How I Hacked 3 Must Have Quilting Tools | Try Them Today

Next Post

Hello, welcome, welcome, welcome! My name is Bericka Broomfield and I am the creator behind Oh So Happy. You're here with The Word on the Stitch. And you know what? This is our second live stream, or at least our second The Word on the Stitch. I had so much fun with you guys last week. I hope you did, too.

Matter of fact, it was so much fun, I decided to do something completely unplanned and unscripted. Okay, on Friday night, I hit up some friends and was like, "Look, grab your sewing projects, your fabric, your sewing machines, your wine. Okay, turn on YouTube and let's have a block party." Okay? You know, us quilters, we are obsessed with our blocks, right?

So, it was so simple. Turn on the music, get to sewing, and the viewers, you guys helped me select the fabric I was going to use. I pulled a ruler out of my stash and was like, you know what? I'm going to use this one. This is how I'm going to create the blocks. And it was marvelous.

Okay, people were dropping comments like, "Oh my goodness, I'm in bed and my libations are downstairs. I'll make sure next week I'm prepared." Right? Or there was another friend who was like, "You know what? I'm in here dancing like nobody's watching. Let me go ahead and light some candles because that's how I do on a Friday night, right?" She lit her candles and then before you know it, she was like, "You know what? Let me do a little bit of dusting over here. Let me straighten up these magazines over here." She said before the night was out, she'd had a couple of glasses of wine, but got more done in those couple of hours than she did the entire last weekend. And you know what? That is exactly the vibe that I'm looking for. You didn't have to be a quilter to show up, right? What we were doing was celebrating the happy life, great music, good vibes, and the quilty tribe. All right, so that said, let's move into the main feature.

Today, we're going to talk about the three things that I have hacked since I started quilting. Okay, number one: customizing my cutting board. All right, let's see. Going back here, I want to show you this. Now, if you've watched any of my tutorials—hint, I've only uploaded one, but more to come—you have seen me using this cutting board. All right, I made this five or six years ago, and it actually just recently needed a refresh because it looked like this. All right, well used, well loved, but lots of ironing marks.

Okay, that said, the goal behind the customizing is to make it usable for you, right? You can take these with you when you go to quilting events because they're so small, right? And look, when I made these, I had a brand new Cricut, so I was doing all the things, right? I put a little thing on here that says, "Don't press me. Iron it out." And then, of course, you need to know who it belongs to. So, you know, I put my name, right? But the thing that I love about this most is you can wrap it in the fabric that you love looking at, right? So, anyway, again, check back later in the week. I will upload a full tutorial when I actually give these right here the refresh that they so lovingly deserve.

All right, so moving on. Let's see, back to the slides. Now, look, I don't want you to be intimidated by the idea of, you know, cutting the wood and all the things. Listen, I took a field trip yesterday to my local Lowe's, okay, our hardware store. I went to the lumber aisle. This is what you're going to see. But guess what? We're not building houses here. Even if you don't know the difference between a Phillips head and a flathead hammer—did you catch that? Just joking. Screwdriver. You don't have to have all the knowledge about all the things. I'm going to tell you where to go and how to do it.

So look, I went to the right aisle, found this piece of wood. All right, this wood right here cost $20. There was another piece that I found that was twice as big as this for $25, which you could cut and make three boards. So, that's the price of—if you go look on Amazon right now, their quilt hanging systems are easily starting at $20 and you're only getting one. All right, so anyway, long story short, this is a super simple hack that I will show you how to do later this week. Please join me.

All right, so number two: your homemade spray baste. All right, before I go into the details of how quick and simple and easy it is to make it, I want to talk about this one. All right, I actually have two because this is what I saw people using when I first started quilting. If you've ever tried these, just like anything in a spray bottle, there are really strong fumes. Okay? And here's the thing, we don't need to be breathing that. So, and then also you can't really use this in public, right? My quilt guild, and I'm assuming most, they don't want you using this at the sit and sews because it's just so strong and seriously like obnoxious.

