01 | May | 2017 | Lisa H Calle's Blog

We all have a “few” of our favorite things. Those items that, if they went MIA, would have us completely paralyzed from doing anything productive. For me, there are those very obvious things like my longarm, and sewing machine that undoubtedly would prevent me from moving forward each day. But in pondering the less obtuse items, there are three favorite things that come to mind:

My Grandmother’s Thimble

When I received my grandmother’s thimble I was thrilled to have such a pretty memento. To me thimbles weren’t a necessity to quilting. I felt they were very cute, and made nice, tiny decorative piece; but useful…no I mean, really, how could a small piece of metal situated on your finger really become an instant force field? Well, was I enlightened to the thimble’s importance! I felt like Mel Gibson in Brave Heart when I finally chose to spare my finger tips from being murdered by potential needle jousting. My fingertips and heart thank my grandmother on a daily basis!

Needle Threader

Even my red-headed assistant wants one of these (for those very, very rare occasions she needs to replace a button). Once she saw me use this little gadget she was in awe and was very tempted to walk out of the studio that afternoon with mine in her bag. No, replacing a button was NOT on her to-do list that evening she just fell in love with this handy-dandy device. But for those true sewers, like me, I am happy to know that in a mere blink of an eye my needle will be threaded. I can cast away those reading glasses, and wasted time making sure I am in a nicely lit area, this mini machine gets it done. Since revealing this item to Drea I have kept a watchful eye out to ensure mine doesn’t go missing. I might just bite the bullet and get her one for that once a year use.