Rotary Cutters

I know that I am not alone in having more than one rotary cutter. I have six maybe seven rotary cutters. I am not completely sure of the total. I have both a Fiskars 45mm and a 28mm. I do have a couple of Olfa 45mm rotary cutters that I got when I first started quilting seriously and at least one 28mm Olfa as well. I also have an OmniGrid 45mm.

The 28mm rotary cutters are best for cutting curves and small tight cuts. I don't use them as much as I do the 45mm cutters. Out of the four 45mm rotary cutters, I use the Fiskars and the OmniGrid more often than the Olfas. 

I was trying to figure out why I gravitate towards these two in particular. At first, I think it was because they were newer. I am a gadget person and I love to try different things. Add to that I have carpal tunnel so anything that helps keep the pressure off my wrists is a good thing.

I bought the Fiskars because I liked the shape of the handle. I thought the handle would be more ergonomic and therefore better for my wrist. It does put less stress on my wrists. 

The OmniGrid cutter I got on sale. In fact I only bought it because it was such a great deal. One day when I couldn't put my hands on my Fiskars cutter, I opened it and tried it out. The OmniGrid is a self-closing cutter. The blade is only exposed when you apply pressure to cut. Which for me is a good thing because I forget to close the blade sometimes. I have gotten nicks on my hands from bumping into an open blade.  But let me tell you, it did take some getting use to.

I keep my Fiskars cutter by my sewing desk and the OmniGrid cutter by my cutting surface. I tend to cut up small scraps sitting down at my sewing desk on a smaller cutting mat. Large scraps, project cutting or any other type of cuts, I tend to do standing at my cutting surface which is about counter height. 

In the past few weeks, my sewing desk has not been an available surface due to "The Husband Factor" I was too tired to stand while cutting up scraps so I pulled a tall chair up to my cutting surface. I proceeded to cut sitting down with the OmniGrid cutter. After all it was the one close at hand. 

It just felt awkward. I could not get comfortable using it, it just did not feel right. I switched to the Fiskars cutter and it was perfect. But when I stood up to cut, the Fiskars cutter, just wasn't working out as well as the OmniGrid cutter. 

What it boils down to is this, when sitting I hold the cutter at a different angle than I do when standing. The sitting posture requires a different positioning of your shoulder and arm. The Fiskars cutter's handle works better for me sitting down. The OmniGrid handle works better for me standing up. I also notice it in the pressure on my wrists when cutting. You know what else I noticed I noticed that I make better cuts using the right shaped handle for the particular position I am employing at the time (standing vs sitting). 

Do you have a favorite cutter? Do you have more than one?

To De-stash or Not to De-stash

 I have been part of Just Get It Done Declutter Challenge for the past 3 years. I admit that this year, I didn't do a whole lot of the decluttering. Mostly because there wasn't a whole lot to declutter after the past two years. Mostly I needed to getting things organized and straightened up. 

Now one of the things encouraged during the declutter challenge is to reduce your stash.  You are supposed go through your stash and what no longer appeals to you get rid of.  Only keep what you have space for and/or will use. Over the past 3 years, I have gone through my Stash. I definitely have more fabric than I can use at the current rate that I am sewing. 

There are many ideas out there for ways to reduce it. Donate and Sell are the biggest ones.

One suggestion is to donate it to charity quilt groups. Another was to donate to Home-Ec departments at underprivileged schools. I often suggest the 4-H programs. Someone else suggested Boys and Girls Clubs. Yet another suggestion was senior centers. All worthy causes.

There are suggestions of taking it to the local guild for the give away table. I don't belong to a guild yet, but I would probably bring home just as much as I donated.  The other guild suggestion was to donate to a fund raiser. I guess they have yard sales to help raise funds for the program. Again I would probably buy more than I donated.

