Raise your hand if you have more than one quilting gadget or tool you have never used. Me? ✋✋ To be honest I'm not a gadget person. But every once in a blue moon something comes over me to purchase a tool with the intentions of "someday" designing a quilt around using the impulse buy gadget. These days I try to stifle the excitement of a new quilting gadget. The urge to purchase the Applipops was intense. They have a great marketing strategy of put them in your face nonstop on Facebook and Instagram. About a year of watching the videos, I could not scroll by them...mesmerized and drooling. Sometimes I would click over to their website put them in the cart, add all my information....and then my finger would hover over the Enter key.
Click it! Do it! You need these!
I'm proud of myself for holding out so long but at the same time regret the decision. It was a test of patience and control that in past I had failed.
Just to name a few. Remember the big Hexie craze a few years ago? As soon as I saw the Hex -N- More ruler and the amazing patterns it could make....CLICK... was on her way. Never made a thing with it. Then there's my obsession with dresdens. One must have every size available...never used them either. But there's plans....someday.
The reason why I was so reluctant to purchase the Applipops is more than just the fear of them being overrated and expensive. You see I have many tools for making circles. From the simplest drafting circle templates to some high priced die cutting. This drafting circle template was the first circle maker I purchased. Cheap and very effect if you have a steady strong hand for cutting. Time consuming and really great for making calluses. Sounds awful but I used it for years. It's a multipurpose tool if you draft your own applique patterns by hand. Now that I use EQ8 these are not used nearly as much.
Then I upgraded to the Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles. The best things since the rotary cutter in my opinion. Time consuming to use but they make perfect circles every time. These have been used so much I was considering purchasing a new set. Mine have gotten a little warped due to my attention to heat settings or my lack of attention. I've shown how to use these but Karen has a video that is much better. Click here.
Now lets talk about the most expensive impulsive circle making purchase....THE DIE CUTTER. Die cutters are great. The Sizzix is cheap compared to the other brand which I will leave unnamed. If I were a rich woman I'm sure I would own the other brand. This was an impulse buy when I found it it for $49.95 for the machine only. That's a pretty good price. And I can use other brands of dies in this machine. I haven't but I can. In two years I've used it three times. I could see where this might get more use as I get older. But that's story for another day. Today we are focusing on circles. I have two different dies for making circles. As soon as they arrived from Amazon I tested them and they work great with and with out Heat -N- Bond fusible but I haven't actually used them in a quilt. I'm sure they would be great for cutting out circles to use with the Applipops! Yes my friends I'm in love with the Applipops.
Everyday I try to make a few. Even if it's just one, progress is progress. There's no real plan for them but I'm playing around with a couple of ideas in my mind. It will morph into something eventually. For now I'm just enjoying a little mindless circle making. It's very relaxing.
I'm cutting the circles from scraps only. My self imposed rule is I can not pull fabric from my F8's or FQ's, only small scraps.
I'm producing little niblets of scraps that can actually be tossed. And you all know that's hard for me to toss out fabric. But if the smallest Applipop won't fit on the scrap I'm letting it go. There's still a little devil in me saying those could be used for tiny fusible raw edge applique but at some point it becomes hoarding and unrealistic to keep them.
It's a process, learning to let go. Have those tiny scraps actually made it out of the house? NO. I'm saving them for Khaleesi a new dog bed.(insert shifty eyes here).🙄 That's the plan. She's a big dog in need of a big bed. Translated.....Gives me time to actually let go.
Maybe someday I'll be able to let go of some slightly bigger scraps. Not that I'm feeling it necessary. I mean just look at these small scraps. Cute as can be and not taking up much space. Gems! A quilter never knows when she just might decided to make her master piece from dime sized applique. It's totally doable and reasonable. Waste not want not. One man's trash is another mans treasure.
Let's get real....excuses are just that....excuses. But it is what it is...Passion. I know some of you understand.
They say "enjoy the little things in life" and that's exactly what I'm doing. It feels good to use up every last little bit of fabric. It also feels good when you find a new gadget that does all that it claims to do and more. The more part is it's making me love to make circle applique.
My word of the year Move. Staying busy both physically and mentally.
I have used Karen Buckley's circles for years, mine are getting warped too. They still get the job done though so I won't be upgrading. Making a few circles a day is a great idea. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to read your review on the Aplipops: I've been looking at them for probably a year myself, but since I have the Karen Kay Buckley templates, I've refrained. But I'll probably succumb when I see them at a quilt show: if we ever have shows again!! :-D Good job using up your scraps that way!!I have such a hard time throwing away scraps too: I figure that if it's bigger than one inch square, there must be a use for it somewhere!! :-D
ReplyDeleteI, too, had much problems tossing my scraps into the trash. Sew, I bought this little cutie and now they are being made into compost. Must be 100% cotton to do this tho.
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