The thing I love the most about crafting is the sense of community. I love meeting other crafters and sharing ideas with them. Most of these tips I have learned from others. I would like to pass along their wisdom.
The biggest problem I have is storage. Ugh! Where do you keep all your supplies? I am always on the look out for easier ways to store my craft items. The first one is the coffee can! My MIL first introduced me to this method. She has a ginormous coffee can full of buttons. When she finds a loose button, it goes into the can. The only drawback is digging through the endless supply to find the right color or size button.
I have 2 coffee cans. (Can I still call them cans if they are plastic?) One is for buttons, and the other is for a stamp I use on shipping envelopes. Look how nicely they stack on my shelf!
The second storage selection I find useful is the Ziploc heavy duty dry bags. My friend, Liz, shared this with me. If you have a project and want to keep the materials together, put them in one of these bags. I don't have to search through all supplies to find what I need. Perfect!
I love to reuse things for a new purpose. What is the saying..... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Love it! I am reusing this vinyl table cloth as a design wall. My husband hung the table cloth using 3M strips. The vinyl side is against the wall. The back, or flannel side, is perfect for hanging quilt blocks. Pins are not required!
Here is the close up of the 3M strip. I also use these strips to hang wall hangings. (Another tip my friend, Liz, shared.) The 3M strip is easy to apply and doesn't damage the quilt or the wall. Please make sure to check the package for appropriate weight.
My final tip deals with quilting. I love to use straight line quilting on geometric blocks, such as the disappearing 9 patch from my previous post. No matter how diligent I am with the quilting guide on my machine, it is never straight. Introducing the blue painter's tape! Another quilting friend, Donna, introduced me to this nifty little trick. When you line up the painter's tape across your block, you can use it as a guide for a straight line without marking your quilt. It is similar to using a ruler, but the tape can remain on the quilt during quilting, and picked up and moved to the next block. No marking, no residue. Just be careful that the tape is placed correctly.
I would love to hear about any other tips you would like to share! Please leave a comment below.
As always, if you like what I have to say, share this page with your friends!
I hope you have a crafty adventure today!
Anni
Great tips Anni,
ReplyDeleteAnother one I like are the wooden boxes you get from Clementines. Well it's probably because I love clementines that I have so many. They stack perfectly and you store all sorts of things in them and label the sides. I use painters tape for everything!!
Crystal
Thanks for the tip! My daughter loves clementines too. I love painters tape. It is so easy to remove when you are done!
DeleteGreat tips! Another one is the boxes you get from Clementines. It's probably because I love clementines that I have so many, but they stack up wonderfully and you can label the contents on the sides.
ReplyDeleteCrystal