Product review: Skyhawk Acrylic Quilting Ruler Combo Pack of 2 Quilters Rulers

I am experienced quilter and I like working with these rulers.

* The rulers has a lot of lines and the lines are in yellow and black so it works well on dark and light fabrics. In my photos I show it on black and white fabric so you can see how well the lines show up.

* The numbers appears on all four sides of the ruler so I can tell at a glace if my fabric is lined up correctly

* Has lines for 30, 45, and 60 degree angles

* Has a hole for hanging, so I can store it on my craft pegboard

This is a simple product but it is well made with attention to details.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: iNee 6 Fat Quarter Bundles, Cotton Fabric for Quilting Sewing

This listing combines several options, I got the 6 pack of greens. I am a quilter and have purchased thousands of fat quarters in my life. This is a decent fabric - the cotton is not thin and flimsy, it has good thickness. In attached photos I show it with back lighting and my hand behind the fabric so you can use transparency as your own judgment of thickness.

These are not quilt shop top notch fat quarters, but they are decent. They are properly sized for a fat quarter (22" x 21.5"). They are 100% cotton.

This fat quarters are provided to me at a special discount for evaluation and review. Getting a discounted product for evaluation does not prevent me from leaving critical reviews in the past when the product warrants it. I leave critical reviews on regular basis, however, this quarters were exactly what I expected in size, thickness, and quality - good but not outstanding fabric.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: ZERRO Double-Sided Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat Full A2 (24''x18'') A3( 24''x18'') Best for Art Crafts Quilting Sewing Cutting

I am a quilter so I have a number of rotary cutting mats in various sizes. Most of my mats are self-healing Olfa mats.  Olfa mats have marking on one side and the other side is unmarked. These mats have markings on both sides, which is better. Self-healing properties of any cutting mats do not last for ever, so when both sides have markings it increases the useful life span of the mat. When I tried cutting using this mat it worked well.


So this mat two big pluses, however this mat was not made for American market where we use inches to measure. All its markings are in centimeter.
One side is marked every centimeter.  The other side has markings every 2".

If you just need lines, this mat will work fine.  Cutting photograph borders or cutting big pieces of fabric - no problem.  If you  want to line up quilting squares it is like to be  a problem as American quilting squares are all measure in inches. For quilting I want to see either 1" or 1/2" markings.

This mat is clearly not made for the American market because of the measurements.  Whether this is a problem for you or not depends on how you use the lines. 


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Skyhawk Quilter's Ruler Combo Pack - 24-Inch-by-6-1/2-Inch and 9-1/2-Inch-by-9-1/2-Inch quilting rulers

I am experienced quilter and Skyhawk folks clearly know what quilters need in the rulers.

' The rulers has a lot of lines and the lines are in yellow and black so it works well on dark and light fabrics. In my photos I show it on black and white fabric so you can see how well the lines show up.
' The numbers appears on all four sides of the ruler so I can tell at a glace if my fabric is lined up correctly
' Has lines for 30, 45, and 60 degree angles
' Has a hole for hanging, so I can store it on my craft pegboard

A simple product but well made with attention to details.

Skykawk was looking for an experienced quilter to evaluate their new product. I reviewed one of their products in the past and they provided me a sample to evaluate these rulers. I give them thumbs up!


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat by Calibre Art

I am a quilter so I have a number of rotary cutting mats in various sizes, I can't imagine quilting without my rotary mats and my rotary cutter. Most of my mats are self-healing Olfa mats. They have a life span of about 4-5 years of frequent use. Eventually they lose the self-healing properties. CalibreArt Mats are noticeably thicker than any of my other mats. In my video I show one of my Olfa mats next to CalibreArt Mat so you can see the difference.

My Olfa mats have markings on one side and are plain green on the other side. CalibreArt Mats have inch markings on one side and centimeter markings on the other side. Even though centimeter are not useful for me to quilting, they are useful when I just need to lay fabric on a straight line. I find double sided mat more useful than having a totally unlined side like Olfa mats.

One of Olfa mats does not lay flat, it has a bit of a wave which presses down when I cut. CalibreArt mat is much thicker and heavier, it lays totally flat. Calibre mat's thickness (measured with a digital calliper) is 0.115". Olfa mat's thickness is 0.062".

I got the large size (24" x 36") it covers almost my entire sewing table and it really makes cutting easier, I do not have to reposition and move the fabric. This is a very nice mat!

Can anything be improved? Yes. My Olfa mats show the measurements on all 4 sides of the mat. CalibreArt mat shows numbers only on the left and bottom. Sometimes the fabric covers the bottom and left side and it is harder the tell the measurements. It is a minor nit but I am including it in hope that the manufacturer is reading reviews and might make this great mat even better in the future.

Update 2/28/15: Manufacturer contacted to let me know that they will add additional measurement markers for these mats. Nice to hear when manufacturer is so responsive to customer suggestions.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Evriholder IOM-FNL Iron on Mat with Funnel

In my spare time I am a quilter, so my ironing board in the study is always out with the iron is on it. I also use my ironing board for doing art layouts as it allows me to do so without bending down (important because of my back problems). Since I am around my ironing board a lot I have knocked down the iron to the floor quite a few times. Not good for the iron (had to replace at least one iron) and not good for the floor (have a gouge in the wood floor).

I have tried several iron rests, which improved things but did not totally resolve the problem until I bought this silicone iron rest pad.

Not only the silicone iron rest pad is heat resistant, it is non-slip. Since the iron sits on it with the business side down (not its end) it is very stable, it is pretty impossible to knock down. As an added bonus the pad is water proof, so when you use steam and iron has water in it, if a little of it leaks out it stays on the pad. I am attaching a collage of two photos. In the photos you can see the pad with my iron on it in two different orientations, so you can see how it fits.

