Thornapple River Rippers Quilting Guild

TIPS & TRICKS

WITH

TWO HOT CHICKS!

1. Use cupboard liner instead of quilt gloves. Small pieces are all you need. Place them under your fingers and quilt away. Easy to move and your hands are free when you need them to move the quilt around.
2. Parchment paper works well in place of or with an applique sheet. Hot Chick Kathy uses Reynolds as it has always worked for her. Saves both the iron and the ironing board.
3. Use scrap pieces of batting for packing materials when boxing up fragile items for shipping or storing.
4. If having trouble threading your machine, especially while using dark threads, put a piece of white paper behind the needle.
5. When you buy fat quarters, make sure the salvage portion with all the color, manufacturer, and maybe even the fabric collection name is on them. This will help if you need additional yardage.
6. Cute way to hang a small quilt is to use a ¼” dowel rod and thread spools as the finials.
7. Fabric covered magnets can be made using flat-back self-cover button sets. Use fabric of your choice to cover the button portion then use a dab of glue on the back to apply a magnet.
8. Use common rubbing alcohol to clean fusible web from the soleplate of your iron. Running a warm iron over a fabric softener sheet also works well.
9. Use a coarse dish cloth dipped in white vinegar to remove starch from your iron.
10. Instead of purchasing an expensive rotating cutting mat, use the good portions from an old cutting mat cut into a square larger than the block size you usually work with. Place it on top of your full cutting mat to trim blocks. It can be turned without touching your block.
11. Use CD racks to store fat quarters. You can find them at a thrift store and they don’t take up much space in your quilt room.
12. To test tension when you are machine quilting, place a piece of fabric from your quilt on the edge where your batting and backing are wider than your top. You will be working on the same fabrics so it will make it easy for you to adjust your tension.
13. To cut folded fabric without curves at the folds, make sure the folds are flat with no wrinkles.
14. Buy at least ¼ yard extra fabric for your pattern in case of a mistake.
15. You can make a design wall by hanging a flannel backed table cloth or an old flannel sheet on an empty wall. Use the 3M hangers and pant hangers.
16. If you’ve never taken a class, take one. Even if you think your know enough about the subject, you will always learn more.
17. GLUE is becoming Hot Chick Kathy’s new best friend. Just make sure it’s washable.
18. Opening a seam into a pin wheel makes the center of a block lay flat. Clip a couple of the stitches of the last seem you’ve sewn at the center point and it will almost twist itself and lay flat.
19. Use a 2 gallon zip lock bag for take along projects or projects that you want to keep near your favorite chair. These work especially well for hand sewing projects because they have enough room for everything you need for the project.
20. Two gallon zipper baggies work well for mystery projects. Place your smaller components in small baggies and then place these into the 2 gallon bag. This keeps the smaller bags from getting out of control. (Thank you Sally’s granddaughter!) You can keep all of your project needs in the 2 gallon bag.
21. Keep the pattern and all fabrics you have purchased for the project in a 2 gallon zipper bag. This keeps everything together and you won’t lose track of the fabric you bought for the project. If you need additional fabrics, just grab the bag and head for the quilt shop. You’ll have everything you need to get that just right last piece of fabric.
22. Plug your iron into a power strip along with a night light. When you leave your sewing room, you will know if you have left the iron on by looking at the night light. I use a plug in wall light that is plugged into the same power strip as my iron. I turn everything off by the power strip button. It works especially well at night. I use this even though my iron shuts off automatically.
23. When framing a quilt, frame it without glass to allow it to breath. Glass traps moisture and may allow mold to form.
24. Rubber band two pencils together when you trace a template. One follows the template and the other line is ¼” away forming your seam allowance.
25. Store quilts in 100% cotton pillow cases. They can be place in an antique chest and still be safe because they are encased in the cotton pillow case. Thank you to Sherry Pierce for this tip! Sherry also says if you use muslin to make blanket bags, be sure it is unbleached and has been laundered.
26. Use the fabric that is left after you have squared up to tie up flowers and plants in your garden. It works for houseplants too and adds a touch of bright color to your garden.
27. Wind leftover bobbin thread back onto the spool it came from. This guarantees that you will know that the thread is not only the same color but the same size and kind (cotton or cotton with polyester core.) When you use that color again just rewind the thread onto the bobbin.
28. When you’ve installed a zipper in a bag and have leftover zipper, cut away the teeth, remove frayed edges, cut the ends to a point, feed the tape through the hole of the installed zipper tab, match the pointed ends, stitch close to the slider or just pull the loose ends through the loop and form a knot.
29. Cover an unused shoe box with fabric scraps to make a pretty storage box for your scraps. You can make a label on a scrap piece of muslin and place it on the box for easy identification. I used spray adhesive and a glue stick.
30. Use a quilt block to cover an unwanted logo on a shirt. I’ve also covered unwanted advertising on the side of a reusable shopping bag.
31. Many of us use a 2 ½” binding and always have leftovers. Throw them into a box and use them for a strip quilt or any project that calls for that size strip.
32. If you’re having trouble picking fabric for a project, grab your favorite piece or maybe your least favorite piece, out of your stash and start adding pieces that coordinate with it. Before you know it you’ll have a group of fabrics for your project all selected.
33. Place a straw you have cut to length on the spindle of a side-winder to extend the spindle height for larger thread spools.
34. To keep batting clean and out of the way until you need it, roll or fold it and place it in a pillow case that matches or coordinates with your bedding and use it on your bed as a decorative pillow.
35. Still my favorite is the use of two tape lint remover cartridges on a paint roller with an old broom handle or extender rod. Saves on having to use seam rippers, box knives or just plain picking at the threads to get them off the brush roller of your vacuum. Might even save on costly vacuum repairs!