![]() I have also found that Swan gloves fit me well (they come in different sizes), especially with the velcro wrist adjustment, and they last longer. The Swan gloves seem to really help me to control my quilt sandwich while free motion quilting, which makes my quilting more controlled and my designs that much better. I can even change my sewing machine needle and load a bobbin without taking them off. You can use your touchscreen electronics while wearing them. These gloves are different from any other quilting gloves I’ve ever used - they are leather and built kind of like a golfer’s glove with the ring finger and pinky cut out. I did purchase a new pair last year at Market, just in case. My first pair lasted through the Pandemic and other than maybe being a bit worn, they are still good. I found Swan Gloves quite by accident at International Quilt Market before the Pandemic hit. I’ve used other brands of gloves over the years like Machingers and Grabaroos, but my favorite favorite gloves for the last four or five years are the Swan quilting gloves by Amity Studios. All quilters have their own favorites and I am no different. Machine quilting gloves are an oldy but a goody in my quilting toolbox as I’ve been using them almost as long as I have been free motion quilting. But it did come with a nice case so I can roll up my wool mat and take it with me. Now I wish I would have gotten one a little bit wider, though, as my ironing board is a generous 24″ x 60″. My wool mat is narrow and long and almost fits the length of my ironing board. All I can say is I don’t know why it took me so long to try it out! My blocks don’t slide around or stretch and the warmth underneath makes pressing quicker and easier with less work for better results. WOW! I cannot tell you what a difference a wool mat makes when pressing. I figured, what the heck? Maybe it would work for me because I find pressing so tedious. It was an impulse Prime Day purchase, but I splurged and bought a wool pressing mat. Silly, I know, but true.Īnyway, fast forward to this summer. Sometimes it can take a while for me to warm up to a new idea. I even won a handmade knitted felted wool mat, but then never used it. ![]() I listened politely, nodded, and promptly forgot about them. For the last several years, fellow quilt guild members have been extolling the benefits of using one when pressing fabrics, blocks, and quilts. ![]() I know wool pressing mats aren’t really new, but they are new to me. You can find them at your local quilt shop or favorite online retailer. These tools have saved me time, improved my accuracy, and even just made quilting more fun. So I thought I’d take a little time to share with you those new things as well as some of my old favorites. I’ve recently added a couple new things to my studio that have been real game changers for me. So let’s dive right into a great list of quilting helpers! Quilter’s Toolbox Ideas to Improve Your Quilting Of course, all I really want to do right now is to make quilts. Yum! There’s nothing like homemade applesauce in the winter. Now I have to add some apple picking this weekend because I’m thinking of making some crockpot applesauce and freezing it for this winter. But there are still some nice sized apples. We’ve never really treated them and they’ve never been pruned to my knowledge - hence the “overgrown” part - and the deer and bugs have been helping themselves. I was pleasantly surprised that there are some decent apples up in the trees even as the leaves are starting to fall off. While out enjoying the weather the other day, I strolled back to our crazy overgrown dwarf apple trees which are like 15 feet tall. ![]() I’ve also been doing a little more cooking for dinner and even some baking. I am totally enjoying the cooler nights and warm days we’ve been having around here. LOL!Īnother week has just zoomed by and I cannot believe that Fall officially arrives on Saturday. I finally realized I’d better take a little break from piecing and get to some machine quilting before I completely drowning in unfinished quilt tops. Nope, sorry, no quilt tutorial this week.
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