{"id":2117,"date":"2015-06-15T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T15:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/?p=2117"},"modified":"2015-06-15T08:47:43","modified_gmt":"2015-06-15T15:47:43","slug":"an-unusual-quilting-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/06\/15\/an-unusual-quilting-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"An unusual quilting tool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Laser<\/a>I’ve had this tool for several years, so I’m not even sure that this same model is still available (newer ones are), but it certainly is useful!\u00a0It’s called a Laser Level Square, and its intended use is for construction (squaring corners, etc.) or even for\u00a0checking to make sure something is level (think tabletops or picture hanging). I found mine in a local home improvement store, but they’re also available from online sources. For my purposes, the “level” part isn’t really necessary, but the laser is!<\/p>\n

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\"Laser<\/a><\/p>\n

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What does something like this do for a quilter? It “shoots” two\u00a0lovely red lines at right angles! This photo shows the lines in bright daylight and with an overhead light fixture turned on. You can clearly see the lines, though the photo does wash them out a bit.<\/p>\n

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\"Laser<\/a><\/p>\n

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In this photo, with the overhead light turned off but the bright daylight still coming through my window, the lines are much better for a blog post. \ud83d\ude09 I’ve set this onto a practice quilting sandwich to show you how it works. Pretend that this is a finished quilt sandwich, and you’re about to square it up for binding. See how easy it would be to get nice square corners and straight sides? And the lines work\u00a0even for very large quilts; I can see them all the way across a pretty good-sized room.<\/p>\n

\"Laser<\/a><\/p>\n

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Of course, I wouldn’t use those lines to do free-hand cutting! It would be too easy to slip. However, lining up a long ruler along the lines and drawing a cutting line or a seam line works really well. I prefer to do that, anyway, adding my piping and\/or binding before cutting off the excess fabric, just for extra stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve had this tool for several years, so I’m not even sure that this same model is still available (newer ones are), but it certainly is useful!\u00a0It’s called a Laser Level Square, and its intended use is for construction (squaring corners, etc.) or even for\u00a0checking to make sure something is level (think tabletops or picture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[299],"tags":[49,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-2117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quilting","8":"tag-notions","9":"tag-tools","10":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Laser-tool-0001.jpg?fit=2448%2C2630&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yzuO-y9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2085,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/05\/23\/hawaiian-turtles\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":0},"title":"Hawaiian turtles","author":"Sandy","date":"May 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You may\u00a0\u2014\u00a0or may not ;)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0remember this post. At the time that my quilting buddy, Phyl, bought her kit, I also bought one, and I put it away to work on at some point; the kits were laser cut\u00a0by Stacy Michell. That was about three years ago. Time does fly! LOL!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Appliqu\u00e9"","block_context":{"text":"Appliqu\u00e9","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/applique\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0444","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/IMG_0444-300x205.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5413,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2024\/07\/24\/onward\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":1},"title":"Onward!","author":"Sandy","date":"July 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a while since I've posted about this quilt that I'm making as a gift. I did most of the piecing \u00a0during sewing days with my group, and then I got sidetracked. First of all, of course, there was the major problem with my Bernina 790PRO, which sort of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Slightly overhead view of a quilt, mostly blue-grey and white with pops of greens and oranges, under the needle of a Bernina 790PRO sewing machine for quilting. Small scissors are on top of the machine, oriented for a left-handed person.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/IMG_0508-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5523,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2024\/12\/04\/experiment-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":2},"title":"Experiment","author":"Sandy","date":"December 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Several days ago I saw an email that piqued my interest. Telene Jeffrey, from South Africa, designs absolutely gorgeous wholecloth quilts. I love wholecloth quilts, but it's been a very long time since I've made one. Since she has so many exquisite designs, I decided to start out small by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free motion quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Free motion quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/free-motion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Small (17\" square) wholecloth quilt on grey\/white Grunge fabric with taupe binding. The quilting is in white thread and is a geometric design repeated four times and surrounded by piano-key quilting in the border.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0692-287x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5461,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2024\/09\/27\/fantastic-laser\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":3},"title":"Fantastic laser!","author":"Sandy","date":"September 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"About a year ago, I traded in my Bernina 790Plus (which I *loved*) for the Bernina 790Pro. I thought long and hard about it, but I couldn't really see a down side; the Pro has all of the fabulous features of the Plus and some amazing additions. One of those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo shows a detail of the needle area of a sewing machine. Two human hands are guiding the white fabric along a barely-visible seam line, and a tiny red laser dot shows where the needle is about to hit.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0594-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5163,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2023\/09\/30\/dexter-quilt\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":4},"title":"Dexter quilt","author":"Sandy","date":"September 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When we first moved here in 1999, we brought with us -- of course! -- our then five-year-old dog, Dexter. He was really a sweetheart; he loved everyone, but he always made sure that he was \"on duty\" whenever workmen were around for the inevitable final touches a new home\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Appliqu\u00e9"","block_context":{"text":"Appliqu\u00e9","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/applique\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black lab head holding a daisy in his mouth and with more daisies in the foreground.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Dexter-Quilt-210x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1477,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2011\/01\/09\/storm-at-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":2117,"position":5},"title":"Storm at Sea","author":"Sandy","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night I finished my little Storm at Sea miniature -- quilted, bound and labeled. :) It was a fun little project to do, and John Flynn's laser-cut kits are definitely very precise and easy to piece. This one ended up being 21\" wide by 23.5\" long after I'd added\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quilting"","block_context":{"text":"Quilting","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/quilting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Storm-at-Sea.jpg?fit=865%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Storm-at-Sea.jpg?fit=865%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Storm-at-Sea.jpg?fit=865%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Storm-at-Sea.jpg?fit=865%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2129,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117\/revisions\/2129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}