These are a few of my favourite things...

So here are a few of my favourite things.  And I'd love to know what yours are.  The format is "my favourite X are Y because Z."  So give me your top tips for your favourite anything out there in quiltingland.  And you can add in the odd non-quilty one if you feel so inclined.

My favourite threads are Aurifil because they have little lint, run like butter through my machine, do not twist and tangle for hand sewing and come in a dazzling array of colours.


My favourite solids are Kona solids because of the range of colours, the Kona colour card and their Bounty of Basics Boxes, all of which enable me to pick the perfect palette for every project.



My favourite sewing machine needles are Superior Titanium Topstitch needles because they last longer, stay sharper and I need to change them less often.


My favourite shot cottons are Oakshott because they are lustrous, irridescent, soft as Liberty Lawn and crisp as a new £10 note.


My favourite chocolates are Giandujotti, Italian praline chocolates wrapped in gold foil which the Roman family I au paired for for six months when I was 23 (after which I got sacked for laziness) used to buy in bulk for their dinner parties and I used to tuck handfuls into my pockets on the sly, they were so delicious.


Over to you, what are a few of your favourite things?

Comments

  1. Oh Kona solids are like candy, 30's in their dainty sweet prints, Sulky verigated threads, a sewing friend to share the laughter and Hershey Kisses in the candy dish.

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  2. Free motion applique, zipped pouches, wicker baskets full of lovely fabric, Liberty's, Echo fabric by Lotta Jansdotter, my trusty Bernina, buttons, and Calissons de provence - yummy almond shaped marzipan sweets!

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  3. With you on the Aurifil, unbeatable. My favourite needles are gold/black Clover and for pins. Clover patchwork. As for Chocolate, Booja Booja Around Midnight Espresso Truffles, they are incredible.

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  4. In quilty terms I'm too fickle and too inexperienced to have favourites to be honest...still got everything to try! My favourite bread is hovis, my favourite beans are Heinz, and my favourite tea is Tetley - those never change - and its lunchtime...mmmmmm :-)

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  5. Oh Aurifil, how I love you! For hand sewing Roxanne's needles can't be beat, thy have a nicely tapered point that glides through fabric. My favourite coffee? McDonalds!!! I know, weird right? But it's seriously good!

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  6. My favorite colors to use are bright jewel tones because they reflect my inner joy.

    My favorite method of quilting is quilt as you go because I get to do it all myself.

    My favorite chocolate is dark because it is richer and tastes better (to me.)

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  7. Oh, great post! I find it hard to pick favourites but I'll give it a whirl! My favourite thread is Coats Cotton because it's good quality and is sold locally so I can pick the perfect colour. (I do love Aurifil but I can't buy it in person and I'm rubbish at choosing colours on-line!) My favourite colour lies somewhere between green and blue because it reminds me of my favourite place - the local beach (although grey also features quite a lot!) My favourite dog is Archie (who else?!) because he's cute, sensitive, funny and charming. Oh, and my favourite sweets are liquorice allsorts because I love Bertie Bassett!

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  8. Having previously worked for Superior Threads before I moved to Arizona, I was so excited when they came out with the titanium coated needle. It's my favorite too. I can sew for hours and hours without having to change my needle.

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  9. My favorite rotary cutter is Martelli's Ergo Left Handed 45mm rotary cutter for reasons spelled out in the product's name: it's left handed and it's ergonomic. Plus, it cuts through fabric like a hot knife through butter. I folded a scrap and cut through 24 layers without any effort. Not that I regularly cut 24 layers...

    I almost hate to mention this because it's expensive, but my favorite "cutting mat" is the Alto's QuiltCut2 Fabric Cutting System. I can clamp my fabric in place, cut several strips, flip the cutting bar and cut those strips into squares, or even rotate the cutting bar to a pre-set angle and cut diamonds or triangles, all without moving the fabric. It's pretty awesome.

    Finally, I love my Dritz Petite Press portable mini iron because I can set it up right next to my sewing machine and sew a lot of blocks without ever having to get up.

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  10. I have too many favourites to pick just one. I just bought my very first aurifil thread, they are not common here so I am looking forward to seeing how it works. I guess I could say that thread, yarn and textiles of all kind are some of my very favourite things.

