 |
|
    |
LEARNING CENTER
CONTENTS
The Latest, Greatest Gizmos!
The Great Pacific Northwest Quiltfest
Member
BBB Online
THE LATEST, GREATEST GIZMOS!
by Anne Brennan
I've been back from International Quilt Market in Houston for about a month, and it's taken me this long to dig myself out of the great piles of paper and product samples I shipped home. What an incredible variety of new products hit the marketplace this fall!
Tools that make applique easier
I've always thought the many-stepped process of transferring applique patterns to various layers of plastic and paper and finally fabric before you can begin stitching looks daunting. But several new tools from Clover and SewUnique changed my mind.
Clover has come out with a Chacopy water-soluble tracing paper and a clever tracer pen. I have to admit that I was never wild about tracing paper and tracing wheels for garment sewing, so I wondered whether I'd like this product combination. Once I tried it, though, I was sold. All you do is lay the tracing paper (choose bubblegum pink, sky blue, banana, a sort of aqua-green-teal, or white) on the fabric, place your paper pattern over it, put a piece of clear plastic vinyl on top of that, and trace the pattern with the steel ballpoint of the tracer pen. It transfers the design right onto your fabric. The pen contains no ink—the ballpoint tip works by pressure. Since you have to press fairly hard, the plastic vinyl keeps the pen from tearing the paper as you trace. The other end of the pen is pointed but blunt, for making thicker marks.
If you make a mistake or if any marks show when you're finished stitching your design, spritz the marks lightly with water. They'll immediately disappear. Just remember not to apply heat to the marks before you spritz them, or they may become permanent. (This is true of any marking paper or pen, whether water soluble, air soluble, or permanent.)
Clover also has a couple of new water-soluble markers, one with a thick tip and one with a fine tip. These are handy for marking quilting lines with stencils, tracing around paper or plastic templates, or marking intersection points on fabric pieces. The ink is light blue and shows up on most fabrics. (For light blue or dark fabrics, Clover also has a white finepoint marker that's both water and heat soluble.) To remove the markings, spritz with water or use the new Clover eraser pen. Simply run the eraser pen over the markings, and they disappear like magic! I can't figure out how it works, because it feels dry and has no scent, but work it does. Use it on any water-soluble marks, whether made by pens or the Chacopy tracing paper.
I've watched my mother trace her applique designs onto clear plastic vinyl, then overlay the plastic on her quilt blocks and slip the applique pieces under it until they're perfectly aligned with the pattern drawn on the plastic. SewUnique, the company that makes SlipNots, has developed a product that makes this process easier to control. The new Applique Advantage consists of a plastic alignment bar with plastic posts every inch and a half down its length and a 20-foot strip of header tape punched with holes every inch and a half, corresponding to the posts. The header tape is made from a heavy interfacing-type material and tears easily.
All you do is stitch or fuse a piece of header tape to the top edge of a piece of background fabric, staple or tape another piece to the top edge of the applique pattern, and stitch or tape another piece to the top edge of a piece of transparent overlay material. Then slip the three pieces of header tape over the pegs on the alignment bar, with the paper pattern under the transparent overlay and the fabric on the bottom. You can now trace your applique pattern onto the plastic overlay without worrying about any of the layers shifting or slipping. When you're done, remove the paper layer and you have a perfectly aligned, stable system holding your overlay in place over your fabric. You can flip the overlay away from your work and smooth it back into place, knowing it will align perfectly every time. If you're working on a long border, you can snap together as many alignment bars as you need, end to end.
Guess what my mother is going to find in her Christmas stocking?
For cutting out the applique shapes, I also like Clover's new mini patchwork scissors. They're 4.5 inches long and have incredibly sharp stainless-steel points. Clover recommends them for chenille quilting, molas, and dollmaking, as well as applique work. They come with a nice little vinyl sheath. And if you like to stick your shapes in place before sewing them, try the Clover fabric adhesive stick. The glue is repositionable and won't gum up your needle.
