Gifts Quilters Love!

We quilters love to receive quilting gifts and to give our quilty friends something special that they'll love, too.  I've been wanting to share with you quilty ideas that I've enjoyed this year.  Each one has been tried by me and is in my sewing room, my fabric closet, or my living room; there are items for all around the house!  You can give these as hints to your family, or you can get them for yourself or a friend!

Monthly Subscription Boxes

For the gift that just keeps on giving, try out a quilty monthly subscription box!  Nothing sets a quilter's heart aflutter more than receiving a box of secret quilty items each month!!

In the past I have tried out three different subscriptions.  I won a Stash Builder Box as a prize, so I tried this one for free.  I made a Disappearing 9 Patch quilt from the fabric in this box which you can see below.  Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the box contents for you, which is weird because I take pictures of most everything.  

Stash Builder Boxes contain 3 yards of fabric from a new modern collection, a spool of Aurifil thread, a signature pencil, and a box-exclusive quilt pattern.  It was so exciting to receive this surprise box in the mail that I was inspired to look into other subscriptions.

The first monthly subscription box I purchased was Quilty Box, and oh my, this is the queen of boxes!  There is a reason why this is the more expensive box subscription on the market!  Every box includes items with a retail value of over $60 and includes theme-based items based on a featured artist's style.  With 4-5 quilting products, a bundle of precut fabric, patterns, notions, or thread, this is a lot of bang for the buck.  Here are two boxes I purchased.

This one is the Jera Brandvig box.

You will save $10 off your first Quilty Box with the coupon code GETQUILTY!  Why not try it out!?!

Another monthly subscription box I tried is the Fat Quarter Shop's Sew Sampler Box. These boxes contain a bundle of fabric with a pattern for the fabric, a few notions, and a block pattern card for a sampler quilt, and a COUPON CODE!  Here is a past box so you can see how wonderful they are and how fun it is to receive them in the mail!

This is what you see when you open the Sew Sampler Box!  It's wrapped and waiting for you to open and take a peek at your quilty surprises!

One of the box themes was Farmer's Market and included The Good Life charm pack and matching tin by Bonnie and Camille with a table runner pattern for the charm pack, a Matchbox Quilt, a sampler quilt block pattern, a coupon code for Christmas fabric, a Popsockets device media stand just for quilters; all bundled so cutely!

And for my readers, here's a surprise for you and a reason to follow my blog...!!  When I whip up the project that is included in each Sew Sampler Box and post it here on the blog, I will be giving away any items I don't need to my lucky readers!  Be sure to become a blog follower ... 

Follow Busy Hands Quilts!

Sewing Room Lights

The sun sets at 4:30 in the wintertime at my house, and you may live even further north than I do so your days are even shorter.  I spend many hours in my sewing room after dark and need lots of extra lights.  Adequate lighting in a sewing room can be a challenge even in the daytime, and after dark it can be nearly impossible to sew.  I found the solution in some fantastic lights that do not require any hard-wiring or professional electrical work!  My sewing room is as bright as day even after dark!  My husband comes in and says, "Don't you need your sunglasses?!?"

The two wall sconces above are plug-in or hardwire.  For easy installation, my husband simply hung them on the wall, easy peasy, no hard-wiring at all.  The on/off switch on the lights is on the base plate, which of course would be impossible to reach so high on the wall.  The cords are plugged into easily accessible surge protectors with an on/off switch.  So when I turn on the power strip that is screwed to the underside of my ironing table, the light above turns on, and the iron also turns on!  When I turn on the power strip for my sewing machine, the light above it turns on. That power strip is screwed to the wall under my sewing table.  It's a win-win situation, and I am tickled with my lights!!  You will find them HERE.

But I've more lights to show you!  With the overhead lights behind my head when I'm standing at my cutting table, this area is in shadow, and it's really hard to read the ruler markings.  Solution - under the shelf lights!  They plug into an outlet and attach with either stickies or screws (both included).  The stickies will hold if they are not moved, but if they're moved once they will no longer hold.  One of the lights above is still stuck, but the other two I moved, so they are now screwed in.  These lights are also dimmable!  You can buy more sets and join them together for any length of light.  Easy peasy solution to lights under a cabinet or shelf!  You can get these lights HERE!

A Quilty Planner

I've put off buying a Quilter's Planner for a long time and finally bought the 2018 version for this year.  With all of the projects I have going on - designing quilt patterns for my own line, as well as Craftsy and Connecting Threads, and keeping stock in my quilt shop, my plate is overly full, and keeping it all organized in my head is way too much stress.  I could be dreaming up more quilt designs instead of occupying my brain cells with trying to remember when this is due, if I have the fabric on hand for the next two projects, and which project I must really work on today!?!

Even if you don't have as many quilting "irons in the fire" as I have, the Quilter's Planner will still be a valuable resource in getting your life more organized.  I ♥ the spiral binding and heavy duty laminated cover.  The Planner is divided monthly with heavy cardstock with laminated tabs.  Each month has a month-at-a-glance calendar with a spot for Monthly Goals, Personal Projects, and Quilting Projects.  Following this are two-page week-at-a-glance sheets with time slots for schedule planning, Habit Tracker, and Personal, To-Do, and Shopping Lists, and Notes.  Following the monthly pages are dividers for Patterns, Projects, and Reference.

The Quilter's Planner has a lot of features I am excited about, one of them being the Important Dates year at a glance section.  Scheduling out not-to-miss events ahead of time will be the key to a less stressful year!

And did you see that magazine up there?  It's the Quilter's Planner Magazine, a full-color, glossy magazine that contains 13 sewing and quilting patterns.  It's included with the Planner!  This year's featured designer is Camille Roskelley, a.k.a., Bonnie and Camille!  There is a sampler quilt pattern by Cheryl Brickey that will be a sew along on social media in 2019.

A Stripology Ruler

I recently posted some Stripology Ruler Tips because I finally figured out how to really use this ruler.  This would be a great gift for a quilter!  You can get one here!

An Accuquilt Fabric Cutter

If you're thinking a higher priced gift, an Accuquilt fabric cutter is a great idea!  They decrease cutting time significantly and increase accuracy in piecing because the cut fabrics are more accurate than cuts by hand.  Dies are also a fantastic gift for quilters who already have an Accuquilt, or a gift certificate if you don't know which dies they need!

Yes, Fabric, Please!

12 Days of Christmas are happening over at Craftsy right now!

Fat Quarter Shop's Limited Edition Jolly Boxes are still available!  It's a collection of fun quilty supplies and fabric that would be a great gift for a quilter!

Giveaway!!

And since you had the patience to read this to the end, here's a GIVEAWAY for you from me!  Enter to win one of my patterns in PDF form!  Giveaway ends Thursday, December 13th.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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