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  11. I think that my favorite thing is the feeling of satisfaction,pride and accomplishment when I am working on a pieced quilt top, a watercolor painting, a crafty item, etc. I like working on original pieces and playing with ideas so it is wonderful when those ideas come to life. I don't ponder my failures, just try to figure them out for the better.

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  12. My favorite thing to do is make quilts because it brings peace to my soul.

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  13. Love your favorites! A few of my favorites are Magni Glide pre-wound bobbins by Fil-Tec!!!!!! I haven't wound a bobbin for who knows how long??
    I'm also in love with Kona Solids right now too!!! And to top it off...really good BUTTER MINTS!!

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  14. My favorite quilting thread is Superior's King Tut because I love the variegated colors and I have never had any tension or breaking problems with any I have used. My favorite sewing tool is my Bernina 350, which is just perfect for me and creates everything I ask her to. My favorite day of the week is Friday because it begins my four days in my studio each week. My favorite time of year is fall because I love all the warm fall colors.

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  15. I love Aurifil threads too, find them great to work with. I have a new favourite thing though - Creative Grids cutting rulers. I got one recently and couldn't believe the difference in quality to my old ruler. So much easier to work with. Definitely recommend.

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  16. My favorite thing is the world wide web because I have the world at my fingertips. Whenever I want to learn about something, I just search the www and in minutes I find what I need. Also, I love free stuff (Am I the only one?)and I find lots of free stuff on the www, especially free quilty stuff. Did I mention that Flickr is one of my favorite things on the www?

    Oh, and I love Persian cuisine.

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  17. I love fresh franboises, dark chocolate Lindt and I loooove cakes and cupcakes!
    I love my Janome Horizon, I looooove bright colors fabrics, with dots, solids, and prints, love sulky threads, love raw edge appliquee, and of course, I loooooove paperpiecing!!!
    ! I love my medical work, love Whitnwy Houston's music and I'm só sad that she died. Now she is singing for the angels In the sky!

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  18. I love Kona Chartreaus green! Aurifil threads for piecing, Superior Rainbows for quilting, my softgrip little snips (so good I bought a 2nd pair) my Juki over my Bernina (shocking!), new rotary blades, home made jam on freshly baked scones (mmm), and Godiva Belgian chocolates (too rich to have more than one!) Great friends to share it all with :)

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  19. My favourite gadget of the moment is my Accuquilt studio cutter. 20 complete Take 5 blocks cut in 2 passes. great for quilters with arthritis. My next will be my new Bliss frame for my APQS Longarm , after a short PPP I can already see I have more control. Can I see those elusive feathers in my future. Fabric, I am in love with Kona Solids . Thread oh Superior, Filtec Glide, and about to become In love with Aurofil.
    Food, anything chocolate, but fresh cream scones , and Madagascan cheese cake also top the list.

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  20. Hmm, my favourite way to assemble blocks is with paper piecing because of the crisp lines and nice sharp points.

    My favourite scissors are the tiny sharp pointed embroidery scissors that I got in a wee shop in Carpentras, Provence, which I use to snip curves and which I won't let anyone else touch!

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  21. My favorite rotary cutter is Gingher because it is comfortable to hold, cuts like a dream, and you don't have to touch the blades when replacing them.

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  22. Loving reading everyone else's faves. Haven't come across those Superior machine needles and would like to find really nice hand needles so might search Katie's fave ones. I love my Husquvarna Lily altho she is getting to be quite old at 9!! Love my Add a 1/4 ruler and wouldn't go past CGrids rulers.

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  23. My favorite hand needles are John James #9 because the last and don't bend..

    My favorite time of day is 7pm-8pm when no matter what I get to go to the sewing room because the hubs watches FOXNEWS...which annoys me to no end..

    My favorite color is red..no, yellow...no, red...no yellow...oh well..my two favorite colors are red and yellow cause they remind me of sunrise and sunset...

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  24. I love kona solids, Parson Gray's new line of fabric, tartan/plaid fabrics, Sauvignon Blanc and Orange flavoured Matchsticks - not all at the same time!

