Daily Blog

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With Valentine's Day just around the corner, TQS thought we'd ask, "What would you prefer to receive on Valentine's Day:  A bouquet of your favorite flowers, a box of your favorite chocolates, or a tower of fat quarters?"

Submit a comment and share the love this Valentine's Day.

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There are so many amazing quilt books out there a new quilter can become overwhelmed.  While a wonderful book to buy would be a "Learn to Quilt Book,"  such as Alex's Start Quilting, what other type of book would you suggest for a beginner?  A book on color, a book on inspiration, a technique book?  What other book helped you when you started quilting?   Submit a comment and share your library with a newbie.

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Our first QQT had an overwhelming response to the question, "What pins do you use for your quilting and why do you use them?  TQS members are very passionate about their pins.  Here is a quick look at just some of the information found in the comments of QQT: Pins.

It's pretty much a tie between fine glass head pins and flat flowerhead pins.  Some of the other pins mentioned were lace pins, silk pins, and IBC pins.  Applique pins were used mainly for applique.  One member uses washable elmer's glue and another uses paper clips (for paper piecing).

Most of you use one or two pin cushions, some of you use the magnetic pin holders, and at least one of you uses your sweater to hold your pins.  The member with the largest collection of pin cushions appears to be Margo with more than 12. If you have more than that, submit a comment and let us know.  

Jusme made the suggestion that new pins are a great gift for a quilter.  You can never have too many pins. Pemela suggested advice she received from a tailor.  "Once you've decided on the size and shape of your pin cushion, stuff it with good quality sawdust.  The wood keeps the pins sharp and the oil keeps them clean."

SuperJudy seemed to sum it up pretty well with her comments:

"I use all kinds of pins: The glass-head fine silk pins for generic sewing; the fine Iris brand pins for piecing because they don't distort; the glass-head short applique pins for hand piecing because they don't get in the way of my thread; Fons and Porter flat-head pins with the arrows on them when I'm piecing rows of blocks together; and the big, cheap yellow-plastic top pins to put something heavy on the wall or design board."

Aren't our TQS members incredible?  If you can't find the answer to a quilting question here at TQS, you're not asking a quilting question.

To re-visit any Quilter's Quips and Tips blog, simply go to Daily Blog and enter Quilters Quips and Tips: (topic name) into the search box.  For example, Quilters Quips and Tips:  Pins.   This will give you the original blog and any follow-ups to that blog.

P.S.  For the member who asked about the flip-flop pin cushion, there is no pattern; it was store-bought.  Sorry.

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Hey Batter, Batter!  It's time to talk about batting or wadding as it's also known.  As with pins and rulers, there are about a zillion variations.  There is 100% cotton, cotton-polyester, 100% polyester, and wool. And let's not forget batting made out of bamboo and batting made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles. It comes in white, off-white, and black.  And of course there is the high-loft or low-loft decision. Which batting do you prefer and why?  Does it matter if you are machine quilting or hand quilting? Do you like your batting with or without a scrim? Do some battings hold creases in your quilt more than others?  What about pre-washing your batting, do you or don't you?

Just submit a comment and let us know what's between the layers of your quilt sandwich. 

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Choosing colors when creating quilt can be a daunting task.  We all know that shading and value are important parts of what makes a quilt successful, but does color make a ruler successful? There are frosted rulers and clear rulers, yellow lines, green lines, black lines and red lines, how do you decide which ruler to use? Does the color of the fabric make a difference when selecting the colors on your ruler? Do you have a particular size ruler that seems to work for any project?  How many rulers do you have?  TQS wants to hear what you have to say about rulers, just submit a comment and talk to us about rulers.

If you'd like more information about rulers, take a look at what Jan Krentz has to say about ruler selection by clicking here.

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Did you know that during the revolutionary war there was a shortage of pins? Well that certainly isn't the case today. There are flat button head pins, applique pins, flower head pins, fork pins, glass head pins, patchwork pins, fine patchwork pins, quilting pins...and you get the idea. TQS wants to know what pins do you use for your quilting and why do you use them? Do you use different pins if you hand piece than you do if you machine piece? Do you use your pins for an application other than the application for which they are made? For example, using applique pins to hold the fabric to the paper when paper-piecing because they are smaller and don't get in the way.

Please submit a comment and let us know. We are on pins and needles here.

And by the way, how many pin cushions do YOU have?