Mary Beth Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Tracey, Love the pictures and descriptions...you acted like the bad kitty wasn\'t even in the pictures Shana, I\'m showing DH the ruler holders....I have done everything but get on my knees and beg for a dog....this just might sell him if he thinks I will keep my rulers picked up :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriasews Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 One of my all time favorite tools is a tin of nesting round cookie cutters, from 2 inches to 6 inches in 1/4 inch increments. I use them all the time to mark registration marks for Nichole Webb\'s curling feathers. They work on all sizes of borders. I also can\'t do without children\'s chalk, easy to put on, stays in place until dusted off with a piece of poly batting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Originally posted by nineva Shana, are you sending me one of your ruler holders? What does he eat? Is he house trained? Does he have to be walked? Does he like road trips?Nancy What does he eat? He\'s a piggy and loves to eat; I try to limit it to dog food and steak scraps (human food is too spicy for their sensitive tummy). Is he house trained? Absolutely! Does he have to be walked? He is awesome on the leash but is a velcro dog off leash (stays near you; doesn\'t run away). He loves to play fetch. Does he like road trips? Sure! He travels really well. He\'s a lover; not a biter. He\'s a big baby, really. Very big and very furry; and when you hug him it\'s like squeezing a real life teddy bear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hmmmmmmmmm...this gives me an idea...wonder if I can train Sara to be a ruler holder...then maybe I won\'t have her under my feet when I sew. She can stay at my side instead just ready and waiting for me to use the ruler.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I cannot live without my crayola washable markers, they\'re cheap and wash out everytime. They come in every color you can think of. I no longer buy expensive disappearing ink markers. No matter how careful I was with the disappearing/washout markers I seemed to "iron" over one of the lines and was left with an ungly brown line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebFigved Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 NancyJo, I\'m also interested in your idea for adding the IKEA LED lights on my Millie so that I can update it like the newer Millies without the fluorescent lights. I hope to get to IKEA this weekend to look for them. If you have specifics, please share. TracyeQ, I LOVE the hammock. I had to do a lot of brushing and picking at my last quilt to get all the fuzzies from my floor off of it. This will be a great asset. Shanna, your furry tool holders are adorable. You gave me the idea to use my unused tupperware lid holder or unused pot lid holders for my rulers. Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I bought the Ikea light when I was in Portland...my jury is still out. I am trying to learn to use it, maybe I have it too close...it looks like a spot light to me. Deb, let me know how you like it. Nancy Jo....how far away from the quilt or work surface do you have yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Mary Beth - I put the Ikea puck lites on my machine and I took off the bar light. I didn\'t clean the machine well enough and the lights have a sticky back, but because of the thin coat of oil, they wouldn\'t stick. So after I cleaned the area with alcohol on a cotton pad, I used stick on velcro on the back of the light and on the under side of the machine around the needle to attach the lights on. I have 4 of them around the needle, I get good light. I\'ve purchased a black light to go into the light bar and will attach the black light with the velcro under the arm of the machine. I have all the parts, just have\'t done it yet. I like it, it is soooo much coooler to work around and gives you much better visability. I looked at Nancy while at her place and put them on just a bit different so that I would have room for the bar up on the arm. I jumped in here but Nancy, we still want to hear from you on this also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 The light I purchased is the one with the clamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I\'m sorry MaryBeth, I thought you were talking about the puck lights that Nancy had on her machine. I gave up trying to figure out how to attach the clip on light. I think that in a post of Sherry Rogers-Harrison(?) probably 6 mos or so ago, she posted a picture of her light that she bought at Ikea. I bought the same light but I ended up giving that to DH to put on his work table. I guess we need to wait for Ms. Nancy Jo to get back on line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebFigved Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Patty Jo, Thanks. I was the one asking about Nancy\'s lights. She had told me about them at MQS. Did you have to do anything with wiring? I thought that was another issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I forgot to mention two things that I couldn\'t live without in my earlier post. First off, thanks to (name removed), I have a clean paper coffee filter on the front laser post of my machine. This is where most of my thread clippings go, but I\'m sure I miss several. When it\'s full, I pull the threads out, and use the same filter for several months. Eventually, it looses it\'s basket shape, and I need a new one. Even more important to me though is my scissors leash. I started out wearing them around my neck, but choked myself a few too many times. Now I\'ve got a retractable leash that clips on my waistband, and my scissors are ready and handy at my side all the time. The only problem is that sometimes I forget about them, and end up wearing my scissor around the house. My initial version was a freebie from the hosp., but after it broke I got a 3 pack at staples. Couldn\'t be happier with it either. Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nineva Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Deb, Patti Jo, MB, etc, Ok, first the clamp light. The little suction cups did not like being put on the laser light holder so I got one of those adapters you use for cone thread. I used the nice fat one, put it on the laser light holder and then clamped the snake light on. Works like a champ. You could also put a clothes pin on the laser light holder and clip the lamp on to the clothes pin I suppose. Hmmm. It just needs something to hold on to. I strung the wires with the puck light wires (below) and then plugged it into the laser light plug at the back of the head, since I do not use the laser light. I leave the laser plug on at all times so I KNOW when my machine is turned on or off, since the other lights are manually turned on. That way I don\'t walk away and leave my Lola turned on (ok, PJ don\'t even go there). Deb, the lights do not create wiring issues. The existing lightbar comes off by taking your handles off, then using a hex key to unscrew the lightbar. Unplug the wiring, put the handles back on and you are done with that part. The puck lights come in a two-pack, use two of them on the area where your light bar was. They are sticky back so clean the machine first (as Patty Jo noted). I also put another two-pack on my machine, one in back (north) of the two puck lights and the other up where the head curves down.(waaaayy North and up.) There is plenty of wiring to adjust the lights to wherever you want them. I have plenty of light. Then, I strung the cords back on the left(west) side of the head (facing front to back) as we don\'t use that side of the machine anyway. You can string a little twisty tie through the thread holders and then around the wires. I plugged both of the plugs into a power strip, after using twisty ties to attach them to my machine power cord, then taped the on-off switches back to back. When I turn my machine on, I flip on the lights. ;) MB, I use my clamp on light facing a little bit to the easterly side, rather than straight down. It diffuses the light and gives me that sideways light I need when I am using a matching thread on a busy fabric and cannot tell where in the heck I have already stitched. You are right, if it is facing straight down, it is like a spotlight. Mine is usually 10 inches or more off the fabric, unless I need that sideways light, then I put it down to about 4 inches, facing east. is this clear as mud?:D Beth, you and I are on the same page. Have you ever gone to the grocery store, fabric store, post office, etc, and realized you still have your scissors on? Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebFigved Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Nancy, thanks for all that detailed info. IKEA here I come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Deb, It sounds like Nancy Jo answered all of your questions. the only thing that I did different was put my wires into some stick-on little wire holders (DH used to run wires all over the place in our business, so I had them). If you don\'t mind using the twisty ties - great, but if you want them corraled a bit better, the wire holders are available at like Home Depot or Lowes. I also have the coffee filter on my front lazer light post for all my threads. Our coffee pot takes a cone filter and so it doesn\'t flatten out. I think I\'ve only had to use about 3 of these since I got my GiGi in 2006. My newest gizmo is a small air compresser that I got at Wally World. Love it but the cat takes off running when I turn it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb2bie Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Jessica, I sent you a U2U ! Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindasewsit Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Great idea for the coffee filter for a thread catcher!! do you just poke a hole down over the lazer holder? I don\'t like thowing the threads on the floor and am constantly turning around and putting them in a little basket I have on my table....like this idea MUCH better!! Thanks! linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbm Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Best thing I\'ve found for thread tails (and other stuff!) is the apron I got at HMQS last year. Just a regular full-front apron, but the thread tails go into one pocket, my nippers go into another, and my scissors (on their retractable clip) attach up at the neck strap. I even have a pin stuck in one seam, for picking up those reluctant bobbin threads. And to keep from wearing my apron up the basement stairs and all around town, I have a hook right at the bottom of the stairs - the apron comes off before I go up. And since I have been known to run upstairs (just for a sec, really!), there\'s a hook at the top of the stairs, too, for when I realize that I\'ve come up with the apron still on...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiltsinmotion Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Shana , what beautiful dogs you have . You must give very good cookies :D:D nice way to hold rulers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebFigved Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 When I took my maintenance class with Connie in April, she suggested that we all purchase a small air compressor to blow out all the fuzzies during our daily cleaning. This was a great idea. Those cans of compressed air get expensive. The one I got from Ace was on sale for about $50. IT\'s well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birgitquilts Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 My hubby made me a similar batting roll storage for underneath my machine - but he built it hanging from the height of the table. Since I\'m located in Germany, I\'m condemned to ordering any rulers and templates online - or to come up with my own solutions. Well, you won\'t believe my collection of plastic and metal can lids of all sizes (and colors) for marking and quilting circles and curves of all sizes. Birgit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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