Resources

RESOURCES & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Hello My Friends!

I get a lot of questions all the time about my favorite resources, notions and other goodies that I can’t live without so here is a list of some of my favorites. More will be added to this page soon but for now this is at least a starting point.

MACHINE

I have sewn on a Bernina 1260 for the last 15 years. She is my workhorse and I don’t think I will ever replace her until she literally falls apart. I have never, ever had any trouble with her and I love her! For traveling and retreats, I have a Janome Gold which serves me wonderfully when I need a small portable machine that I can travel with.

Recently I have fallen head over heals in love with the Sashiko 2 machine by Baby Lock. It really only does one thing… it sews the most wonderful stitches that are doubled by the machine itself and they mimic hand-quilting. The only thing you can regulate on her is the length of the stitch… but its heaven for finishing up smaller projects and giving something that handmade quilting look when I know that I will never have the time for the actual thing!

FABRIC

Since I design for MODA fabrics, I use my Fig Tree collections for them almost exclusively. I do mix in some other MODA designers once in a while and also love MODA’s line of Bella Solids… they have the most amazing colors that work perfectly with so many of my fabrics. We don’t generally sell yardage of our collections and leave that up to the hundreds of wonderful stores out there who do that, but we do carry a few of our favorite Bella solids that coordinate with various projects of ours.

One of the most common questions I get is about the cream background I use. See HERE for a link to a blog post about just that [coming soon].

THREAD

I love my Aurifil! It was one of those “love at first site” moments when I first discovered it when I worked in my local quilt store and I have never looked back. My favorite piecing thread is the #2000 ivory color. Of course since we have started designing threads with Aurifil, I find myself looking for excuses to use so many of the other colors. We have designed boxes of thread, floss, wool thread and I love them all! If you really want to splurge [hint: this is a perfect thing to ask for as a gift], we have our large spool box of Aurifil thread with all of my favorite Fig Tree colors. Click HERE to see all of our threads!

WOOL

Ever since I can remember, I have loved adding wool into projects here and there for some added texture and visual interest. And I would be lying that I don’t love it as an alternative to fabric in small piece appliqué due to its ease of use… given that you don’t have to turn the edges when you appliqué… that’s reason enough for me. A few years ago we started a partnership with Weeks Dye Works and have started offering our own Fig Tree colored wools and we can barely keep them in stock. Each year we have run a year long Wool Block of the Month and have used the wool bundle as the base of that program. This fall we will also start carrying smaller color coordinated bundles for each season so stay tuned for that soon.

For WOOL TUTORIALS, click HERE.

For WOOL PRODUCTS, click HERE.

OTHER NOTIONS:

Many of our favorite notions are available in our NOTIONS SHOP.  Click HERE for more information.

CUTTING MATS

If you know me, you know its always about color and how something looks and feels. My favorite cutting mats are by Omnigrid or by Clover [the light green ones are my favorites. I basically use the large 24″ x 36″ on my cutting table and the 18″ x 24 as well. Next to my machine I have a 12″ x 18 size that I love for quick trimming .
I also have a wonderful rotating cutting mat [Matilda’s Own Self Healing Rotating Cutting Mat] that I enjoy using when I have to do a lot of block trimming… courtesy of Kimberly and the Fat Quarter Shop!

ROTARY CUTTER

I have used many different brands of cutters in my quilting career and Olfa is definitely my favorite. My favorite for the past couple years has been the 45 mm. Splash design mostly because its a fabulous aqua color and I love the way it feels in my hand. I also have both the 60 mm and the 18 mm and use both in certain situations but the 45 mm. is still my favorite size. My favorite blades these days are the titanium replacement blades… they really do last so much longer!

RULERS

I have 2 favorite rulers that are my go to rulers: The 4″ x 14″  and the 6″ x 12″ and I kind of use them interchangeably and love them both. I use both the Omnigrid and “Omnigrip”. I also have the 6″ x 24″ which I always use for trimming up borders and anything that requires the length. I have a few square rulers like the 12″ x 12″ for block trimming.

PINS

For as long as I can remember I have been in love with the Little House Pins. Before anyone really knew what they were, they were introduced to the store I worked and we tried them out skeptically given their price… and we were all hooked. Every single teacher and employee at our store, immediately bought a box and the rest is history. I also do use the Clover long pins often because I enjoy their length and sturdiness while still being super fine and smooth to work with.

SCISSORS

I am completely addicted to Kay Buckley’s Perfect Scissors in both the smaller green size and the slightly larger aqua size. Those scissors… well they are perfect! They have tiny little serrated edges on them which grab fabrics in a perfect way! They are a dream to use with wool too. Can’t live without them!

NEEDLES

info coming

SEAM RIPPER

I love one single seam ripper, the white Clover seam ripper. It is wonderful to hold and super sharp. I love it!

MARKING PENS

I pretty much don’t use anything other than the Friction heat erasable pen. Simply remove it with a touch of you iron. I don’t recommend it for black or other dark fabrics as sometimes it leaves a very faint white line. Other than that, it is perfect for any kind of marking and I use it every single day.

GLUE

I have been a long time fan of Roxanne’s Glue Baste It in every format. Lately my two favorites of hers are the little applicator [its perfect for travel and little spaces] and the new large tube that has two different sizes on each end… my favorite end is the one with the hole and not the applicator. It never ever gets clogged and it releases slightly larger dots than my previous favorite, the needle nose applicators.

OFFICE FAVORITES

My office is a bit of a space of creative chaos. I am always in search of ways to better organize myself and even though I don’t feel like I am often quite successful at that, here are a few things I can’t live without.

FILE FOLDERS

Beautiful file folders are a must for me. Having something lovely to store and organize my files and papers in, is not only motivational but it looks cute in my office. My favorite folders for years and years have been from Cavallini & Co. You guys should check them out. When I worked for my local quilt store about 15 years ago, I created a little “store within a store” for them with all kinds of stationary and office supplies. That is when I discovered Cavallini and have enjoyed a variety of their products since then.

COLORFUL PENS

I love the classic Paper Mate felt tip pens in every possible color. Love them. I make all of my notes and lists and work on patterns with them. They are my favorite. Kind of old school I know. I have lots of other pens too- gel pens, and micron pens, colored pencils and sharpies and lots of others. But those felt tips are my favorites!

NOTEPADS

I love to make lists. I don’t know about you but making a list and then crossing things off, one by one, is extremely satisfying to me. As are cute notepads. So I love to make TO DO LISTS on cute notepads with multicolor pens! Now you know my secret passion LOL! In the fall of 2018 we will have some Fig Tree notepads coming in so keep your eyes peeled for those. They are kind of crazy cute if I do say so myself.

Here is also a link, CLICK HERE, to a video I did with Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop about some of my favorite notions!

PHOTOGRAPHY

coming soon