Some Of My Favorite Gadgets

These are some of my favorite sewing "gadgets" that I use all the time. I will post more pictures of my sewing area and my favorite things that I have there. The first one is called a "Bosom Pin Cushion." It was designed and made by Mary Jane Ehlich of Covington PA. I remember seeing Mary Jane with one around her neck as she was teaching some gals to hand quilt. I thought to myself....boy I'd sure like to have something that handy to plant my needles when I'm sitting and sewing. I had no idea at the time that she made them and sells them. I just love wearing this Bosom Cushion especially at retreats. I get the best feedback from the other stitchers when I wear it.


This is a close up of the little pocket that holds your thimble. I think that is so neat....a little thimble pocket. That keeps me from searching under the seat cushions for where my thimble rolled away to. It always rolls off my lap and down the cushion.

The next picture is a close up of my Hawaiian applique. I'll show the entire picture in another entry. But this is an example of when I used the Piping Hot Binding tool. See how nice the binding came out? This little tool is so handy when making piping. I use it for piping on my larger quilts too. If you look closely at my Circle Quilt from another post you will see the nice piping on that too.

And here it is.....waaahhhh laaaaahhhhh the Piping Hot Binding tool. No magician required :)

Can you tell I've never used the binding that came in the bag? I like the cotton piping the best. That is the piping that is included and the booklet. The tool is laying on top....it is acrylic. Very useful tool. I lent it to my Mother when she made a slip cover for her sofa. She wanted the piping on the edge of each cushion. Now there is a woman with courage!!!

I stumbled into this little gadget. It is called a Gypsy Gripper. It grabs onto my ruler and templates so I can move them easily. I never knew I would really like something like this...but I really like it. It is very helpful when I'm cutting lots of pieces. I don't have to keep sliding the ruler over and over and over. I just pick it up and move it. I usually use green tape to mark my measurement lines so I don't even have to continue to look at the numbers on the ruler. I think that bright light adhesive tape rocks!!!

OK, now this next thing I know you are going to laugh and say, "Who the heck would buy that thing." I am one of those people who can't stand it when I can't get something stuck in a small space. For example, I hate vacuuming out my van and I can't get those crumbs between the seats and those bolts or the shifter in the middle....crumbs get into that too. Then there is the dryer screen. I can never seem to clean that thing well and the vacuum hose I have won't fit into that space. The hose is just not small or flexible. How about those dust puppies and crumbs inside your keyboard, your sewing machine, your serger, your embroidery machine, your table saw, behind narrow book cases.....OK I'll stop. Well, I'm the nut who bought this thing and absolutely loves it. I'm giving it as birthday gifts to my siblings this Sunday. (They're all coming for Easter and to celebrate their birthdays) This fits into your hose on your vacuum and then there are little tools that attach to the flexible hose. You can get into almost any small or narrow space with this little fella. So now you know my secret!!!

Yes this is a picture of my kitchen floor. Please don't notice that I've been writing blog entries and not moping like I need to. A girl just can't do it all.....in one day anyway :)

OK, that is round one of my favorite things. I do happen to have some of these on my website so you can check them out. I always list items at much less than retail....so you have extra money for supplies to do your creating!!!

Kelly