My Favorite Quilting Tools

I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite tools for quilting (and general sewing, although I quilt a lot more than just sew).

My #1 tool is my sewing machine. In May 2007, my mother gave me the best Mother's Day gift - a Pfaff Quilt Expression 2046. One of the fantastic things about this machine is the IDT - Integrated Dual Feed. It sews like a dream, and eliminates the need for a walking foot for quilting. I'm looking forward to trying out the different stitches and features of it!

My #2 tool would probably be my ergonomic rotary cutter, the Ergo 2000 Rotary Cutter. I saw it demonstrated at one of the AQS Quilts Shows. I love mine. I wouldn't want to have to go back to the older styles now. For people who have repetitive stress injuries (and even those who don't), this can really alleviate a lot of the stress on your hand, wrist, and shoulder when cutting.

My #3 tool would have to be my Thimblelady thimble. I actually own two of these - one for my middle finger, and one for my thumb. Yes, it was a splurge, but I've never hand-quilted with a better thimble. The thimbles came with an instruction video, and of course, I had taped Simply Quilts from HGTV (the episode featuring Thimblelady was how I discovered them), and I've watched both multiple times for inspiration and instruction. I'm all about the idea of NO pain!

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