Minimum Viable Quilter

Quilting Basics.

Yep, the basics. Always a great place to get back to.

This weekend I am super excited about going to meet up IN REAL LIFE (shocking I know) a group of amazing quilters from close-ish to where I live.

I’m driving about 1.5 hrs to a place north of Venice to meet this group of incredibly inspiring artists (ciao Chiara, Paola, Tea… and anyone else who is on my list!)

We’ll be doing some sewing, so I got thinking about the minimum viable set of equipment I could take with me.

Minimum Viable Quilter: on the road edition

sewing machine
cutting mat
rotary cutter
ruler
snips
pins
needles
thread

(no stitch unpicker (seam ripper) you say?

You can pull stitches with a needle, and snips, so I eliminated it, plus, think positive, right? )

That’s it. Still seems a lot doesn’t it?

What else is in my stack of tools that I have but honestly could do without?

Nice to but not needed for a day in the country sewing.

seam roller
laser sight
square rulers x 4
snips
chalks (square and round)
bobbin storage case
more snips
hera marker equivalent
ironing board
iron
tailors measuring tape
magnetic bracelet for pins
coloured glue pen
all kinds of machine feet I don’t know the use of
a small embroidery hoop
3 pencils
notebook
clips
curved safety pins
gloves
walking foot guides
masking tape
binding tool
thimbles
ohmygosh so many threads
thread catcher

I’d love to expand on some of these, so stay tuned over the coming weeks as we get into the nitty gritty.

For now, my Minimum Viable Quilter list here. Check it out.

THE LIST:

sewing machine:

Bernina 350PE

My family nearly fell out of their tree when their tomboy daughter and niece asked for a sewing machine for her 30th birthday. No one saw THAT coming!

PE stands for Patchwork Edition, but this was well before I even considered patchwork or quilting.

What I wanted was a tough machine that came with a walking foot so I could sew sail material together for a project I was doing for my design degree. I wanted to be able to piece a whole range of material with this machine (leather, plastics, tough upholstery fabrics and more).

The sail came from a boat named Courtesan that I sailed with a friend’s dad and another dear friend Pete from South of Perth Yacht Club every Wednesday.

I spent some time researching and testing friends’ machines, before I decided on the Bernina 350PE. I have to say, the detailed help of the Bernina dealer in Perth, WA and his infectious enthusiasm for the product was a winning element.

Clearly the universe was telling me something though, and sent me a PatchWork Edition machine before I even knew I needed one.

I have a ¼” foot as a result as well as the walking foot and guides which I use a lot for quilting lines.

I also purchased an embroidery foot which I can use for my (ahem very limited) foray into Free Motion Quilting (that’s a very big term for what I do ) on my machine.

I’ll be posting more about sewing machines, what to look for and how to choose one in a future post.

cutting mat:

Arteza 24×35”

the biggest one in grey I could find on Amazon.

I started using the green cutting mates I had from my days as an architecture student, with increments marked in centimeters. So, for a long time I didn’t use my mat for measuring anything. I relied fully on my ruler to measure fabric.

Some people say that you should only ever measure by your ruler, but I enjoy using my current mat for cutting larger pieces as well.

The colour of the mat was the main consideration for me, as I wanted a neutral background for my workspace. I also use the grey check background for a lot of videos I make. Double handy!

rotary cutter:

Olfa 45mm

(it’s the wrong yellow, but I can deal with it)

Another tool I bought before I started quilting. I grabbed the only one available at Spotlight (Australia’s equivalent to Joanne’s – a big box craft store), and it happened to be this trusty Olfa 45mm.

I buy whatever replacement blades I can and am a true quilter in that I barely remember to change my blades, except when I have one of those irritating dead spots on the blade and have to keep re-cutting the same piece over again.

I would love to upgrade to a black LDF rotary cutter someday soon. Sigh. A girl can dream.

ruler:

6.5” x 24” Aussie made Sew Easy

I inherited this from my mum when I told her I started quilting. It was my one and only for a long time, and it’s still the ruler I pick up to use most often.

I love that the numbers increase from right to left – unlike subsequent rulers I have purchased. The length is great for cutting down yardage, or larger pieces of materials I use.

The only limitation I have with this ruler is trimming larger blocks such as 8” or 12”.

snips:

midnight snips from LDF Scissors

Drool.

As soon as I saw these, I knew I had to have some. I had a pair of regular small scissors from a small knife shop in Verona – love them, and so nostalgic!

But these LDF snips are super robust, you can twirl them like a knife fighter on a pirate ship and look awesome while doing it.

These have a truly international story, as they were hand delivered to my in Italy by an Australian friend all the way from Canada (thanks Charlotte!).

pins:

Dritz yellow head pins

I had a bunch of glass head pins, of all different colours. Too busy for me, so when I saw a box of yellow only pins, I knew these were mine.

I mean, yellow, all the same colour and they are super long – what’s not to love? They get daily use.

needles:

Schmetz machine needles

I like size 80 Universal needles for piercing and Topstitch for quilting with thicker threads

My mum has always used these needles, and so for me they are the go-to. I have never had any issue with them, so I haven’t seen a need to change. They are readily available and I love the multi packs where you can get 60-70-80-90-100 size universal needles in one pack.

I use size 80 universal needles for piecing and the topstitch needles for thicker threads (the eye is bigger and easier to thread and the front groove on the needle guides the thicker thread into the stitch).

thread:

Gutermann Sew-all for piecing (or whatever I have)

Aurifil or Gutermann cotton and Madeira wool/acrylic blend for machine quilting (various weights).

Gutermann: Again, another ‘my mum used it’ story. Gutermann Sew-all has been around my house since I can remember.

I know some people rail about using polyester thread when piecing all cotton fabrics etc etc. I am hoping my quilts will disintegrate from use far before the cotton gives out in favour of the polyester thread.

I generally use cotton thread for the quilting – maybe hedging my bets when it comes to the Great Poly/Cotton Thread Divide.

Madeira: a brand I was introduced to by Romina and Moreno, the brother and sister duo who service my machine. I tried it and liked it – it’s a little fluffy, but gives a great bold stitch.

Aurifil: well, it seems like you are not legit unless you use Aurifil these days. I’m also excited by the fact I get to use an Italian made thread on my quilts. Incidentally, it’s not all that easy to find for sale here in Italy.

That’s it for this edition of Tool Tuesday, with a round up of my Minimum Viable Quilter setup.

I’m sure you’ll have your own Minimum Viable Quilter list of tools – I’d love to hear yours!