Scored a whole box of rulers at the estate sale down the street

That feeling of sorting through someone else's stash never gets old. A couple years back I bought a sewing machine cabinet at a church rummage sale and found a whole drawer of templates and rulers tucked inside, including a log cabin ruler I'd never heard of and a fat quarter of templates for mariner's compass that must have taken the original owner years to accumulate. I use that log cabin ruler constantly now, and every time I do I think of her.

One thing I learned with my find: check the edges of the older acrylic rulers against a straight edge before you trust them. Some of mine had gotten slightly warped from being stored in a hot attic, and the cuts on a charity quilt came out just shy of accurate until I figured out which ones to retire for trimming duty and which ones were still true. Also, the tissue wrapping detail got me. Mine were wrapped in newspaper, which left a faint gray smudge on the fabric side of everything, so a second wash with dish soap was needed. Yours sound much better cared for. I hope you post the charity quilt when it's done, it feels right that these tools will end up warming someone who needs it.

I read the part about wondering who built the collection, and it hit home becasue I was on the other side of that last spring. When my aunt passed, my cousins were clearing out her sewing room and asked if I wanted anything before the rest went to the church sale. I kept her 6 by 24 and the curved template she used for drunkard's path blocks, but I told them to let everything else go to a quilter who whould actually use it. Honestly I hope whoever bought her box felt the way you do now. She wrote her initials in Sharpie on the back of every ruler, so if a W. Halloran ever shows up on somebody's cutting mat, that was her. My one diffrent take is on the cutter part. I'll buy secondhand rulers all day long, but I pass on used rotary cutters unless I can put a fresh blade in before cutting anything. A blade that's been rolling around a drawer for years is how my neighbor ended up with a nicked fingertip while trimming batting, and it wasn't worth the two dollars saved. New blade in, old blade wrapped in cardboard and taped shut, then it's fine.

Six dollars for the whole box is a serious score. When we priced my aunt's stuff we almost gave it away too cheap, so the volunteer did you a real favor.

That neon yellow grid stuff is nice to have, no doubt. I started quilting back when we cut everything with scissors off cardboard templates traced from cereal box sides, and my first look at a rotary cutter was at a guild demo in the late 80s. Half the room figured it was a gimmick that would dull before the second quilt. Took me years to come around. I still keep my old cardboard diamond from a grandmother's flower garden project in the notion drawer. Won't ever use it again but can't bring myself to toss it. Sounds like the lady who owned your box was the same breed, tools tucked away neat like she figured she'd be back at the machine any day.