Queen of Gadgets {Blog Hop}

Welcome to my stop on the Queen of Gadgets blog hop, which is hosted by Carol of Just Let me Quilt.

Our brief for this hop is to talk about some of our favourite sewing gadgets. This we love to use when creating quilts, homewares, bits n pieces in our sewing spaces.

I love a gadget and will give just about anything a go (at least once). I decided that I'd share three gadgets which I use regularly and which I used to create this project for the blog hop.

The first gadget which I enjoy using is my Crossover II cutting machine by Crafters Edge

I was an ambassador with the company last year and still enjoy using the dies for various projects. The cutting machine makes some things just so much easier... especially cutting circles.

In this project, I used the die cutter to cut circular cardboard templates and the fabric circles which are a little larger to include seam allowance.




I sewed a running stitch around the edge of the circles, leaving long thread tails. Pulled those tails tight around the cardboard templates, sprayed a little starch and pressed them until they were smooth. Once cooled, I removed the templates and appliqued the circles to background squares.

I played around with different Aurifil threads and weights in this little table topper and will write another blog post about that experimentation, in the coming days. 

The second gadget/s which I just love, are my Clover Wonder Clips. Love, love, love them and use them just about each time I need to bind a project, or to just hold my pieces in place. In my opinion, pins are nice, but clover clips are nicer.



My third gadget and the most important and favourite in my sewing room is my sewing machine. Is it really a gadget I hear you ask? Well yes, I think if you ask the sewists of yesteryear, who sewed everything by hand, they'd certainly say that a sewing machine is a gadget.


I bought my Bernina B710 about 8 or 9 years ago and considering the huge amount of use it gets, it hasn't missed a beat (even with my very slack servicing record). I recently bought a new straight - cut work stitch plate - and it's made me love the machine even more.

Here's the little table topper which I made using (some of) my favourite sewing room gadgets. Come back in a few days to read more about it and Aurifil thread experimentation.



Please visit these other bloggers who are also sharing their favourite sewing room gadgets today:


Inflorescence

Selina Quilts

Samelia's Mum

Just Sew Quilter

That Fabric Feeling

Songbird Designs

Just Because Quilts

28 comments

  1. Yes a sewing machine is a very important gadget.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love those fabrics in your sweet table topper. Your gadgets are spot on. I do think a machine is a gadget and one of the best ones too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those are some of my favorite gadgets too, Anorina. That is a sweet purple topper. The circle die cut is my favorite and I use it the most.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cute project for circles.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely table topper, and some of my favorite gadgets too. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your purple quiltie and I agree, my Crafters Edge machine and dies are my favorite thing to use for so many reasons. Circles is #1. Bernina's are the toughest machine out there. I won a little one probably 15 years ago and I run the heck out of it. My maintenance hasn't been the greatest, but it runs like a champ.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for sharing your favorite gadgets and your lovely project!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great gadgets! I love the purple table topper, Anorina! Using the cardboard with the circles is genius (I suppose you shared that before but I've slept since then...hee, hee.) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I make my circles like that too but cut by hand various sizes or if I have the right size I use my accuquilt dies - I have not heard of the machine you have but heard that other countries have other brands. Cute circle quilt

    ReplyDelete
  10. I also agree that our sewing machines are primary gadgets in our quilt rooms! I keep my Wonder Clips handy, too, but in a jar with a lid. My cat thinks they are really fun to play with!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my gosh, that purple quilt is so beautiful! The flowers make it look even more amazing. I have a few sewing machines, so I think they definitely qualify for gadgets. I wish Crafter's Edge showed more of the amazing ways to use that machine. I love mine! Wonder Clips are a must have gadget for so many things. Thanks for sharing, Anorina!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great gadgets, Anorina! I love the fabric for your table topper. And YES, I agree, our machines are the absolute BEST gadgets we have!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wonder clips are safer on the skin too. For years I would say if the project didn't have blood on it then I did not make it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love your purple circle quilt! Circles really are tedious to cut out by hand, and your garget seems to make cutting them much easier. I actually heard of the Crossover for the first time on this hop. I am going to check it out for sure. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Anorina! I never considered my sewing machine a gadget - but you are SEW correct - it is a gadget and makes our sewing so much easier!
    Thanks for sharing! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. always find something interesting on your blog but for some reason I am no longer receiving it. And have not been able to find anything about signing up following option.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's a beautiful topper. I am so envious of all of you posting your cutting machines. I don't know if I would use one enough to justify the cost, but it is so tempting. The cardboard circle tutorial is truly inspiring. I may want the cutter just for making circles alone!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love what you have accomplished with your gadgets. And yes a sewing machine is a gadget, a large gadget but a gadget non the less.

    ReplyDelete
  19. A sewing machine was something I would never have thought about. You hit the nail on the head (gadget), that is!

    ReplyDelete
  20. your purple dot quilt is wonderful and so fun. oh yes, our sewing machines are gadgets of the highest order, especially in my sewing room. thanks for sharing and for inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You made great use of your gadgets for your lovely table topper! I'm not sure where I would be without my sewing machine gadget either!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This quilt is beautiful! Such nice gadgets to get perfect circles!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great gadgets. I also love Wonder Clips.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Think I might need to start making some random circles.......I've seen a few lately and it would be fun......
    yes your sewing machine is a gadget and one I love also......

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love the table topper! You make good use of your gadgets.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh, this makes me smile to see your sewing tools, and that you're participating in the same blog hop as my friend Selina. She and I live here in Florida within walking distance of one another, and are in the same weekly quilting group. Small world, huh? I appreciate seeing how you make circles. I've never used a cutting machine, but it sure looks like it would make slick work of cutting circles! As for Clover Wonder Clips, I love them too... though in the long-term, I've been disappointed with them. Maybe it's only me, but the ones I've owned for about five years now are breaking. Seems like every time I go to use one, one side of the clip (that you pinch) bends and snaps off. About a dozen of them have broken like this. Could it be our near-tropical climate that causes this? But our house is air-conditioned, and we rarely open the house to the outdoors. The purple mini quilt you made is adorable, but then I think most of your makes are adorable. I'm thrilled to know you're a Bernina-user too. They're the best machines, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  27. You are so right, our sewing machines should really be our most important gadgets! What would we do without them?! Love the project you made :) xx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. I truly appreciate the time you've taken to leave me a message. I will attempt to answer comments via email.