Every quilter knows you don’t use good quilting scissors to cut paper. If only their family members knew that as well. We asked our By the Yard® comics readers what was the worst abuse of their sewing scissors and here are some of the best (worst?) responses:
• Paper, of course. How many times do we have to say it?
• Wrapping Paper – Here is a tip: This still counts as paper. The word “paper” is in the name!
• Packages – Not only is this a violation of the “no paper” rule, but once you get packing tape involved, now we are talking about the blades getting all gummy, too!
• Duct Tape – Even more sticky! Try using your teeth instead.
• Roof Flashing – In a way, I’m impressed that is worked, but the blades will never be the same.
• Wire – I have to admit, as a kid I was guilty of this one myself. Sorry, Mom!
• Tortillas – OK, I get it. They are flat and kind of floppy like fabric, but still!
• The tip off a Tube of Caulking – Home improvement warriors everywhere, take note.
• Laundry Soap Jug – Yes, that DIY birdfeeder you saw on Pinterest is super cool, and I know my sewing scissors are “really sharp”, but still – No.
• Toenails – That’s just gross.
• And finally, the winner has to be… Raw Chicken! Even if I left my scissors in the kitchen (I probably set them down there so I could go handle some family “emergency” like re-booting the Wi-Fi…), that does not make them “kitchen scissors”.
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Category Archives: quilting
Why Do Quilters Have so Much Fabric?
Quilters have a lot of fabric. That is a natural consequence of the hobby, but why? There are many
cheeky comments online about “hoarding disorders”, but that is not the real reason. The real reasons
we have so much fabric are varied. Let’s consider a few:
• It was on sale – This rationale is the subject of many memes, but with good quality quilting
fabric costing upwards of $10-12 per yard, it is sufficient justification. Maybe you don’t need
that fabric today, but it will come in handy later so let’s take advantage of the cost savings now!
• It is for my 401F, “fabric retirement account” – Many quilters actively build their stashes while
they are gainfully employed knowing that in their retirement years, fabric is going to be even
more expensive than it is today. As long as you keep it out of the sunlight and away from
dampness, quilting fabric can never “go bad”, so stashing up now just makes good sense.
• Inspiration everywhere – I am sure I speak for many quilters out there not just myself when I
say, its hard to walk into a fabric store for a specific thing and not walk out with additional,
unplanned acquisitions. Seeing new colors and designs always sends my imagination spinning
with what I “could” make with those fabrics. I buy some, hoping I will be able to find time to
actually make that newly envisioned project… someday.
• It was just pretty – I have purchased fabric many times just because it was pretty, with little or
no idea about what it would be used for. For quilters, many times quilting is more akin to
collecting rather than sewing, and that is just as valid as any other “collecting” hobby. We take
the fabric out from time to time, we admire it, we think about what we might make with it.
Maybe we use it, maybe we put it back in the stash. Either way, it just makes us happy to own a
little bit of it.
• Stash-building – Folks who quilt a lot know what they are always in need of. For me, it is green. I
can’t get enough of it and I can never have too many shades of green. Having a variety of fabrics
on hand to choose from helps new quilting projects come to life without a mad dash to the
fabric store.
Whatever your reason, go buy some fabric today. I can guarantee you’ll be glad you did!
Not A Good Time
Plans Change
More Rules for Living with a Quilter
Last year around this time we brought you some very handy Rules for Living with a Quilter. Now it’s
about time for a refresher course. Let’s take a look at a few more ways to coexist with these creative
creatures:
1. Couch hazards – Always be careful where you sit.
2. Never sit in your Quilter’s spot – Your Quilter chose their spot because it has the best lighting in
the house, and you can just as easily watch Stargate from the dark side of the couch.
3. Competition for horizontal space – Do you like doing puzzles? Stamp collecting? Perhaps
building model ships? You are going to have to find some other place to do that because your
Quilter will use up all of the horizontal surfaces in the house.
4. No sit-down dinners – Get used to eating on the couch or while standing over the sink because
your Quilter needs the dining room table for layering together their latest quilt, and the kitchen
table probably has a sewing machine and a pile of fat quarters on it as well.
5. Never enough fabric – Your Quilter is just as surprised as you are that they didn’t have just the
right shade of green to finish that quilt. Put your coffee in a To-Go cup and have a little trip with
them to the fabric store!
I’ll Put it on My To-Do List
When I was an undergraduate, my roommate caught me making a list of homework assignments. He looked at me with mild disgust and sternly warned me, “Don’t be a list-maker”. I believe his intention was to encourage me to “live in the moment” and not be constrained by lists, more specifically, some pre-conceived idea of what I should be doing for the day. At the time, I didn’t understand his point at all because we were both going to MIT, a notoriously difficult school. I could not figure out how he expected me to get anything done without making a list. After all, there was so much to do!
Years later, when I was in graduate school at the very same Institute, we had an in-class project to take the Myers Briggs personality test. I resisted this like the plague but eventually had to acquiesce. In the end, I found out I had the type of personality that would go so far as to make a list of things I’d already done specifically so I could check things off the list. All these years I thought that was just me. It turns out, there’s a whole bunch of people like that and they have their very own “type”! I was greatly relieved by this discovery and went on to make many more lists with complete impunity.
Today, I make lists for my quilting projects. They help me to know what supplies I need to acquire, remember where I am on project, decide which project is more important, and more. Is it a gift? If so, it needs to get done sooner. Is it for a quilting pattern I have to get published? Well then, better put that at the top of the list!