Mountain Mist has a new template and stencil material that's as strong as plastic yet flexible like fabric. It feels like heavy nonwoven interfacing and has little holes all over it. Because you can see through it, you simply place it over your pattern and trace with a pencil or marker. You can cut it, pin through it, sew through it, iron over it, and even run it through your printer or photocopier. it's perfect for both applique and quilting.
Tools for trapunto
Trapunto is still a hot technique, judging by the number of new tools I saw for it.
Clover has a new ballpoint awl for making holes in the back of your trapunto channels without damaging the fabric. (This tool is also handy for shaping the corners of collars and hems on garments.) Because it's ballpointed, it won't split the threads in the fabric.
You can then use either the new Collins trapunto stuffing tool or the new Clover stuffing tool to poke batting into the trapunto channels. On each tool the tip is angled, allowing you to "grab" and maneuver the stuffing right into the corners. When you're done stuffing, you can use the ballpoint awl to move the fabric threads back into their original position, closing the hole.
For running cording through trapunto channels, try the Clover cording-needle set. It includes a long needle (for straight channels), a short needle (for short, straight lines and slight curves), and a very short balltip needle (for curves). All three needles are ballpointed, but the smallest has a larger, rounder tip.
Rulers, mats, cutters, and totes
Omnigrid never fails to disappoint me. I'll bet I have every ruler and mat the company has produced, yet I'm always thrilled to find new sizes and shapes. Sure enough, Omnigrid has a new 4.5-inch-square ruler. I love the fact that it has 1/16-inch markings along the edge.
Omnigrid's new "true-size" mats hit the market last year, but you may not have seen them yet. The grid on each mat has been enlarged by an inch in each direction and the border expanded, so the grid is virtually the same size as the cutting surface. The grids on the new mats measure 24 by 36 inches, 18 by 24 inches, and 12 by 18 inches. Like every Omnigrid mat, these are calibrated to match all the Omnigrid rulers. (Did you know that one inch is different on different rulers? Not just in quilting, but throughout the world!) The mats are self-healing and numbered in both directions along the edges, making them suitable for both left- and right-handed use.
I really
like the new Omnigrid
Gear mesh bag (on sale this month in the SewAndQuilt.com Shopping Center).
This little mesh bag with the heavy-duty zipper measures nine by 13 inches, so it
comfortably holds books and a nine- by 12-inch cutting mat. There's a smaller outer
pocket with a hook-and-loop-tape closure, just the right size for a rotary cutter,
small rulers, marking pens, and other accessories. As soon as I got it home I loaded
it up with my small rulers and cutting mats. My husband actually thought I was cleaning
up my sewing room (his fondest dream)! I'm looking forward to seeing what will be
next in the new Omnigrid Gear line.
Omnigrid has also packaged a new combination of tools and called it the Classroom Kit. It consists of an 18- by 24-inch mat, the classic six- by 24-inch ruler, a 45-millimeter Dritz pressure-sensitive rotary cutter (the blade automatically retracts when you stop cutting, for extra safety), and complete instructions for cutting accurate strips, squares, rectangles, and diamonds. It's much cheaper to buy the set than the individual components, and it makes a great gift for a new or experienced quilter or fashion sewer.
The remarkable
Dritz
Puzzle
Mat(pictured here with the Dritz pressure-sensitive rotary cutter)
is another product that was introduced in the spring, but many people haven't seen
it yet. The puzzle mat is two mats in one— it consists of two 24- by 16-inch
pieces that interlock (like a puzzle) to form a 24- by 32-inch mat. There's no "bump"
or interruption in cutting when you run your rotary cutter over the join. The two
pieces fit in the bottom of a suitcase, so it's easy to take along when travelling
or going to class.
Olfa introduced a new micromini rotary cutter at Market, selling 250 in an hour and a half at Sample Spree. The 18-millimeter rotary cutter whizzes around tight curves and circles with ease. The handle is extra slim, so it's easy to maneuver, and the blade, says Olfa, never needs sharpening. I bought one for my mother's stocking, and intend to get one for myself. It's on special this month in the SewAndQuilt.com Shopping Center, along with three other new Olfa products: the deluxe 60-millimeter rotary cutter, the deluxe 45-millimeter cutter, and the deluxe 28-millimeter rotary cutter. All three feature a comfortable ergonomic design and good safety locks. The 45-millimeter cutter also accepts wavy and zigzag rotary blades.
