Sew On The Go!

Sew on the Go!

Things I Have In My Portable Quilting Kit

One of the advantages of hand piecing projects is that they can go anywhere. No electricity required. In order to make your sewing kit as portable as possible, pack the following in a one gallon size zip lock bag :

thread : I carry a variety of colors by winding a bobbinful on my sewing machine and packing several bobbins in a small tin. I think this works well for applique projects too, as you can access several different colors of thread.
package of needles
finger pincushion with about 6 pins.( I rarely need to use more than three or four as I sew across a block.)
needle threader
small embroidery scissors (attached is a hand crocheted thimble caddy).
thimble
marking tools
- chalk pencils in pink, blue, yellow and white
- a regular pencil - used to mark the dots at the intersections; they must be sharp
- pencil sharpener
- chalk wheel markers in blue, red and yellow which are used to mark sewing lines. They are very fast to use and do not distort or drag on the fabrics as you mark.
6" ruler for drawing sewing line.
plastic templates for the block to be pieced.
fabric pieces - precut for one or two complete blocks, or as many pieces as you anticipate finishing.
mini "cut n' press" (used as a hard surface to mark the dots for matching intersections and to draw sewing lines. The press side can be used as an alternate pin cushion.)
You may also want to throw in a seam ripper, but I usually use the sharp tips of my embroidery scissors and snip through the backstitches enabling me to pull out the thread.

With a basic kit like this you can work in a small area and hold everything on your lap.

You may be able to handpiece....

on your lunch hour or coffee breaks at work
on your commute ....providing you're not driving.....
anytime you're waiting for doctors, kids, etc.
on a trip....in an airport or motel room
when you have visitors....if they don't object. It's easy to talk and sew !
when you visit relatives....see above....

Here's a picture of my self-contained kit :

Portable Quilting Kit

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