But what you can use is this. All right, let's get to the ingredients. All you need is water. Check. Got that. Salt. Flour. Rubbing alcohol or vodka. Here's the thing. I have a friend who swears by the vodka. Me personally, I have other uses for that. So, I defaulted to the rubbing alcohol. But when I tell you it works wonders, it absolutely, absolutely does. So, and then just as an FYI, the link is down below, but I got three of these. Two of them I keep in my sewing station for my spray baste, for my water. I don't put water in my iron. I just spray it on my fabric. And then I have another one that I use for household purposes upstairs.

But then also make sure you have a clean mason jar because when you make the spray baste, you are going to fill up your spray bottle and have a ton left over. Okay? When I tell you I'm absolutely sure—I haven't done the math, but I will do it—you will save so many dollars by doing this with household items that you already have. It is definitely worth it. You know, us quilters, we love our quilting notions, our nicks, and our knacks. And the thing is, if you can save money wherever you can, why wouldn't you do it? Not only save money, but time.

Okay, moving on to the third hack: a quilt hanging rod. You can make your own. The great thing about this again is the customization. Maybe you have a small quilt that you want to hang, like a small wall hanging, large, whatever. All right, I came up with this one when I decided to hang this quilt back here. This is one of my latest quilts. Okay, I designed it myself and because I made all of these amazing churn dashes, I call it Churn It Up. You'll notice the arrows, okay, that are formed as a secondary pattern. Okay, anyway, love it. But I wanted to hang it.

All right. So, again, I was like, "Okay, let's figure this out. What do I have on hand? What can I do to do this cheap?" I had this wooden dowel from a project that I planned to use it for years before. It was sitting in the corner. And so, I pulled out my miter saw. Okay, here's the thing. I love DIY decorating, painting, doing all the little projects at home. So, I'm going to have all the tools. But here's the fun part. You don't have to have the tools because when you buy this wood for this and the ironing board at the store, they will cut it for you for free. All right, but that said, hold on. I have pictures for you.

All right. So, this is me twinning, y'all. That was yesterday at Lowe's. I asked the guy to take my picture. I'm sure he was like, "Who is this weird lady and why is she asking me to take a picture of her with this big stick?" Again, it's just how I do, right? This dowel costs $5. Okay, $5. This is actually what's left over from that one. So, when I make my next smaller wall hanging, and I'm going to talk about that in just a moment, I'm going to use this. I might even get fancy and paint it. All right. But you've got that for $5.

And then, if you want to be adventurous like me, you can go to the dollar store and get these for $1.25. Now, you can also get the brand name. So far, I'm vouching for these because these are what I've used to hang my quilt and I haven't had any problems. Now, again, the brand name might do you better, might last longer, I don't know. But right now, we are hanging in. So, this hack, you've got your hooks, your dowel, and you guys, I did look it up on the package. It says each one of these holds three pounds. All right. So, when you combine them, you have six pounds. So, because you have to calculate the weight for the dowel and your quilt. But again, this baby right here has been hanging up for more than two weeks now. No problem. It's an awesome hack.

All right, so let's move on to quilting news, guys. I had so much fun looking into this information for you. And let me say this, there are hundreds, okay, of forums and websites out there about quilting retreats. But before we even talk about a quilting retreat, I want to make sure you know what a quilt retreat or even a retreat in general means to me. Okay? Or yourself. It is the ultimate vacation. Okay? The other day I was thinking about it and I kept saying retreat, retreat, retreat. Okay? It is an opportunity to retreat from your life. You don't have to cook dinner for anybody. The meals are provided for you. There's no waking your kids up and dragging them out of the bed. They are away with whoever's taking care of them. All right, it's no worries. Get up when you want to quilt, sew, work on projects that have been sitting in a drawer unattended for months, years, whatever. All right. It is the ultimate vacation.