The pad size is 14.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches. It weights 2.4 ounces

This iron pad is designed to resist hot temperatures for short periods of time only. The warning on the package says that it should not be used with temperatures of over 500 F (260 C) even for short period of times. It also warns not to use it if the pad gets cuts or pierced. The pad itself does get heated up with a hot iron on it, so let it cool off before handling. One of the pad ends has a funnel that is normally collapsed and flat. It can be used to make it easier to add water to the iron without spills. I have not found much use for this feature although the funnel does pop out nicely and does fit into the opening. This product is made in China.

Overall, I am very pleased - a very inexpensive solution to a really annoying problem.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Kindle book review: Quilts Their Story and How to Make Them

I am an experienced quilter, who enjoys creating quilts and is interested in the history of quilt making. This book contains no illustrations or instructions on making quilts. However, it contains a very detailed and interesting history of quilts and quilt making. I learned a lot of small new details that I did not know before and enjoyed reading this book very much.

The book was written n 1915 and starts with a brief explanation of quilt making. Then it starts its journey into the history of quilt making. The roots of quilting and weaving are dated back by their appearance in ancient art work. For example, the images of a loom appear in 2650 B.C. The old piece of patchwork can be found in a Museum of cairo and dates to 960 B.C.

The book traces the appearance of patchwork during Trojan War, Middle Ages, Renaissance. Appliqué makes it appearance in Florence (described as cut work). There a very lengthy chapter on history of quilts in America, which I found very interesting. There is an interesting chapter on quilt block names. I never gave the block names much thought but the author organized them by themes such as political, religion, sky. and it gave me a fresh new way to think about the blocks I know and love.

I found the book educational and enjoyable. Great trip into history!


You can find "Quilts : Their Story and How to Make Them" on Amazon by following this link


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Olfa Rotary Blade Refill, Ritate Blade resharpening

I had my Olfa rotary blade for over 10 years. I use it practically every week, so it gets a lot of work.  I use my rotary cutter for quilting fabric, cutting photographic paper, cutting regular paper. My blades do a lot of work!

I use a rotary blade sharpener to prolong the life of each blade for a long time. I have re-sharpened each blade at least 10 times each. I see improved cutting (for example, on fabric you stop getting a few threads that did not get cut on the first stroke).

These blades are very high quality, they take many re-sharpening and continue to work as new!

For most part of the 10 years I have re-sharpened my Olfa rotary blade, I used a rotary blade sharpener like this one Rotary Blade Sharpener For 45mm Blades on Amazon.
To sharpen the blade, you to disassemble the rotary cutter, which has a number of pieces including the blade. Then you place the the blade between two round circles the sharpener. Each side facing the blade has sand paper, that polishes out the nicks in the blade. You sharpen the blade by rotating the two pieces of the sharper against each other. After the sharpening you have to move the blade back to the rotary cutter, and then reassemble the rotary cutter correctly (one has to remember how pieces fit together exactly).

Recently I discovered a sharpener that works without having to remove the blade from the cutter. It works by using the same motion as you cut, by moving the cutter in the sharpener itself. Not having to remove the blade from the sharpener is a *huge* advantage. It is faster, less chance of cutting yourself, and no chance of assembling the rotary cutter the wrong way (been there, done that). It is called "TrueCut" TrueCut Rotary Blade Sharpener

Both rotary cutters work well and prolong the life your blades, and thus save you money.

So I highly recommend this blade refill and its usage with the blade sharpener.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Clover Leather Coin Thimble for Sewing and Quilting

My favorite thimble, combines comfort and strenth

I am a quilter and have a collection of thimbles. This review presents the comparison of the thimbles along with images of how they fit.

Clover Coin Thimble is made out of pliable leather and is very comfortable. It has a metal plate at the tip, which can be used to push through needles with strength without hurting the tip of your finger. This is my favorite thimble, and I own two of them as I often use it in two fingers (second and third) at the same time.

I am attaching comparison and pictures of the thimbles in my collection. In one image you can see the thimbles by themselves, and in another picture of how they fit on my fingers. The numbers in the images correspond to the numbers below.

1.    Leather thimble with a metal plate (marked #1 in the photos, this is the product in this listing) is my favorite, most versatile thimble. Because it is leather it become shaped to your finger and gets more and more comfortable with use. The metal plate on the tip allows to push through and not hurt your finger. It does not have an opening at the top, so it may not work for those who have long nails.

2.    All leather thimble (marked #2 in the photos) is extremely comfortable, but because it has no metal parts it provides less protection. I often use it as a second thimble on the hand to protect another finger because it does not get in a way. It has an opening at the top, so it works for those who have long nails.

3.    Strip thimbles (marked #3 in the photos) turned out not to be very useful. The leather itself can be penetrated by the needle, the pink plastic insert does protect the finger. However the string that holds thimble together on the back broke very quickly. I was able to repair them by stitching them together on the back to replace the string that broke. As you see from the photo they don't cover the very tip of the finger, so they did not work well for me.

4.    Plastic thimble provides good protection, but hard plastic makes it a bit hard to work with. So I usually put it on only when my needle is stuck and needs an extra push. It has an opening at the top, so it would work for someone with long nails.

5.    Thimble #5 is a thimble I made myself out of band-aid wrapped around my finger. I needed to protect my thumb, and my home made thimble worked best. If you have hard time finding a good thimble, give it a try making it yourself out of Nexcare bandages. They seem to hold the shape well, and I could put my home-made thimble on and off, so I could re-use.

6.    Thimble #6 was a thumb thimble I bought, but I found that it got in the way because it was a bit too long and made my hands less agile. It has no opening at the top, so it might not work for people with long nails.

So if you have to buy one thimble I would go with the Clover leather thimble with a metal plate.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★