Hi!
This is going to be quick, because I am tired and I want to go to bed. I did, however, want to answer a couple of questions.
1. Where did I buy the stick on ruler for my cutting table? In a word, Amazon. I've been shopping on Amazon since 1998, when they just sold books. Do you remember that? Anyway, this is the one I bought.
2. Where do I buy fabric online? eQuilter. Why eQuilter? It's easy. I can see BIG PICTURES of the fabrics they sell. I don't have to jump through hoops to find things. Once things are in my cart and I click the design wall and arrange the fabrics next to each other to see it they work. I have been shopping at eQuilter since 2008. Nobody asked me to refer them and I am not getting paid to say I like them.
I have a LONG LIST of complaints about most online fabric sellers.
a. Teeny pictures. A one inch square is NOT BIG ENOUGH to convince me to buy your fabric.
b. A One Yard Minimum per fabric. NOPE, not me.
c. The biggest one is that I have to know the name of the manufacturer or designer before I can look at fabrics. I mean, REALLY? I don't know their names. One site has pictures of all the designers (I like that EVEN LESS!!!)
d. Poor Navigation. One site has these pictures 12 on a page, and I can't click to the NEXT PAGE unless I get to the bottom of page 1. And if I have looked through everybody on page 1, and am now on page 2, and I look at a designer there (they are listed alphabetically) and I want to go BACK, it doesn't bring me back to page 2, it brings me back to the top of page 1, and I have to scroll ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM to be able to get to page 2, and then scroll back down to get to where I was. And if the designer has only six fabrics? Very big waste of time. If I want to go back to page three, I have to scroll all the way down page 2, and then all the way down page 2... etc. On one of these sites I got to the middle of page 4 and even though I had stuff in my cart, I ABANDONED it. Folks, if you want me to spend my money with you, you could make it a lot easier.
e. Slow order handling. I mean, really? If I place an order on a Monday, don't make me wait seven days before sending me a "we shipped your order" email. (Unless you just had a big sale and got deluged. And even then I expect a "We were swamped, but we haven't forgotten you..." email.)
f. No option to choose my own shipping method. Some companies claim FREE SHIPPING and then they'll send it to you the cheapest (and slowest) way possible. SO WHAT? BIG DEAL. I WANT MY FABRIC and I don't mind paying for faster delivery.
eQuilter has big pictures, and the navigation is a snap. I don't mind looking at everything, because I can EASILY see everything and hop to the next category very quickly. And I can choose USPS Priority Mail shipping, which is nice and fast. Their minimum is 1/2 yard.
3. I don't like precuts, and I don't buy solids. And I wash every piece of fabric in WARM water (no matter what the label says) before I bring it into the studio.
4. I use a standard rotary cutter. And I buy my rotary cutter blades from Martelli. Theirs are terrific. I have learned the hard way that even if I select Martelli blades on Amazon, they will send me whatever they have in stock, and NOTHING compares to a Martelli blade. Make sure you sign up for their mailing list. That was how I found out they were having a "Quiet Sale" of 50% off. I bought twenty rotary cutter blades for the price of 10!!
5. Although I have a pretty good idea of what I want the Blue Ice quilt to look like, it may turn out completely differently. That's fine with me.
I love your questions, keep them coming.
