4. Rotary mat:

 

Without the mat, the rotary cutter is useless.  These two notions were designed to work together.  Cutting mats come in all shapes and sizes from 6x8 to 36x60 and from round to square.  They come mounted on one side of a pressing mat or on the top of a turntable or just as the

stand alone mat. They are green, blue, yellow, or white and are all self healing. 

 

Self healing means that you can cut on them and the cut will heal itself so you can cut over that spot again.  Now if you keep cutting over that spot for a long time, you will cut a grove in the mat, so make sure you move your work from spot to spot. 

 

All mats should be kept out of the sun and hot cars as the will ‘melt’ to the shape of what they are laying or become warped and are never usable after that. 

 

What size mat should you have to start with?  PP  How much room do you have to work? 

A whole sewing room or the dinning room table? 

Are you going to quilting class or cutting out a wedding dress?

 

I have several sizes and find that each has their own use.  The one that I use the most and find the most efficient for me is the 35x23 mat.  Most teachers will tell you to bring to class an 18x24, this is a good size as you can cut fat quarters on this mat with no problems or you can cut out smaller shapes and sizes.  If you are just doing appliqué and you are working in your favorite chair, then the smaller one with the 28 mm cutting blade is just right.  Tool or Toy? 

Tool and maybe toy.  How many mats can one girl use at time?

 

 

 

5. Rulers.

 

The third part of successful rotary cutting is the ruler and it is defiantly a tool, well, maybe . . .

 

Let’s look at a large well know company, OmniGrid, known for their rulers, cutting mats and rotary cutters.  On their site,  I counted 24 rulers!  Confused yet?  There are almost as may choices for rulers as there were for scissors, but again, each has it’s own use or combined have another uses or again PP.

 

They offer rulers from 2 ½ x 2 ½ square to 12 ½ x 12 ½ square and then from 1 x 6 inches to 6 by 24 inches and I think I have even seen an OmniGrid yard stick!

 

Which one should you have in your stash of tools?  That’s hard to say because I own everyone and each has its own use, but if I was to choose, it would be hands down the 6 x 24 inch griddled ruler.  That ruler combined with the 35 x 24 mat will cut strips from salvage to fold up to 6 inches wide.  If I should need any wider strip, I would reach for the second favorite ruler, 6 x 12 inches.  Combined they will cut up to a 24 inch strip of fabric 12 inches wide, salvage to fold.  If

you need strips bigger than that, I would rethink my project!

 

The 6 x 12 inch ruler also allows me to cut the strips into smaller pieces to put them into a quilt it also has grid lines down to the 1/8th mark and angle lines of 45. 60 and 90 degrees to allow me to cut almost any shape I wish.

 

Another nice size to have is the 1 x 6 ruler.  It will allow you to draw ¼ marking on your fabrics for seam lines for hand sewing or just to help see the stitching line.  Again PP on the ruler, what are you cutting, where are you cutting, does the ruler offer the necessary markings you

require for the project?

 

Tool or Toy?  Yes and No.  How many rulers do you need? 

How many different ways are there to measure an inch?  If you’re like me, you will have them all sooner or later.  Do I use them all? Well, sooner or later .  .  .Tool or Toy, maybe a little bit of both.

 

 

 

Extra Notion that falls in the same (well sort of same) category.

 

Templates.

 

Templates are in the both Tool and Toy category.  Some shapes you can’t cut unless you have a template like the dresden plate or drunkard’s path, other templates can easily be cut will a ruler and strip pieced. 

 

Some templates are sold in kits to make a particular quilt and then once you make that quilt, what do you do with them?  Make the quilt again? 

No, into the drawer to gather dust they go, so that makes them a toy.

 

There are template sets out there that can be used for one or more different types of blocks, in that case, if you use them on a frequent basis, then they are tools, but if they do as the above .  . toys.  Again PP

 

 

6. Stiletto

 

I started sewing with a stiletto just a year or so ago.  I noticed a great improvement in my work almost immediately!  Tool or Toy?  I would not sew without it!  Tool!

 

What is a stiletto you ask?  Well, put simply, it is a poker on a handle. 

 

Some are as simple as a bamboo stick sharpened on each end or as fancy as a brass handle with a 3 inch sharp pointed metal ‘needle’ coming out of the end.

 

So what do you use it for, poking the cats when they jump on the table?

 

 NO!  Didn’t you know cat fur is a form of batting?  (Sorry, off the subject)  What a stiletto is used for is to help guide your fabric through the machine.

 

Here is what PrymDritz has to say about a stiletto:
Sharp tip "grabs" and adjusts fabric when stitching straight or curved seams. Point keeps fabric from shifting to the side when sewing end of seams. Use to turn under seam allowances when pressing appliqués. Helps position trims and embellishments when machine stitching in place.

Simply put, when you take the pins out of your work as you are coming to the needle of the sewing machine, you place the stiletto where the pin was as you feed the fabric through the machine holding it secure and assuring that you will not be sewing over any pins.

Questions so far?  No?  Good!  Let’s move on to what should be your favorite tool in your kit,

7. The Seam Ripper.

 

Please rate this part before moving on to the nex one, thx!