Gimme: New products to help work (and celebrate) our magic!

Not Your Momma’s Decals

We quilty/stitchy/crafty types like to wear our addictions proudly, don’t we? And thanks to FiberFlies of San Jose, California, this is possible in ways other than those patchy vests of yesteryear that just made butts look big. FiberFlies, a pattern design company, has a line of vinyl decals for car windows that will help you shout out your stitchy status with style.(The decals are white vinyl, but the images are shown here in black for greater visibility.) The company’s initial designs included a vintage sewing machine and other more traditional images, but we predict GenQers will really like the newest designs debuting in just a few weeks at Fall Market in Houston. The new line-up includes a rotary cutter (This is How I Roll), a new scissors version (Runs With), a sampler quilt and our fave, an edgy skull with scissor “crossbones” (Sewbones). We whined to FiberFlies co-founder Lynn Kraus until she agreed to let us give GenQ readers a sneak peek at two of the new designs. (No one else will see these new images until silver-tongued Bob Ruggiero of Quilts Inc. officially announces the opening of Fall Market on Oct. 29. Pinky swear.)
Fiber Flies’ decals sell for $8.99 each and are available through local shops or from its website. (Note: New designs will be available after Oct. 20.) If your fave shop doesn’t carry them, then tell the shopowner to check out FiberFlies.com and see what all the buzz is about (and find a distributor).

Lapping it Up

Sometimes we don’t wanna be stuck in our studios, stitching away in silence. Sometimes, just sometimes, we want to be out with the big folks, watching some tube, interacting with the kids. But, we quilters are also the consummate multi-taskers and hate to be without something in our hands. In comes the CraftLite LED Craft Lap Station. The 15” x 22” surface is mounted on a squishy pad that rests on your lap. The surface is big enough for some small rotary cutting, hand piecing or embroidery. You can even use it with your laptop—no heat seeping through to your legs–or take it on the road. What really works here, though, is the LED light and the cup holder. Even if you’re not vision deprived yet, this light will come in very handy when you need to look to the details of your work, or keep the light directed at your project. No more glaring up the tv screen with the bright overhead light while your other half is glued to an episode of his/her fave reality show. The cup holder does double duty as a tool cup, so you don’t have to worry about losing your sharpest scissors in the couch cushions any longer.

What’s even better is that one of our sponsors, Connecting Threads, has tons of the Craft Lap Station on hand with a special discount. Regularly retailing for $35, you’ll be able to get it for quite a while, (we’ve been told) for $28.00.  

Lining Up for the Cuts

Picture not being limited by a 24” straight line. Instead, working with this nifty Quilter’s Chalk Line, you’ll be able to extend your lines over an entire queen-sized work in progress. It’s used like a plumbers line, except the chalk in this baby is safe for your fabrics and irons away when you want it gone. We think this could be the new coolest way to improvisation piecing.

Find it at Clotilde’s for $17.98. Refills are $6.98.