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Tools of the Trade – Easy Square Jr.

I love Shopping, I love Tools… I guess that’s why I love quilting 😉 I guess you can get away with very basic tools, but why not make the process more enjoyable with all these lovely gadgets?

I wanna start this new series ‘Tools of the Trade’ because there are so much to share. I have accumulated a number of nifty tools and some are useful, some are just plain waste of $.

To kick off, I’m going share something that has come in SO useful for squaring up the blocks for my mish-mash-m00 quilt.

Easy Square Jr.

I bought this online after I decided to join in the fun at Bonnie’s Double Delight quilt-along. This tool is great for squaring up your blocks. It has a 1/4″ line all around, and the diagonals are great for matching up your ‘square-in-square’ block like the ones in Bonnie’s DD quilt.

How is it useful? Well, when you work with Half square triangles like what I’m doing for the mish-mash-moo quilt, the ruler helps me to square up the block. When I work with HST blocks, I prefer to cut the pieces a little bigger so that I have more run to trim it down to the correct size.

Here’s the block before squaring up. Currently about 4 5/8″ square.

Line up the diagonal on the RULER with the diagonal on the SEAM of the block. And then line up the left and bottom sides of the block to slightly beyond the 4 1/2″ markings on the ruler.

This will allow the block to be squared up on the top and right sides of the square.

Rotate the block 180 degrees and line up the sides right on the 4 1/2″ markings on the ruler. Trim the right and top sides of the block.

There you have it! A bunch of 41/2″ squares trimmed quickly and accurately! 😀

Oh Goody goody!

Benji turned 2 last week and we threw a Crepes party over the weekend for our big and small friends.

The goody bag is something that we take rather seriously here. We always feel that our little guests need to go back happy too! Just like how their presence and presents made our boy happy.

We think: What do I want Benji to get in his goody bag when we go to other parties? We know what we don’t want: CANDIES, CHOCOLATES and toys that break too soon.

My friend helped with the goody bag preparation in a weekend – she decorated the paper bags, helped bundled crayons together, and supplied me with good and warm company.

For kids below 2 years, we included 1) alphabet and number stickers, 2) non-toxic bubbles, 3) a notepad, 4) 1 x Crayola TaDoodles Washable Crayon Buddy, 5) Cereal

For the older kids, We included 1) alphabet and number stickers, 2) non-toxic bubbles, 3) 4 pcs of crayons, 4) 2 tubs of Play Doh, 5) Cereal, 6) a note pad – I cut up my DCWV Printed Cardstock Stack for cover & Backing and also added 12 pieces of recycled paper – attached 2 mini brads at the top. I hope this will lead to more repurposing/recycling by the parents because I know how much materials we consume EACH day!

Last year, we used plastic tubs to hold the goodies. we included ‘party materials’ like noise makers, some plastic toys, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, etc. And we had chocolates for the older kids and biscuits for the younger ones. The younger ones received a Beanie Baby as well. It’s quite a good feeling to see that the tubs being put to good use still when we visit our friends for playdates. But the cheap toys didn’t last.

So, we hope that the crayons/play doh will leave many creative marks for their parents to capture for a long time to come! 😀

Full Circle

Yes, yet another new toy :> I’ve been collecting all these ‘sewing toys’ like how we are collecting Thomas train sets for Benji :p I HEART my sewing toys ;>

Here’s a ‘must have’ tool for cutting circles! It’s the Olfa rotary circle cutter which I bought at Popular Bookstore during their year end sale.

This circle was cut WITHOUT any stabilizer, freezer paper, etc. It just works! I used it for the self covering button bought at Spotlight many moons back.

I’m already planning another project cutting up circles from my scraps for a home decor project. Hopefully I’ll get to that soon! :>

Good Buys 2

December has been a month of crafty indulgence for me :>

Well, I haven’t given into temptations YET with all the online fabric stores’ sales & coupons. But I have been checking out the local crafting supplies stores, stocking up on notions and what-nots.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited a local store in Chinatown. They sell loads & loads & loads of Clover products that made me a very very very happy girl :>

Here’s what I bought finally, and I did show some restraints when I returned a few items at the cashier before I checked out the items :p

1) The mesh transfer sheet – handy for transferring quilting patterns without cutting out template sheets.

2) Bias Tape Maker – you need one for each size!

3) Gauge – which came in very useful when I had to fold over 1/8 seams in my last project. But this gauge is in metric, so I had to measure it against my other imperial rulers first.

4) Water soluble marker – gosh, this works like a charm for me! Why I didn’t get this much earlier is beyond me. LOVE IT! The marks wash out beautifully and most importantly, the marking is much more accurate and clear.

5) Iron-on transfer-pencil – I love the idea that I can trace out a pattern with this pencil and then transfer it to the fabrics just by simply ironing on it. Downside is that the markings will be permanent. No immediate plans/projects that call for this pencil yet. :p

6) Fabric glue stick – this will be useful for the applique works

7) Variegated thread – too pretty to be left out of the shopping basket ;>

8) Heat & Bond No Sew fusible web – I was thinking of making some ‘iron-ons’ for friends who don’t sew. This is perfect for such ‘painless’ projects.

I do consider myself somewhat of a ‘gadget-girl’ (I love gadgets, but I don’t go queueing up for iPhones just to be the first ones to get it…), and perhaps that explains why I fell in love with sewing again, after all these years. All the toys that you can buy for just marking patterns! For cutting fabrics! And once, I spent an entire day just search and surfing for various presser feets and their functions… And of course, the Internet has also made researching much easier and interesting, bringing me all the inspiring blogs of people who share their love & passion for their crafts.

Alrighty. Time to get back to work now and earn more $$ for my crafty fund (and Benji’s diapers :p) ! ;>

Punch & stamp

Now, I have to perfectly honest with you. I can’t draw. I can’t even draw a stick figure well. And Benji’s a psychic when he is able to figure out what the heck I have doodled for him when we do our ‘ca-yon’ sessions together.

So, in my quest to create things that people MIGHT find pleasing, I depend a lot on prints & templates, etc… This year, I finally caved in and stepped into a scrapbooking shop (cringe) to pick up some stamps. I’m simply intrigued by these clear stamps that Amy – the angry chicken – was talking about. And lo & behold, stamps from HEATHER BAILEY in the shop! I felt like I struck jackpot – I could not even find HB’s freshcut fabrics locally, and yet I can buy her stamps?! WONDERFUL!

The girlies at the Made with Love shop were so helpful too. They helped me pick up a stamp pad (which can be used on fabrics… I’m skeptical still), stamp cleaner (I guess clear stamps need more maintenance than the rubber ones), and the ‘acrylic’ holder. Notice I didn’t buy an acrylic block? Well, they were out of a lot of sizes, and what they have on hand are a bit pricey for my liking. But one of the staff said
I can use these acrylic album sheets and they work just as well too. And best part of it: there are 2 pieces in there! And this is less than half the price of the blocks. BEST!

I’m intending to make gift tags out of these stock-cards. Here’s one of the ‘test’ tag and see how super handy it is for adding in name/message? I’m hoping to make quilting labels with these stamps too. Hope they will stand up to washing! heh heh…