The Quilter’s Studio

 

~ Essential Tools for the Avid Quilter~

Today, I’ll start a new series of blog entries, detailing some of my favorite sewing room accessories.  

Beginning quilters beware: the items we’ll feature are not essential for the practice of basic quilt making.  Start with a reliable sewing machine, a rotary cutter, mat & ruler, and good quality fabric & thread, and you’ll be good to go.

Avid quilters rejoice: you’ll learn about useful,  well-designed,  top-quality items that will help to make your quilt making experience even more productive and delightful.

Some of the accessories we’ll feature will be general purpose, suitable for all aspects of quilt making.  Others will be especially useful for a specific technique, such as appliqué or paper-piecing.

And, as a special bonus, at the bottom of each entry in “The Quilter’s Studio”, you’ll find a special offer or coupon that can be redeemed at dakotacabinquilts.com.

Quilter’s Studio I:

• Clover Mini Iron II “The Adapter Set”. Click here.
• Clover Cooling Stand.  Click here.
• Clover Mini Iron II Cooling Tote Bag.  Click here.

Purpose:

• Fusible appliqué, including art quilts, Celtic appliqué, stained glass quilting, and making or using fusible bias tape

Description:

Clover Mini Iron II “The Adapter Set”

This new mini iron is equipped with tips that are easily interchangeable.  There are five tips in the set covering a wide range of applications, including quilting, sewing, floral crafting, doll making and paper crafting.  Five tips are included with this set: Small iron tip, large iron tip, adapter ball tip, slim line tip, and hot knife tip.

When holding the fabric, the safety shield will help protect your fingers from burns by preventing the fingers from touching the shaft.

Although the set does include a small support stand, this can be a little awkward to use, and the last thing you want to do is have the extremely hot tip burn your work surface, your project, or worse yet, your fingers.

Clover Cooling Stand:

This convenient stand, made out of a heat-resistant material, is used for the Mini Iron and the Mini Iron II.

The lid is used as a stand, while the base is used for storing adapter tips. Note: only the Mini Iron II uses adapter tips.  The traditional (smaller) mini iron does not.

The lid and base part put together to become a compact item.

The base part has a divider so that a hot tip can be separated from the other tips.

One disappointment: the mini iron itself does not fit in the storage compartment.  The hot tip can be removed, stored in the box, but the body of the iron must be stored separately.

Mini Iron II Cooling Tote Bag:

Bag includes pockets for accessories, and a pouch to insert the iron.  Bag is made of a heat resistant material.

Downside: Although the storage of the iron is nice, especially if you are leaving a class and need to get packed up quickly, this accessory does not have the nice large cooling stand that is so safe and helpful when you are working with the iron.

Laura’s Recommendation:

The Mini Iron II with the Adapter Set is a big improvement from the original Mini Iron.  Although I personally have not tried all of the tips, I can see how they would be very useful for many types of crafts.  I love the small iron tip for delicate work, and the large iron tip for pressing appliqué pieces into position. 

I do think that the Clover Cooling Stand is a “must have” for me, as it improves safety and makes the iron easier to use.  Although I wish the Cooling Stand had room to store the entire iron, I am very pleased with the accessory. 

The tote bag is nice because the entire iron fits into it, but because I primarily use my iron at home, that feature isn’t as important to me.  But, if I attended a lot of classes, I would like to have the handy tote bag, as it can safely store a warm iron during the trip home.

Special Offer:

Purchase:

• the Clover Mini Iron II with adaptor set at 20% off MRSP
• plus either the cooling stand or the cooling tote bag at 10% off MRSP
• and you will receive free shipping on your entire order to a USA address.  Once you put the required items in your cart, feel free to add additional items for no additional shipping cost. Shoppers from outside the USA will receive a discount on the shipping equivalent to the cost of shipping the package to a USA address.
• Enter the coupon code: IRON at the time of checkout (exactly as shown), to receive your discount.  Offer expires March 13, 2010.