The last suggestion was to sell it. This suggestion gives you a chance to recoup some of your investment. There are many places/ways to sell fabric. E-bay was a site I used often when I first started getting serious about quilting. Facebook Market place is another popular sales site. You could always do your own yard sale. A big suggestion that I hear from podcasters and bloggers is the different De-Stach sites. Web sites specifically for selling you left over fabric.

I have only visited one De-stash site. Feel Good Fibers. Both times I had been given a gift certificate to the site. Interestingly, both time I bought from a podcaster I followed. Both times I bought some nice solids that filled a niche in my stash. But this last time, I also bought two 1/4 #  bags of scraps.  Why on earth would I buy someone else's scraps?  I don't think I would buy just anyone's scraps. Like I said I follow this person. Their color and print choices in fabrics appeal to me. I also wanted some good print fabrics for small hexies. What I had seen her use for prints would work for the hexies. So I gambled on a 1/4# of liberty prints. The 1/4# of scraps was Art Gallery solids. I am pleased with both.

So would I ever use a de-stash site? Yes, to buy prints I can't get anywhere else. To sell, probably not. I am not ready to get rid of my stash. That's not to say I won't share it. I am happy to share with other quilters and or crafters. But to get rid of my precious fabric for the sake of space. Not going to happen. 

I guess I just need to increase the amount of time I spend sewing. That or find more space to store it.

Have you considered De-stashing?

Finished a UFO

 This week I finished a UFO. It only needed binding and that's all it needed for the past month. But it is finally finished and the label is on. I don't consider it finished if the label is not on it. Unfortunately I finish it one day after my two week reign as Queen of UFOs ended. So I will need to send a Fat Quarter to the winner of the next quarter. (or this quarter) I guess I better find that out. 

The fabric is from a set of charm packs that felt rather manly. It is for a man after all and I didn't want any thing flowery.  I found a pine cone and pine needle E2E pattern from Wild Flower quilting and used that quilt it with. The backing is hunter green and this time I matched the bobbin thread to the back. I then used a neural thread color for the top.  I hadn't used mismatched color before. I bound it with a dark brown solid fabric using a slightly wider binding.

This throw quilt is for a friend of the family. Sort of a surrogate grandfather to my kids. I wish I had finished it last week. That way I could have given it to him at church. He is in a wheel chair, after having his leg amputated a little while back. He has just started coming back to church. Last Sunday, the Chapel was really cold. This made it so he needed to leave early. This Sunday I will have the quilt for him. 

This has me thinking about making throw quilts to keep in the chapel at church. Most of our congregation are older. If there were a few throw size quilts on the back pew where you enter, they could grab one and hopefully be comfortable. It would be easy enough to zip up some simple patchwork from all of the 5" charm packs I have. The backing and batting would be the bigger issue. I am not made of money after all.

I will have to think on this a little bit.

What are you working on?

Fabric Hoarding (from the perspective of the dragon)

 I am a Fabric Dragon. My hoard consists of mounds of fabric in all shapes, sizes, colors and patterns. All of which I adore and treasure. Doesn't that sound so much better that a fabric hoarder. 

I fully admit that I am addicted to color, patterns, and textures. I don't part with fabric simply because I have too much of it or that I finished the project that I got it for. I don't throw away scraps until they are too small for me to use. I am even finding uses for smaller bits these days as I venture into more EPP. I am eager and happy to take on anyone's discards even if they are only scraps. 

My hoard has definitely reached the classification - STABLE. Stable sounds pretty good doesn't it. But when you know what it stands for, it's not as positive as it seems. Stable = Stash Total Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.

My whole family knows that I have too much fabric. Yet they encourage it, enable me to have it and actually contribute to it. As addictions go, this one isn't so bad. Part of my addiction goes back to harder times early on in my marriage. If I was working, I didn't have time to craft. (I had small children) If I wasn't working, I didn't have the money to craft. As I am approaching retirement age, I am well aware that I won't have the funds to do all the things I want to once I retire. So I am accumulating it now. At least that is how I justify it.

Do you have a stash?  Is it STABLE?  Do you want to De-Stash? (let me know if you do)