I’m often asked about the products I use in my quilt making.  This page is a summary of just that.  Though things sometimes change and new products come along, I’ll try to keep this page updated.

 

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Sewing Machines

Let’s start with the most important piece, shall we?  The sewing machine!  I do all of my piecing on a Juki 2000 qi.  I love the speed of this machine, the fact that it’s made for a quilter, that impressive leg lift and oh, let me not forget the automatic cutter with just the press of my foot on the pedal.  It’s a dream and happens to be a very popular machine that many quilters are using.

I quilt most of my own quilts myself on a domestic machine.  I use a Bernina 550 QE that I believe has been discontinued (here is a comparable model).  What I love about quilting on this machine is the stitch regulator which helps keep stitches nice and even.  That is a feature on most Bernina sewing machines.  If I have to do any decorative stitching, I also use this machine for that as the Juki is straight stitch only.

 

Frequently Used Supplies

I am an ambassador for Havel’s Sewing and have been since 2018.  I use all of their double cutting mats, and rotary cutters.  I written extensively about their supplies here and maintain a close relationship with them.  I am gifted all of my products from Havel’s, but if they never gave me another product, it would be their mats and cutters I’d purchase when I needed new ones.

When you shop at Havel’s do use my coupon code SOUTHERNCHARM7 and you’ll receive $7 off any purchase of $25 or more.

I’m a very big fan of their 60 mm rotary cutter and tend to use that one more often than the 45, a big change from what I would have said last year.  If I was to recommend one single product of theirs that is noticeably better, it’s the double sided mat.  It’s impressive.  I have three large ones, and the smaller one.  Also, those serrated scissors are a dream.

Rulers

As far as rulers go, I have quite a bit of them.  I’m not a fan of buying a ruler that’s good for one thing only, so I try to be selective.  That being said, through the years I’ve created quite a collection.  Here’s my list of rulers that I use regularly and I’ll start from most important.

  • 6.5×24 Omnigrid” – This is what I use for all of my fabric cutting.  Don’t buy the 6″, always the 6.5″.  The 6″ will give you lesses uses for this ruler.
  • Triangle Square Up Ruler – This is for making half square triangles.  I don’t know what I’d do without this baby.
  • Fussy Cut Rulers – I use this set for all my fussy cutting.
  • Dresden Ruler – I am a big fan of Dresden plates and they are featured in many of my quilt patterns.
  • 6.5″ square ruler – I use this ruler quite often for cutting fabric when I don’t need the big rectangle ruler and when I need to square a block up.
  • 12.5″ square ruler – I use this ruler for squaring up blocks.

Thread

I haven’t always been so thread obsessed, but for the past couple years I’ve really honed my thread knowledge.  I wrote this piece on thread a while back.  And eventually, got myself to know exactly what I want, why I want it and when I want it.  I talk about thread a lot.  Here’s is an updated post about what I use.  I’m a very big fan of Superior Threads and it’s what I sell mostly over at Meander + Make.  I think the one thing that might be missing from that updated post is that I’ve been using Microquilter for all of my free motion quilting.

Random Supplies

There’s a few other supplies that I use often.  I use Wonder Clips almost daily for a variety of reasons with binding being my biggest reason.

This diagonal seam tape is a dream come true if you hate drawing lines on the backs of squares when making anything with triangles and also helps get your seam allowance better.

I’ve kept an EPP project going since I learned how.  I recently swapped to the Sewline pen for basting, I use Bottom Line thread and a Milliner’s needle.

For hand quilting and chunky hand binding, I use DMC cotton balls size 8 and sashiko needle.

I like topstitch needles in my sewing machines and use the 70 size for when I use the Microquilter thread.

I spray baste my quilts and swear by the 505 adhesive spray (I have tried all the sprays!).

I make my own starch which I use in everything I piece, here’s that recipe.  Don’t skip on the peppermint oil!  It makes pressing a dreamy experience.  🙂

I get asked a lot of questions about my pins you see in my videos.  I made those myself with these pins, butterfly buttons like these and super glue.

I use the Chi iron, here’s a link to my exact one.  Up until recently I’ve always purchased cheap irons and had problems with them.  This is the first iron I’ve ever spent significant money on, but I am pleased with it.  Speaking of ironing, I recently rid myself of my ironing board.  I hate those rickety things.  I swapped to wool mats.  I have two mats butted up side by side and sitting on a table top.  I absolutely love this new set up.

Fabric

I am always obsessed with keeping a healthy stash of fabric on hand.  I do own my own fabric shop called Meander + Make.  I specialized in curated bundles for quilts and low volume fabrics, a big love of mine.  I write a weekly post on fabrics every Monday.

Labels

I do label each and every quilt I make and have for years.  I sell these labels in my shop here.  There’s a specialty label for almost every one of my quilt patterns and they are completely customizable.  You’ll also find plenty of other labels if you are making other quilts.