Quilting Tools. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Quilting Phone App

Last Saturday I was speaking with one of my quilting friends about smart phones and tables.  We were visiting at her work, a LQS. She said, "I would like to have an app for my phone when I get one".  So I am thinking this is a great idea and I pulled out my droid phone went to market and search for quilt.  Two or three apps came up and I clicked on Quilting Calculators, with a little logo of RK that matches the color scheme of the imagine below.


This is their add for iPhone, but it is out for droids also.  The app has 8 formulas and they really work.  It takes a few moments for it to load.  After it loads there is a banner screen to skip.

The formulas are:
  1. Fabric Measurement, converts into decimal form and fractional form.
  2. Backing & Batting
  3. Piece Count
  4. Pieces to the Yardage Area
  5. Binding
  6. Broader Yardage
  7. Square in a Square
  8. Set-in and Corner Triangle
After I found the app, a costumer came in who needed borders for her quilt.  I did the calculations on my phone app and my friend did them on a quilting calculator she had at the shop.  Our results matched. 

So my suggestion is download it!  I have no affiliation with this company, I am just a satisfied user.

Happy Stitching!


Saturday, September 18, 2010

Favorite Tools - Large Ironing Board More Info

Deb G. in VA asked some questions about the Large Ironing Board and I am going to answer them here.    Deb thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

Do you remember what kind of wood was used to make it?
              The top is 3/8" plywood, the nicer board not full of knots and not ply board. 


Is it heavy?
              I can lift it by myself and I can carry it by myself from my sewing room to another room or out to the car to pack it for camp.  It is not light but not too heavy. 

Did you finish the wood before you covered it, i.e. paint or coat it with polyurethane?
             The wood is unfinished, the edges are rounded a little and sanded smooth. 

What did you use to cover it with, regular batting and fabric?
            The bottom layer is a piece of carpet felt, 2nd layer is warm and natural batting and finally covered with muslin.  The muslin is stapled to the bottom of the board.  The top two layers are cut to the edge of board and not tacked down.


Carpet Felt
Here is a picture of Carpet Felt. I hope that helps.

Happy Stitching!

Favorite Tools

I'm not sure how many new quilters visit my blog.  I know many seasoned quilters do.  For the new quilters I wanted to give them some ideas of tools of the trade that make quilting easier. 

Many quilters have favorite tools and what I like works for me.  That is part of why they are my favorite tools.  I decided to share some of these tools every once in awhile as they might be something you might want to try.  I had this idea while I was pressing my mystical horse quilt before placing it on the frame. 
As any good quilter will know pressing is very important for good results. 

Quilt top on big board

Many years ago my husband made me a big board or a large ironing board topper, that might be a trade name but there is no other name to describe it.  It is big and goes over your ironing board.  It is a 60" x 24", so there is no narrow end which makes ironing big flat pieces of fabric easier.  Well let me show you a picture, because after all a picture is worth a 1,000 words.


Those seams on the back need to be flat

My husband place 2" strips of wood on the bottom the same width as the ironing board, so it doesn't slip around.  It sure makes ironing easier. 

It is important to press those seams flat. 




 Happy Stitching!