Linky Party and keeping scissors

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Quilter's Favorites

Oh my, this Quilter's Favorites Linky Party is turning out to be some kind of fun!  Thus far, I've read several tips and ideas, found four quilt blogs to follow, and met some of the nicest people.  

Geta has done a great job of pulling in some inspiring bloggers with useful ideas and tips. 

While reading one of those blogs, I realized that I have another tip.  I have a pair of scissors, a pin cushion, a seam ripper and a tape measure at every work station: sewing, cutting, pressing, and so on.  This way I don't have to remember to take the items with me from one station to another. 

The problem I had, for a while anyway, was remembering to leave the items in the designated station, especially the scissors.  To solve that, I tied the scissors to the area using a long string.  Once I got used to leaving them there, I removed the string.  It worked!  Now I just carry the project pieces as I move around the room.

Of course, this means duplicates and triplicates and quadruplicates of some expensive notions, so I don't imagine that it's affordable for new quilters.  But those of us who have been in the biz for a while already have many of the items we need: it's just a matter of figuring out where each particular item is best kept.

Managing my scissors was most difficult and took some trial and error.  In the end I've put the biggest, best scissors on the cutting table.  These babies cut 6-8 thicknesses of fabric at once.  I rarely cut that many, but it's nice to have them when I'm cutting many of something.

Another good pair of titanium scissors is near the Studio cutter to finish off the little threads that don't quite make the blade cut.  And since I cut lots of applique pieces, I use them for that as well.

An older pair is near the ironing board.  I sometimes need to snip or trim while pressing a block or applique pieces.  When sewing garments, I also often need to snip around arm holes and such.  These scissors are older and no longer razor sharp, but the point still snips very well.

At my sewing machines I keep little snips or scissors that will quickly cut thread or trim fabric.  My husband gave me this little pair and I love them--no problems with my fingers getting stuck in the finger holes.  

If you look back at the first photo, notice that I added a plastic hook to hold a pair of scissors on my machine.  I've done this on every machine.  It's one of my best ideas yet.  The long arm doesn't leave the scissors behind and I can always find my scissors at the serger or the Bernina. 

Now quickly, go visit Geta's blog and link up with the many quilters who have more great ideas to share.
Happy Quilting,
Mary