Now, I've been on retreats, but I haven't been on a quilting retreat as of yet, but I am manifesting that for 2026. All right. So, one of the first ones that I came across was the Sew Easy Retreat by Tammy Jones. All right, it's taking place in March of next year at the Lakeside Stitching Retreat Center in Bowdon County, Georgia. All right, here's the thing. First of all, look at that scenic view. It just looks amazing. I mean, honestly, that's a quilt right there. To me, a nice, beautiful collage quilt. So inspirational.

All right, and with the price of $1,899, all things are included: your lodging, your meals, your sewing machine. You don't even have to pack your sewing machine, guys. That is like the ultimate convenience. All right, the tools are there. The project kits now. So, on her website, which is linked in the description below, you'll see that she's having several next year. And at each of the retreats, she gives workshops where you do personalized projects. For instance, the one in January sold out in four hours, but that one they're going to do a rag quilt and a homemade backpack. All right. So, this weekend when I was researching for all this, all right, the March retreat was still available. Unfortunately, when I checked back yesterday, it was in fact sold out, but there is one in October that you can definitely, if this is something that you're interested in, take advantage of. Okay.

Then also the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center. Let me tell you, I just got off the phone with Ginger because I had a question for her, right, or for the retreat center. I wanted to be clear on the pricing. I didn't want to give you guys any misinformation. But let me get to first. This is also taking place in March. All right? And this is a quilting weekend where your lodging, your meals are taken care of. Lorraine, and if I'm remembering correctly, she hosted the first retreat back in 2008. She's still there teaching classes and small projects.

And what I love about this themed retreat is that you have the opportunity to fellowship with people who share your faith and your greatest hobby, quilting. All right. So, like I said, I left the message this morning for them because I wanted to be sure that the price was $200 for the triple occupancy, $225 for the double, and $300 for the single. Note, the website does say that the double and the single do fill up quickly. So, if this is something that you're interested in, definitely reach out sooner rather than later. But this is the price for the entire weekend. All right? This is not just for the night. So, definitely hook up with Ginger to get all the details, get your questions answered so that you can go ahead and pack up your sewing machine to head off to Williamsburg, Virginia. Again, I live in Virginia, so I'm particularly partial to things happening in this area.

All right. But then on the other side of the globe, why not build a quilting retreat into a European trip that you're taking next year? So, on the Studio Art Quilt Associates website, I found a beautiful and what looks like absolutely relaxing, exciting quilt retreat in France. Okay. We're going to say it's the Mallay Quilt and Embroidery Retreat. Here's the thing. I'm not even going to attempt to butcher the address. I took French in high school oh so long ago. So, all I remember is, I know a little French. I think that means a little. I don't know. But anyway, price to be determined, but this is one thing that I'll definitely keep you guys updated about if you're interested. But you'll have the opportunity to take part in a creative patch and embroidery workshop and then also French market and countryside walks. I mean guys, it sounds absolutely, absolutely divine and so I wanted to share that with you.

All right. So, as I mentioned, there are hundreds, hundreds if not thousands of quilt retreats out there that are happening every year. Too many options, right? Okay. Here's what I suggest. Start with your local quilt guild. I am a member of Quilters United. There are several chapters in the Virginia area. I am a part of the Springfield chapter and most recently my crew went to the fall retreat at the Claggett Center which is located just outside of Frederick, Maryland. Guys, it's actually from the DMV like a little over an hour's drive. You could, if needed, drive out there and then drive back in the same day. Why would you want to? You know what? If you have a reason to, you could. But the accommodations look amazing.

All right, here is the room where everybody sets up to quilt. If you can't see it, let's dial in just a little bit closer. Look at the natural light pouring in from that beautiful scenic view from the window. I'm guessing those seats right there were a premium. Get there early if you want one of those seats, right? All right. There's also space for you to set up your own design wall. This quilt right here is one that one of my friends is working on. It's beautiful. I know. Let's hope that she'll share it with us when she's done. The detail. Okay. She said the eye of the tiger. See what I did there? The eye of the tiger was the only thing that she worked on during the retreat. Okay. It was that many pieces that intense and but oh so worth it, right?

