Tools and Tins

Because I know that I can go a long time between posts, sometimes I make drafts of posts to put up sort of in-between. Of course, then I don't put those up either. But here is one from August.

Here are some of the tools I've been using on the Marquoir, and they are generally the tools I use with any project. First, I collect magnets. Here are a few of them, to the right. They're generally inexpensive, and I get most of them from Shepherd's Bush. Some I bought, and some I got at their Retreat (which I went to in September--yay!!). The swan at the top was a gift from the Swan Sampler Stitchers guild that they gave their members. Because I usually use metal boxes to hold my tools, these fit nicely in the lid to hold my needles, needle threader and laying tool.

Below are some more tools. At the top of the picture is a highlighter. These are very useful for marking what I've done on a complex pattern. Or I should say, a copy of a pattern. Never fear, designers--I only make a copy so I can mark it while keeping my original in good shape, and then I destroy the pattern. Actually, by the time I finish with a pattern, it's already destroyed.


Just below the highlighter in the plastic box with a green lid, is a needle. My Favorite Needle (tm) by Mardina. And it is my favorite needle. It's tiny, with a tiny eye, and so I can't use a needle threader with it, but I love the grip and the smoothness. Just below that is a needle threader. When I'm not using the MFN, I use John James Petites, which are also small, but have the traditional long eye. Obviously, I can thread a needle unaided, but it's just quicker to use the threader.

The blue box contains Thread Heaven. It's basically some silicone, used to tame threads. I generally only use it on metallics, which are the most difficult threads for me to handle. Some people also use beeswax. Both of these substances just generally get the kinks out of the thread, but they do leave a residue, so people interested in conservation tend to shy away from them.

OK, another pair of scissors. No, Shiloh, I didn't make this fob either, unfortunately. I don't remember what brand of scissors these are, but they have curved tips, which helps prevent cutting your stitching. You just sort of pull your thread to be cut taut, lay the scissors against the fabric, and snip. Lift n Snip is the most well-known brand of this type of scissors.

Next, the long brown item is a stitch fixer. Sometimes you get loose stitches, or you have too short of an end to finish off easily--this tool helps with that.

More on the box with the acorn below.

And more tools:
Yes, that long metallic object is a telescoping pointer. It has a magnet on the end and is useful for finding and picking up flung needles. That plastic box with the yellow lid is another My Favorite Needle--a petite one. It's really small and I use it for beading--the eye slips through small bead holes easily. The round item is just a piece of rubber that I use for gripping the needle--sometimes (but not too often) the back of my stitching is so tight I can't get the needle through it easily when I'm finishing off a thread. It gets stuck. Once I broke a needle trying to pull it through! The rubber just gives me a stronger grip so I can get the needle through. I also have a hemostat somewhere for the same purpose. To the right of that is My Favorite Dololly, again by Mardina. This is used to finish too-short threads, and I use it far more than the Stitch Fixer. I mostly just use that for loose stitches. With the MFD, you put the long, wiry part under your threads (in the back), then grasp your too-short thread with the hook, pull that through the wires, and pull the wires out. Voila! Your thread is secured.

Yet another pair of scissors. These are Ginghers Stork Scissors--my first pair. I did make that fob; it's an exclusive Swan Sampler Stitchers guild project--it was part of the original Swan Box project. Here is a link to a picture of that:

http://carolynstandingwebb.com/photo.htm

It's just below the butterfly, and I also did the project just below that, Threads Through Time.

OK, back to the tools. There is a small bobbin of thread. It's just a bobbin that my sewing machine messed up and I use that thread for basting lines and grids on complex projects. I don't do that too often; I prefer to just dive in. But sometimes it's a lifesaver. And the last object is an Altoid's breath strips tin. I hold extra needles in it.

Here is the tin I hold all of that stuff in:


It was given to my by my friend Tricia over 20 years ago--it originally held toffees. I don't know if you can see, but the top is a medieval falconing party. Although I have many tins and boxes for my many (over 35) works-in-progress, this is my most-used one.

And since I'm showing tins, here is the tin I'm using for my tatting tools:
It's a Whitman Salmagundi Sampler tin, and there are a lot of projects out there to make tops and liners for Whitman tins.