Inspiration - Twisted Xmas Wreath Quilt

It all started with an inspiration piece I found on the internet - a Christmas wreath wall hanging made with the Li'l Twister Tool.

It was the last week in July so I still had time to make a 'Christmas in July' quilt.  I ordered the tool from Quilted Works and read their tutorial to familiarize myself with the ruler.  Received it in the mail before the week was out and set to work with a Christmas themed Charm Pack, which had also just arrived.

Winterscapes Charm Pack

The Li'l Twister Tool makes pinwheels really easy to construct.  All I had to do was sew my 5" charm squares into the required configuration, line up the ruler the same way each time, and cut around each and every intersection.  Then it was a matter of taking that square from cutting table to design wall and placing it in the exact same location as it was in the sewing configuration.

Placement of Li'l Twister

The Li'l Twister is perfect for 5" charms and its sister the Big Twister is meant to be used with 10" layer cake squares.  These rulers are really easy to use because of the teeny tiny feet in the four corners.  They raise the ruler off the fabric so the rulers are steady and don't rock due to the bulk in the seams.

Here are a couple of more pictures of Xmas Wreath quilts made with the Li'l Twister.

See the completed quilt here.

Cheers!

Monday's Must-Haves for a Quilter

My Best Friend, Jack!

Besides the usual trio of rotary cutter, mat and ruler, an essential item and a best friend in a quilter's space is 'Jack'.  I was a bit mystified when I first heard about Jack from one of our modern quilting members on Desi Quilters.

Jack is your seam ripper!  Get it?  Isn't that cute?

Jack the Ripper

I have this and several other variations of the same scattered at every station of my work space.  I need it for the obvious reason, to reverse-sew, and for other purposes such as guiding pieces under the needle of my sewing machine or to poke corners out with the cover intact.

On sale, this particular notion costs $3.99 at present on Nancy's Notions and variations of this tool range from $3.99 to $9.95 for a fancy seam ripper.

I now come to the main reason for this post.  What do you suppose is the purpose of the other end of Jack?  The side with the little red ball at the tip?  My presumption is that the red tip is used when one wants to rip a long seam from the wrong side or back of a piece of sewing.  It guides the blade through the seam without cutting through the fabric (if one is careful) because the sharp point is now on the outside and out of the way.

Please post comments for what you think is the function of this little red ball on a seam ripper.  It would be interesting to hear your take on this!

Cheers!