Karen Kay Buckley | Quilter, Teacher, Lecturer, and Author

RECOMMENDED NOTIONS:

Bigger Perfect Circles®
After many requests and much research I am finally able to bring you larger sizes of Perfect Circles®. There are ten different sizes ranging from 2=1/4” to 4-1/2” and they are made from heat resistant plastic so you can use them with an iron. These bigger sizes are great for the center of a Mariner’s Compass block, Drunkard’s Patch blocks, traditional appliqué and so much more.

Price: $14.95

Clover White Pen
This is an excellent marker to use on dark fabrics. The first time I used this marker I thought it was not working. But, within a couple of seconds the line I drew, which was invisible, dried to a wonderfully fine, easy to see white line. To remove the mark simply iron it away or wash it from the fabric.

Price: $6.75

Clover Desktop Needlethreader
This needlethreader from Clover has to be the best needlethreader I have ever used. You simply place the needle eye down in the marked location, push on the lever, release and remove your threaded needle. It is simply amazing. I love this little threader.

Price: $14.95

John James Gold’n Glide Needles These needles are wonderful for hand appliqué. They do just what the title says; they glide right through your fabric. I am always looking for things that make my hand appliqué easier and these do just that.

Available in size 10 or 11
Price: $2.75

Soutache Braid I sometimes use soutache, a trim, for the skinny stems on my appliqué. It is so easy to use. You simply sew down the center groove with a running stitch to hold it in place. It is one of the recommended items in my pattern “Around the Garden”.

Color choices:
Left-Willow green (yellow green)
2nd from left-Dark green (blue green)
Middle-Olive green
2nd from right-Army Tan
Right-Medium Brown

Price:
.75 cents per yard - please order in full yards

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Table paper

This 8 ½” wide x 225 feet long roll of table paper comes in handy for designing borders. After measuring my borders cut a piece of table paper that size and fold it into sections to create my border designs. There are lots of ideas for using table paper in my book “Earthy Delights: The Perfect Finish”

Chalk Cartridge Set

I love these for marking my fabrics. Included in this pack is one cartridge, one sharpener, and 8 white pieces of chalk along with 8 assorted colors of chalk. No matter what fabric you are marking there is a color of chalk that will show and the chalk is easy to change in the cartridge. And it has washed out or brushed off of every fabric. I do however recommend you test it prior to use.

Chalk refills

Refill chalks for the Chalk Cartridge. There are 8 white and 8 assorted chalks in the package.

Piping Hot Binding tool

This tool created by Susan K. Cleveland is wonderful if you are adding piping to your seams. Using this acrylic tool helps trim piping seam allowances to ¼” or ½” with great accuracy and makes working with piping easier. Over the years I have worked with a ruler to do this trimming and I must admit this new tool Susan created makes the job easier and much more accurate. Package includes detailed directions along with the acrylic trimming tool and 5 yards of 1mm cording.

PERFECT CIRCLES
As seen on Simply Quilts and American Quilter. This package contains 15 different circle sizes, 4 of each size, ranging from 7/16" to 2" for a total of 60 circles. Following the directions included in this package you can make perfect circles for your hand and machine applique.

SERRATED EDGE SCISSORS
Serrated edge scissors have one smooth blade and one serrated blade. What makes these so unique is the way they cut the fabric. As you cut into the fabric the serrated blade grips the fabric and makes cutting more accurate and easy. Three sizes:
3 1/2" Gingher serrated embroidery scissors-$20.00
7" Clover serrated scissors-$26.50
5 1/2" Clover serrated scissors-$23.00

Mettler 60/2
100% cotton thread with a silk finish.

For hand applique this thread is fantastic. It offers a multitude of color choices. Because it is so thin it gets lost on the edge of my hand applique so all you notice are the smooth curves and sharp points and not the stitching.

This thread is also great for machine quilting. It creates a smooth and subtle look around my applique and works well with overlapping designs such as feathers.

I also use this thread for machine piecing. It takes up less space in the seams allowing me greater accuracy and flatter seams.

$14.00 per set

1. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
2. Green, Green, The Dancing Machine
3. Teal We Meet Again
4. Erin Go Braless
5. How Now Brown Wow
6. Earthly Delights
7. Root Beer Float
8. Sunnyside Up
9. Blue Bird of Happiness
10. Creme Blule
11. Sew U Like Brights
12. Mardi Gras Beads
13. Y Orange U Sewing
14. Cinnamon Pumpkin Pie
15. Purple Reign
16. Rose to the Occasion
17. You Look Mauvelous
18. The Coral Burnette Show
19. Falling 4 U
20. Sew, You Like Me
21. Ocean Sunrise
22. Lettuce Sew
23. Caribbean Corals
24. Jewel of the Night

View large images here

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THREAD BAG
I love my thread bag. I use it to hold all of my hand applique threads. No matter where I sit to sew as long as I have my bag I have all the threads I need. It really helps to keep me organized. There are four zipper sections to hold your thread. You will place each spool in the zipper pocket and needle each thread through the strip of Ultrasuede. The photo shows Mettler threads but the pockets will also hold DMC, Coats and Clark and YLI Silk.

THREAD HEAVEN
It binds the thread fibers to prevent fraying and adds a thin, even, slick coating to thread surface that mades it slide through your work with ease.