Save Time and Effort with 75 Clever Tips from Quilters
There’s Something Helpful for Everyone!
Quilters tend to be creative problem-solvers and have many great ideas to save time and effort in the sewing room. American Patchwork & Quilting has compiled 75 of them into a comprehensive list of tips.
We selected a few of those reader tips to highlight here. You’ll find many more at the link in the yellow band further down this page.
Carol B. from Newark, Ohio, suggests repurposing a sweater or sweatshirt cuff into a handy clip holder.
Donna N. from Thousand Oaks, California, cuts shapes from nonslip drawer liner (in this case, a cute heart) to place under rulers to prevent them from sliding. Your cutter won’t be damaged if you cut into them, and the shapes make fun little gifts for quilting friends.
Susan K. from Crown Point, Indiana, suggests using a square of dry-erase tape affixed to the machine to note what needle is currently in the machine and the date it was installed.
Use a permanent marker to label the sections of a tomato pincushion with needle types and sizes to keep machine needles organized and easy to find, as SARA A. from Franklin, New Jersey, did.
If you keep losing the cover to your seam ripper, substitute a wine cork, as Nancy S. from Blairsville, Georgia, did.
Lettered and numbered pins can sometimes be hard to see. Nancy G. from Montoursville, Pennsylvania, used her label maker to make labels for clips she uses to keep quilt parts organized.
Large silverware storage trays are great for organizing cut strips for Log Cabin blocks. This great tip is from Lori N. of Crossville, Tennessee.
Peggy P. from Missouri City, Texas, uses clamshell berry boxes from the grocery store to store small scraps. Organize them by color, and you can instantly find what you need.
Louise L. from Lewiston, Maine, uses flower boxes to organize and store rulers. She says a 30″ long box works great for rectangular rulers, and a 24″ long box easily holds square or odd-shaped rulers.
Secure your strip ruler to the cutting mat with duct tape, like Nadine B. from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, does, to prevent it from sliding. Then, simply lift up the bottom of the ruler to remove the cut fabric and place the next piece to be cut.
Embroidery floss storage containers are great for storing needles. This tip is from Jan H. from Cameron Park, California.
Learn more about the tips shown here and find all of the great tips at the link below.
