My Five Essential Quilting Tools - Alyce

Olfa 45mm rotary cutter: I love the control the “squeezable” handle gives me - I can lock it closed, or quickly let go in case of emergency for it to retract back to safety. Very ergonomic too.

Sewline pen: As you can see by the worn label, it is well used. I use it to make flying geese, traditional HSTs and any other time I need to make a mark on my fabric.

Clover finger presser: Confession - we don’t own an iron. When we moved to Japan, it wasn’t on the need-to-get list, and we just haven’t gotten to it yet. This little beauty presses all my seams for me. And for blocks I hear you ask? Well, if they’re bee blocks, I wouldn’t press them before sending anyway, as they have a long way to go from Japan and will get a bit squished in the post anyway. So I send them unpressed and untrimmed so the recipient can square them up nicely post-airmail!

Mini scissors: These sit right in front of my sewing machine, ready to snip threads! Much more efficient and easier to use than my big fabric scissors!

6.5″ x 24″ ruler: For 18 months of my quilting life I got by with a 6.5″ x 12″ ruler. But when you’re squaring up blocks and quilts or cutting yardage, it is so much easier to use a longer ruler!

Alyce (17 Posts)

Living in Japan for 3 years, Alyce spends her days mothering 2 little monkeys, quilting, blogging at Blossom Heart Quilts, and revelling in the fabrics of Japan!

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