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The Seven Wonders of the Quilting World
http://www.articleworld.net/articles/7031/1/The-Seven-Wonders-of-the-Quilting-World
Pauline Rogers
Pauline Rogers has travelled throughout Australia and New Zealand for over 20 years, teaching the art of patchwork and quilting. She operates an award winning shop, Country Fabrics and Quilters, in Toowoomba, Queensland as well as a successful mail order and online service. She founded Quiltfest, an annual quilting event and Margie's Quilts of Hope, a quilting challenge which raises funds for breast cancer research. 
By Pauline Rogers
Published on 04/18/2006
 
Whether you are a beginner or an expert quilter, these tools are essential to ensure you have an enjoyable patchwork and quilting experience.Seven tools that make quilting easier.
The Seven Wonders of the Quilting World
Whether you are a beginner or an expert quilter, these tools are essential to ensure you have an enjoyable patchwork and quilting experience.
  1. Of the many rulers available, Creative Grid Rulers are brilliant. The white and black lines are easy to see on any colour fabric. The best advantage that these rulers have, are the built in grips that eliminate slipping of fabric.  These two features make tasks much easier. Available in 6 ½ x 6 ½ square, 6 ½ x 12 ruler, 6 ½ x 24 ruler
  2. Clover Flower Head Pins are one of the most valuable tools you can have in your sewing kit. They work exceptionally well for foundation piecing, pin through your papers with ease and they lay flat over your feed dogs as you sew.  If you have problems with your fabric moving when you are cutting, place flower pins through the layers of fabric then place a ruler over the top of your pins and cut your strip. The flower heads are so flat that your ruler will fit perfectly level over the pins. They will take all the stress out of the fabric moving.
  3. Clover Desk Top Needle Threader is a fantastic tool that is great for threading any size needle. Just one click of the button threads the needle. It is so amazing it will even thread three strands of embroidery thread at once.
  4. Add a ¼ Ruler is the most useful ruler if you are making templates and need to add a ¼ seam allowance. Make your template to the finished measurement. When cutting out your fabric place template on fabric, then place your Add a ¼ Ruler on top of the template. With your rotary cutter cut along the edge of ruler. Presto, you now have your perfect 1/4 exact seam allowance.
  5. Kwik Clip is a fantastic tool to save your fingers. Anyone who has pinned a quilt for machine quilting will appreciate this tool. The Kwik Clip saves your fingers from getting sore doing up the 100s of pins. Just simply put the Kwik Clip under the tip of the safety pin and press upwards until the pin is closed.
  6. The Rotary Cutter is the best invention ever for cutting all those pieces for patchwork. Rotary cutters come in many sizes. The medium sized rotary cutter is the most used, as it is great for single or multi layer. The jumbo rotary cutter is ideal for cutting through multiple layers. The mini cutter is superb for cutting around curves and trimming ½ square triangles back to size.
  7. Self-healing cutting mats are specially designed for use with rotary cutters. The mats come in many different sizes. The recommended size for most quilting work is 18 x 24. The mat protects the rotary cutter from damage, prevents harm of the surface where you are cutting and helps keep the fabric from slipping about.