Survey time.... please add yours to the list...

This one may be pretty lame, but my new favorite gadget is an electric pencil sharpener nearby to use on chalk & other marking pencils. When they are gone, I am trying the mechanical one, though.

Sherry

I'm assuming by machine you mean SM.

1.) Do a computer and software count as one tool or two? I use different software on the same computer for internet access/research, quilt design, embroidery, spreadsheets, supplemental art/drawing tools, and maybe a few more things.

2.) I use several different measuring tools.

3.) Paper & pencil. or 3.) eye/reading glasses

and I don't even "quilt" 8^D

Doc

On Thu, 6 Aug 2009 22:43:34 -0500, Polly Esther wrote (in article ):

Winner:

A dedicated cutting table. My cutting has gotten so much more accurate at a table the correct height with my favorite mat on it.

Loser:

Hard to believe, but, having too much stash. Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed I can't work.

Sort of Blooper: (Only sort of because not much choice where we're living)

Having my sewing room in the basement. Allows me to be too isolated. I think in a different house I'd want a room (with a door so I can shut people out) near the kitchen so I wouldn't be so far removed from everything else that is going on.

Winner: the sewing room I acquired when we moved here ten years ago! It's small (too small, of course), but it's mine. :D

Loser: no room in the sewing room for either a cutting table or a proper design wall. Still, having the room is worth it. :)

Winner- investing in many kitchen type cabinets for storage, base for a cutting table, thread storage cabinet and sm cabinet. Blooper- making all the flat top surfaces too small- but then no matter how large they are I'd still be whining for larger! (Cutting table 3X6, sewing table top 5X3, ironing table 2X3) Blunder- yet another quilt studio with less a/c than needed to work in comfort. And too many windows (and doors!)- great for natural lighting but lousy for finding a place for a design wall.

Dream- a walk-in closet for more storage!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

ok, here goes:

Winner: my own sewing room with 7 southern exposure windows facing my woods.

Loser: no wall space for a design wall.

Blooper: the back door is in this room. too much traffic.

amy in CNY

Polly, Reading lightly, while doing other stuff as well, I missed the part about the cans, reading only about tomato past and SMs. All wrong images...

Hanne in DK

Winners:

Large room all to myself Hubby making me a 10 foot long table, wide enough for my cutting mat

Loser:

Using the nice 10 foot long table to hold a quilting frame, and still not doing a very good job quilting, and not enjoying it...

Trixie

Winners: Wire cube system for fabric storage, added to over the years Design "wall" of batting clipped to front of wire cube system and put up out of the way for serious fabric hunting O'Lipfa 5x20 ruler (the lip edge hugs cutting mat) Martelli Ergocutter

24"x39" Olfa cutting mat, the one with numbers outside the grid (can't believe how much difference a mat can make in blade life!) EQ6 Sewing room that's bright and just large enough for sewing, cutting, pressing, fabric storage, and half the family room for the HQ16

--wow, I feel like a spoiled brat!--

Losers: Various rulers and templates Gypsy gripper (lost suction almost immediately) Alto's cutting system (maybe try it with a different mat and not cutting from way longer pieces of fabric) FabriCalc--just haven't used it

--wow, I *am* a spoiled brat!--

--Heidi

Oops. How could I forget the bloopers?? I'm in the middle of one that just seems to keep compounding itself! I tried to work around cutting from various sizes of large scraps (8x13 - 14x13) rather than yardage and outsmarted myself. It's been a pain, because there was no way to strip piece blocks that should have been easy, and I ended up cutting lots more little pieces and a whole mess the wrong size. Piecing them seems endless...

--Heidi

For me it is:

1.) Right angle ruler (kind of a drafting tool) 2.) My EQ5 program 3.) Black and Decker "Classic" iron

Michelle in Nevada, USA

Winners: dedicated sewing room with a linen closet to store my tubs of fabric.

Loser: Using my cutting table to set my machines on when they really need a table of their own with drop down so they can sit level with the surface.

Blooper: starting way too many projects at once. At last count, I have

6 I'm actively working on and two UFO's.

Michelle in Nevada, USA

Nay, Michelle. Several projects going is not a blooper. I love to have at least 3 in various stages so I can pick up whichever sort of stitching I'm in the mood for. Even better, this week I had a crib quilt basted and the BSR ready to go. Quilting neighbor just could not resist. She had that one quilted before I could blink. I really should keep a 'temptation' set up all the time. . . just in case. Polly

"Michelle C." Blooper: starting way too many projects at once. At last count, I have

Hi

Mine are:

1) my favorite thimble 2) my tiny sissors 3) my quilting hoop

-***Debbie***

"Kate in MI" wrote in news:h5fcae$eb8$ snipped-for-privacy@news.albasani.net:

Winner- my own sewing room with a door that closes. Loser- the huge store display case that I thought would be a good idea to hold parts of my stash, only to find out I might have to get smaller in order to move around my sewing room now.

-***Debbie***

"Polly Esther" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

LOL! I really should have a neighbor like that! Can we put one on our quilting wish list?

Michelle > Nay, Michelle. Several projects going is not a blooper. I love to have

1. Omni GRIP rulers of all dimensions.
2. Clover seam ripper with brown handle.
3. Olfa 45mm cutter with floral handle (ALSO: Chocolate and Coffee ... while those are not tools, I want them handy when I sew.) PAT in VA/USA

Joanna: Do you use those metal rulers with rotary cutter and mat? PAT, Nosy in Virginia