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  25. I meant orange flavoured matchmakers :D

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  26. My favourite fabric colours are aqua orange because they make me smile; my favourite fabric designer is (currently) Melody Miller and my favourite blogger is open to the highest bidder!

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  27. I've used everything (and love them also) but those candies. Yum! I'll take some of those......

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  28. Thanks for the tip on Aurifil. It sounds like I've really been missing out!

    I also love Kona solids. I've been lusting over one of their big FQ boxes for ages :).

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  29. Thanks to you Lynne I will now be singing that song all day!
    Is it cheating just to say that fabric is my favourite! Yes, all of it! mwah hahaha!

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  30. ooh what a fun post, Aurifil is a must for machine piecing. Especially intricate or miniature pieces where you can't afford to loose a mm on every piece. Have recently converted to The Bottom Line for applique and English paper piecing despite the early hiccups. It really does take a lot to get used to sewing with this polyester thread but it just disappears and is super strong. It's so good and so few people know about it that I feel like I'm keeping a huge secret! I am addicted to Colonial Milliners size 11. My favourite rotary cutter is the one with the freshest blade ;-)

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  31. Oooh love this ...

    My favourite thread is the decades old stuff I buy in bags from my local flea market. Some are weak and only useful for tacking or playing with, but others are such beautiful quality, strong and shiny and with such subtle variety of rich colours ... just yum.

    My favourite needles for hand quilting are really long but fine sashiko needles - I'm still very happy with medium to large straight stitching - it's not proper clever hand quilting, so until I go there in earnest they are just the best. They glide through fabric, you can get four or five stitches on in one pass, and that = straighter lines for me!

    My favourite snack is toasted salted almonds (done at home) and you can add a handful to some melted sugar and hey presto! chewy almond brittle! Toothrottingly good with coffee after a meal. Huzzah!

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  32. p.s. I really want to try the titanium needles ... thank you !! Could make the Brother a little less sluggish.

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  33. 'when the dog bites, when the bee stings!' Oh sorry, Just led me into a song..! I LOVE hugging the alpaca & dog, reading with my daughter under a quilt and spending time with my husband

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  34. Thread: Masterpiece by Superior
    Sewing Needles: Superior
    Pins: IBC fine silk pins by Clotilde
    Chocolate: Hershey Symphony bars
    Solids: Kona cotton
    Color: Orange
    Music to sew by: Anything by Coldplay

    Still lurking on the Oakshott website...

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  35. A day of sewing while talking with my mom, even better my two grown daughters hanging out with us, a real deal home-made chai latte, Aurifil thread, Janome 6600.....

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  36. Nothing sewy for me, but John McEnroe, whisky, travel, books, mountains, 'Teenage kicks', coffee, junk shops, Lily's blog and big fat cheques.

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  37. Ditto on the kona solids & Vroomans' 30s she mentioned. I've yet to try Aurifil thread---but everywhere I turn, I hear good things.

    My favorite applique thread is YLI silk thread because it makes my tiny stitches completely disappear...and I don't have to bother with matching colors anymore {LOVE THAT!}.

    A pack of neutrals and white goes a L-O-N-G, long way! =D

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  38. One of my favourite things is your blog! I also have a fetish for fabric, and luscious fibers.

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  39. Oh I love this post!! May I borrow your idea and do one like it?

    My favorite things are Aurifil, my new Pfaff Quilting Expression 4.0, solid fabrics, denyse schmidt, my precious little kiddos and chocolate- I am not particular about chocolate only that it doesn't have nuts. :)

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  40. Hmmmm.
    Love Kona solids.
    Love ATWD
    Love your blog...(and keep the quilting of the shotcottonquilt simple so as the shot colours still"work" and dont get "lost" in variegated thread)
    Love lookin' at my Grandma's Treadle
    And down here it's drink O'clock time...so I'd love a caiparinha!!

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  41. I'm too new to quilting to have any favorites but I had to comment on your excellent taste in chocolates! They come in dark chocolate too!! So good...

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  42. question- what size of the superior threads topstitch needle do you use for Aurifil 50wt and 40wt threads?, oh and have you seen the Michael miller cotton couture solids? Im desperate to try them:-)

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