Quilter's Favorite

I can't resist talking about my favorite things especially when those favorite things have to do with quilting. Geta over at Geta's Quilting Studio is having a link up about quilter's favorites and luckily one of my favorite blogs (s.o.t.a.k handmade) posted her favorites.  So I thought why not join in and share some of my favorites. I missed the link up, but since I worked so hard on this post I am still going to post it.  Geta was kind enough to open it back up for those of us who missed the link up. 

The idea is for bloggers to share their quilting favorites as well as some tools, tips, and helpful tricks. Anyone is welcome to join in and of course I decided to join the fun. I hope you do too. 

Here are my answers to some Geta's Questions

List a few of your favorite quilting notions. 

Of course I had to start with this one. I do have a slight obsession with quilting tools. 

My all time favorite quilting notion is the binding tool. 

I hate trying over and over to make my binding match and this makes it oh so simple. Plus there is a really cool tutorial from Missouri Star Quilting if you need help figuring out exactly how to use it, which I may or may not watch quite often. 

My second favorite tool is the Supreme Slider. 

Free motion is just so much nicer using this. Now the question is where did I put mine. These are pricey and the last time I cleaned mine I put it some where safe to dry and can't find it. I have a quilt waiting to be quilted and I would like my supreme slider. I guess that means I am going to have to clean my sewing room.

Some thoughts about thread and needles, batting, fabrics ?  

I personally love aurifil thread. I especially love it for piecing. I have gone through a few spools of this stuff and I just keep going back. I have also used it for machine quilting. But my absolute favorite colors are 2021 and 2024. They are just basic colors. The one below is 2024. It  my go to when using solid white background.

I also like King Tut by Superior Threads  with so fine by superior threads for my bobbin when I am machine quilting. If you haven't signed up for the Superior Threads newsletter, I do suggest it... there is a funny joke by Bob in each newsletter.

As for needles - I really like the the titanium coated ones by Superior. They last a long time and I have only had a few snap... Mostly because of my fault. You know needles just don't like pins or being pulled funny directions when machine quilting.

Wow I am starting to sound like a sales person in this post. Let's look for a question where I am not telling you something to buy :)

Do you have free tutorials on your blog? Share the link.

Oh free sounds good. You can find a few free tutorials on my blog. The link is up top or you can just click here. My most popular tutorial is for my Goose-Zag block. 

However, I also have other tutorials including fusible batting, custom pillows, a table runner and hexagons  Plus a tech help tutorial on how to change back from google+ to blogger to insure you aren't a no reply blogger. 

The sewing machine - share a few things you love at your sewing machine; what makes it special? What features do you think are the most important to a sewing machine used for quilting? 

I have 3 machines. My every day machine a  Janome DC2010. It is a good little machine for the most part. It sews through lots of layers of fabric, it is easy to keep clean, and you can free motion quilt on it. 

However, it is very persnickety when it comes to free motion quilting. It does not like thin threads. Some days it gets hot really easy and snaps threads. Other days I can quilt all night with out a problem. 

One important tip for this machine and any drop loading bobbin Janome is if your stitching just isn't right on the bottom piece of your fabric it is probably that the bobbin thread came out of its home and you just have to reload the bobbin. 

This Janome was my step up from my Pfaff. That I bought when I was 18 and my quilting journey really came to be. 

This poor little Pfaff struggled with multiple layers of fabric which isn't good when you are putting blocks with lots of seems together. 

My other machine is really my mom's Janome JEM that she left at my house for when she visits. Lucky for me I can take it to quilting classes or sew days. 

Tips for organizing the sewing tools, the fabrics, the sewing studio? 

My favorite organization tip is using command hooks to store your rulers. 

My mom showed me this this little tip. I love it because I can space them exactly how I want them to be and I can find them so easily.

List one or two of your favorite quilting techniques and a tutorial/pattern/book where you learned about them ? 

I really like square in a square quilting. It is a ruler/technique that helps with piecing. I made my mini storm at sea using this method before I took a class from Judy Barrows. It still hangs up next to my desk. 

I am still working on my prairie claw quilt from that class. It is such a fun project/pattern I just have had more pressing items in the way. 

Could you recommend a book to someone who just started quilting ?  

I would recommend  Simplify with Camille Roskelley: Quilts for the Modern Home. I have already made multiple quilts from this book at I love it. 

Orange and Blue Quilt

Peaceful Green baby Quilt

Plus she is using precuts so most of the cutting is already done for you, you are really just sub-cutting the precuts. I think this is great for someone new because buying a precut and a little yardage is an inexpensive way to start. Plus Camille's instructions are great.  

I am still in the process of making this quilt from her book. It just needs to be quilting and then I will have made three quilts from one book. That is kind of amazing for me as I am easily distracted. 

Would you like to share one of your favorite quilts, made by you ? 

Of course I would. This is my Posh Quilt. It is the quilt I use most often because it just makes me so happy. 

You can see more of my quilts on my finished quilt page. 

Thanks for taking the time to hear about my favorites. Go check out the link up to see other peoples favorites too.