Thanks to all the nice comments on Saturday’s post, all has been quiet since then, and we think we’ve got to the bottom of what happened, which was a complete case of mistaken identity by drunken youths. For all their bravado, the fact that we all stood up together seems to have put them off returning (that and the fact that the police are watching out for them!)
Anyway, the whole thing totally threw my weekend – I was originally intending to do all my food shopping on Saturday morning before going to gran’s, but that didn’t happen, meaning I ended up doing it on Sunday, and then a blast from the past caught up with me on Sunday morning which rather disrupted that day too! Which all boils down to having no sewing to show you ;o) I thought I’d show you my other purchases while I was away instead.
Most of the shops we went to were definitely of the more traditional bent fabric wise, however despite their fabric choices, they did have a great range of tools and notions, and in fact it was these that I stocked up on in these shops.
I love my Creative Grids rulers, but after some shocking customer service in the UK, I thought I’d stock up on the ones I really wanted while I was there – an 8 1/2″ x 24 1/2″ and a 3 1/2″ square (I actually already have one of these, but rather careless rotary cutter use when I first started has badly chipped 2 of the corners). I also picked up a mitred binding tool (that funny shaped wee thing on the right), a Dritz Easy-Hem (that for some inane reason you can’t buy in the UK), and a large circle cutting template – I’m really looking forward to using this with my Prince Charming bubbles.
Then there were lots of wee bits and pieces. From the top – 3 wee screen printing templates which I thought could be quite useful on some solid fabrics in a bag. The Omnigrid InvisiGrip stuff is for the bottom of my non-Creative Grids rulers (they’re already non-slip). A spool of light grey Aurifil – I’d thought I might use this to piece some of my EPP while I was away, but we were sent a sponsor pack and I used that instead. Of all the tools, notions and fabrics available both sides of the ocean, thread is probably the same price, so although I visited a few places with Aurifil supplies, I’ll stick to getting mine from Cindy (although I’m not going through it that fast, sorry Cindy!). I grabbed a 5 pack of Fiskars blades from Walmart (Cathy, remember how you said if I ever needed anything? You might be about to become my blade supplier ;o) ) and I also grabbed a circle cutter for smaller circles (bring on that bubble quilt!).
After Katy generously sent me a pile of Thangles earlier in the year for smaller HSTs, when I saw these big ones I knew they’d be perfect for a quilt project I’ve had in mind for a while (and which will be there a while yet at this rate!) More grip things for wee rulers (which I got before the larger roll), and a cool seam ripper where the end acts like kind of a rubber to get rid of the wee threads you’ve ripped through – incidentally we saw this in several shops, the guy who explained how it actually worked got the sale… There’s 2 different types of binding clips (never tried any before, so I thought I’d try both types!), plus a Sewline glue pen and refills. I also grabbed another of the Sewline pencils – I have 2 already in different colours, but they’re so brilliant I knew I could use a white one.
Other than that, there is the largest cover button I have ever seen in my life, 3 different colours of Frixion pens (cheaper than at home, and I only seem to find them in packs here) plus some glass headed pins, some Heat N Bond and a buckle.
So I have a notion I’m all set for a while ;o)
I want to go shopping with you. You could just tell me what everything was without me looking at them strangely for hours on end.
I'm a notion junkie too 🙂 You are going to LOVE those Clover clips.
blimey!
Love me some notions. Lots of things to play with in your haul.
Lots of lovely new things!
Ooh I could look at them for hours!
Little did you know you'd get to use your circle cutter so soon….. lol Awesome haul!
That's a lot of notion action !! Kindve makes me want to go shopping…
Notions everywhere!
you will love that seam ripper – and I use my clover clips for so much I have no idea what I ever did without them — looks to be some great purchases in total!
where can we get deals on Aurifil? love that stuff
That's a good haul of notions. 🙂 I really love my Sewline glue pen for EEP and use my frixion pens for everything. You'll have to tell me how you like those larger thangles when you have a chance to use them.
Oh no – what happened on Saturday – off to look but not before I say that I love me some Creative Grid rulers too. Your purchases look great!
holy notions batman! i love those frixion pens. i don't know how i lived without them before now! 🙂
I know you will be playing with your gear for awhile. Enjoy.
Hugs
Cool stuff. I'd always be happy to send you what you need from here. We have a brand new Walmart going in just a few miles from here. :o)
Sewers and their tools, Ya gotta love 'em!
looks like you are set with notions for a while. you are going to love those Clover binding clips. The other ones…not so much. They break easily.
Cool x
You are a good shopper!
Hehe, I'd be happy to become your "blade runner" LOL. Sometimes I find packs of them in the thrift stores in the bins – marked at $1 or so. It hasn't happened recently, though, because my supply is getting low. I'll need to start using my JoAnn 50% off coupons. And you mentioned Wal-Mart. I wonder how cheap they were there?!?
I still have to find my Frixion pens – I have two that are around here SOMEWHERE. And those clips! Must. Try. And next time we go shopping together, I am going to follow you around to find the Good Stuff!
Hugs, Cat
What a great haul. And now I'm wondering why I never thought of finding/making non-slip rulers
Great haul. I've just come round to realising I need more notions and need to stop buying fabric and buy them instead. Interested that you've had problems with customer service from CG as that's where everyone told me to get rulers from – I just haven't yet…
Thats one huge notion haul! I love gadgets and notions too
I wanted one of those binding tools a while back but my quilt lady couldn't get one in so I just taught myself how to do binding without them(I still want one badly though because Im sure its easier than all the faffing about!)
I wonder if this kind of stuff is as expensive in the Uk as it seems to be here ? Ruler prices are horrendous!