I am one of those seamstress quilters who has just a ton of tools. And, yes, I do use them all! Here I will share just a few of my favorite tools. First up is my primary sewing machine. (And yes most of us quilters have more than one machine:) ) my primary is my Jenome Jem Platinum 760. I did some research before buying this machine. Now where I live Jenome's are not something you can go to a dealer and try before you buy it. (Lesson 1 for me) I purchased this one because I have a very dear sweet friend who let me use hers when my old one was acting up and I loved it. It just pieces so well for the quilter. Since owning this machine I have pieced and machine quilted about 8 quilts. For the several baby quilts it's very easy to quilt on. For my sons twins size and our full/queen quilt it was very very difficult. Can you see the throat size on this machine? It's super tiny! I believe it's about 6" square which is not enough space to squeeze 1/2 of a quilt under in order to quilt the middle of it. Like I said it can be done but beware of wrist/shoulder/neck pain after. Thankfully a sweet friend recommended I get myself a pair of quilting gloves which are sort of rubber coated on the finger tips and holy moly they are amazing! Totally worth the $8 I paid for them. They will save many wrist, hand, shoulder pains later. They just grip the quilt and allow you to move it effortlessly under the needle. From the picture below you see I have the extender table also. The original platform is just way to skinny in my opinion and paying for the table was the best investment. My quilts and clothes have turned out so much better due to the weight of the quilt isn't pulling on the needle and thread.
Also just a few of the tools I use every time I sew. My Olfa splash rotary cutter. (Aqua is my fav!) I love my pink shears. They are my first pair I bought with my own money from walmart when I was 16. (So I've had them for 17 years. There is not a brand name on them) Next is my SeamFix. This one I've only had for about 1.5 years but man it is worth it! I used to go through seam rippers like crazy because I'd break them all the time but this one is going strong! Then we have my bobbins. I know a bobbin as a favorite? Crazy! But seriously these are the best bobbins for my machine. My manual only states that it uses a 15 bobbin however that is not at all accurate for my machine. It HAS to be a 15J. The "J" is extremely important or else my machine will not work. It's deeply frustrating to have creative ideas just begging to be sewn up and you can't because you have the wrong bobbin:( not fun. Creative sewing can be a lot like writing. It needs an outlet right away or it may be lost in all the other things in life. And last for this post are my little house glass head pins! Just love these because I press with a hot iron a LOT when I'm sewing anything and these will not melt (just get pretty hot). I had 2 sets but have lost many or lent them out to friends and have recently replaced them with glass head pins I found at my local hancocks. (Much more affordable by the way)
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