So looking at again the scenic view, those are hammocks, y'all. Okay, imagine taking this picture with your feet picked up. Okay, you're sitting in a rocking chair just soaking it all in. All right, the only thing more beautiful is this sunset, right? All right. And then of course, another thing we quilters do is anytime we go somewhere, we're going to find out where the local quilt shops are so we can get our shopping in. All right. And the only other thing that we're definitely going to do is enjoy our drinks. I had to ask my friends if I could share this picture with you because they are just having the time of their lives. And again, you guys, I will see you at next year's spring retreat because I don't want to miss out on the fun.

All right, so I am going to pause for any comments or questions. I see here one of our friends said, okay, bonjour. I can't say that with a nice accent. Bonjour. That was terrible. Okay, I take that back. But thank you guys again. Feel free to drop comments or questions in the chat because I am happy to answer them. All right, let's see. All right, getting back to the plan, the segments.

All right, the village. This is our pattern of the week. Okay. There is something about like little houses on a quilt. I just love it. I think to me it symbolizes the community of quilting. All right. And so this is a free pattern listed on the Fat Quarter Shop website. The link is in the description below. The pattern is by Miss Rosy's Quilt Company. All right, with Moda Fabrics. And if you do it to scale, it will be a 69 by 75 and a half.

All right. So, in order to get some examples, I went to Google and I typed in #villagequilt and look what I came up with. But hold on. First, before I go there, let me tell you, I was already thinking, what if I made a village quilt using just Christmas fabrics? How cute would that be, right? And then I was like, I could add some trees, some Christmas trees. Well, guess what? That is exactly what I found. Pam Quilter 1992. All right. This is her village quilt that she posted. All right, look at how beautiful this quilt is. So, what she did is she collected open doors. Okay, she wanted her doors on her houses to be open. So, she collected nearly 200 doors. All right, 200 doors. And it took her almost two years. All right, but it was well worth it.

All right, look at that. We've got the cute little doggies, the cute little people. Wait a minute. Look at girlfriend doing the over the back pose. Okay. And then we got Ruthie in there. So cute. You could in fact look at this quilt for hours, right? Just soaking in all the different details. Here is how she laid out and decided which doors she was putting with which houses. I just love this guys. And then look at the trees. All right. Look at the trees. So anyway, if you guys are interested, again, I have attached the link to this pattern below. I hope to start this and have it up before Christmas this year. So, who knows? This pattern might show up at one of our Friday night block parties. I don't know. But definitely check it out if you're interested. All right. Oh, and here's another slightly closer view just to show you how absolutely darling and amazing this quilt is.

All right. So then we move on to the free table. So I thought to myself, what would be interesting this week? And I came up with I'm going to give away a fat quarter bundle. Okay, these are the fabrics that I used for our block party this past Friday. Guys, they are beautiful. Do you see the metallic leaves? Okay, we have a batik in here. They're just beautiful rustic red autumn colors. Okay, with a splash of gold. So anyway, if you are interested again, whether you're watching live or on the replay, definitely go ahead and comment below. Free table. Okay.

And I think that's it you guys. It just happens so fast, so quickly. Thank you once again for joining. And you know what? I have an itsy-bitsy, teensy favor. If you would, you know what? Send YouTube a message. Let them know that you enjoy The Word on the Stitch and you want other people to join us here. And you do that by liking this video and subscribing to the channel. All you have to do is gently press that subscribe button and that lets YouTube know that you love it here.

All right. So I am seeing a comment here. "We love you. Thank you so much for all the fabulous information." I love you too. And you know what guys? Live your best life. Be blessed. Be soulful and be quilty. Okay. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for joining us. I will see you actually in two weeks. All right, I'm taking Thanksgiving off. So, in two weeks, Tuesday at two, I'll see you right here. All right, bye guys.

Transcript