Everyone
I talked to was excited about the Ultimate
Travelling Tote from Canvas Collectibles. This wheeled
bag with a telescoping handle will hold just about any sewing machine,
making it easy to take to class or through the airport. The main pocket
has a moveable divider, and the top compartment zips securely, holding
your project in place. There's also a roomy front pocket. This tote meets
the specifications for carry-on luggage for most airlines. You can also
get a ditty-pack
insert and an accessory
insert for organizing thread, scissors, patterns, pins, and other
tools. All three pieces are on special this month in the SewAndQuilt.com
Shopping Center.
Embellishing
and quilting
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the new Dritz iron-on redwork and bluework. This product actually looks like hand embroidery! There are eight collections (four blue and four red), each containing nine six-inch designs. If you like the look of redwork or bluework but don't embroider, you'll love this stuff. When I tried a sample, it left tiny bits of red fluff all over my fabric, but they easily brushed off with a napped clothes brush. Since the suggested uses for this product include linens, bed linens, and wearables, I assume it's washable.
The new Golden Threads quilting paper is a no-marking method of transfering your quilt design to your quilt top. All you do is trace your continuous-line quilting design onto the paper, pin the paper to your quilt, and machine-stitch along the lines. The paper tears away cleanly without pulling your stitches. If you plan to use the same design several times, you can cut up to 15 sheets to the desired size, pin them together with the traced design on top, and use a large, unthreaded needle to sew through all the layers. This product comes on rolls that are 12, 18, and 24 inches wide. The golden color makes it easy to see on just about any fabric, and the paper is sheer enough to see through, for accurate placement.
The new sliding stencils from EZQuilting are ingenious. They adjust to fit your quilt border, so you don't have to do any complicated math to figure out how to lengthen or shorten the quilting design to fit. You mark the corners first, then measure the distance between them and adjust the stencil to the appropriate length, so it will fit perfectly. There's a formula on the stencil, to help you. Joy Hoffman invented these stencils because she was frustrated with traditional methods of marking, and EZ Quilting jumped on them. This product will be available in February, 2001.
I also like the Sticky Stencils for Quilting from Dakota Rose Patterns. You just stick them onto your quilt top, quilt around them, and peel them off again for reuse. No pinning, no marking, no tearing away, no hassles! The adhesive does not leave a residue on your quilt top. Sticky Stencils come in more than a dozen patterns, some for blocks and some for borders.
June Tailor's Stitch 'n Wash is finally available. I saw this in May and thought it was a terrific idea. Stitch 'n Wash is a soluble transfer sheet that you gently fuse onto your quilt top, stitch over by machine or by hand, and rinse away in cold water. It comes in several designs: stippling, meandering, feathered wreath (both 7.5 inches and 10 inches), a links border, and a petals border.
June Tailor's fusible batting is also available now. Layer it between the quilt top and the backing, as usual, and then press on a wool setting with heavy steam. Your layers will stick together beaufifully as you quilt. When you're done, you can leave the adhesive in the quilt or remove it by rinsing the quilt in cold water.
The folks who make the Kwik Klip safety-pin fastener have a new companion product called Quilter's Delight safety pin grip covers. You may have seen a similar product in the past; this is the new, improved version. The Quilter's Delight by Paula Jean Creations is a plastic cover that snaps onto a brass or steel safety pin of varying size (even the curved quilter's pins) with a pair of needlenose pliers. It makes the pin easier and more comfortable to hold and insert in your quilt. Even a whole bagful of open pins in Quilter's Delight holders won't tangle or prick your fingers, which is a nice bonus.
This is just a smattering of the gazillions of products I saw in Houston. Please keep watching the "New Arrivals" section of the SewAndQuilt.com Shopping Center, so you can pick them up as soon as they arrive.
Happy quilting!