I have been playing with fabric this week. I cut 8 kits for comfort quilts for the students to work on at the class I am teaching tomorrow. I cut so much fabric that I wore out my rotary blade.Of course I couldn't find the pack of blades I bought in the winter. Needing to get the cutting done for the class, I stopped in at Michael's after work to buy a rotary blade...guess how much it cost??
I took a picture of the receipt because I know you won't believe me... $19.20 for 1 blade!
When I got home, I found the package I had purchased at the Waterwheel House Quilt Shop in Vermont...do you see the price for those...$31.50 for 5 blades!
When I was organizing fabric for the kits, I found a bag of 2" Moda strips in the cupboard and got side tracked/obsessed! I decided it would be the perfect way to practice teaching flying geese blocks.
This is how far I got with the strips last night. I wanted to try to organize the strips into a colour rainbow... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. But it ended up looking a bit landscape'ish. (I think I'll take out that yellow goose on the left because it really stands out) I have no idea what I'll do with this, but it was a fun exercise.
Ooooo....LOVE the color of the strips!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for blades.....yeah, that price doesn't surprise me; I've seen that reDICulous price up here too (oh wait....down here, I mean).
Hope the weather is treating you well :0)
Kathy, I know that those blades are one of my pet peeves when I see the price of them. So one day I looked on ebay...I don't know if you use ebay at all but it is far and away the cheapest way to buy this particular sewing tool, one we all use and love. My last purchase was for 10 blades size 45mm and the total with shipping was $21.00! They are Olfa brand, though you can find Fiskars and the others also, I have just always used the Olfa. I did order some for my SIL that were a brand I had never heard of but when I Googled them they are a popular brand in the UK...$5.00 for a pack of 15 blades and my SIL said they are every bit as good as the other popular brands we know best. So, if you use ebay, check out the rotary blades and cutters (every size and you can get them in lots as large as 100 for a song) and while your at it, check out some of your other 'must have' notions. I was very pleasantly surprised. I love your Strip quilt, love the colors but your right, it looks kind of like sunset at a mountain lake...really gorgeous colors! Hugs...
ReplyDeleteyour fying geese looks like a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree the cost of rotary blades is crazy. I have one of those sharpener gadgets--it works but the blade dulls faster than a new blade.
What would we do without these time savers tho? I shudder to think of cutting everything with scissors again.
I try to buy the blades at Joann's with 40% off coupons-sewing machine needles too-those things aren't cheap either.
going to have to check out ebay--another great thing about blogging--finding a deal!
i actually starting using the small rotary cutter because a friend said the blades were so much cheaper...and now I love it and I used the large one before!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, noticed in your profile that you are a SW with sex abuse ...I did that for 11 years prior to my teaching career...still wonder how some of those precious ones are doing...memories!!
I try to use the sharpener to stretch out the life of my blades. Sometimes the cost of notions gets me a little worked up. Still, I can't imagine quilting without a rotary cutter, so I guess it is worth it in the end. Love the rainbow geese. Hope it turns into a quilt and not a UFO.
ReplyDeleteEven with one of the 40% off coupons, that one blade would be rather expensive.
ReplyDeletei buy carpet cutter replacement blades from harbour freight tools, i paid $1.50 for 5 blades (on sale) normal price $1.99, and they fit the 45mm olfa cutter great, and slice through fabric wonderfully!!!!! here is the link to them http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-2-carpet-cutter-replacement-blades-97642.html
ReplyDeletecorrection for 2 blades, not 5! oops!
ReplyDeleteI buy the same as Ann Marie above - the Harbor Freight carpet blades are WAY cheaper and they are just as sharp and last just as long! I can change mine out a bit quicker than I normally would using these blades so I never have to deal with dull blades again! They fit any standard 45mm rotary cutter (I have Fiskars) I will never buy OLFA/Fiskars blade refills agaain!
ReplyDeleteThere are coupons available on the internet for Michael's - sometimes for up to 50% off but the coupons are usually for just 1 item (or you can sign up to have them emailed to you). The prices at Michael's are outrageous - I have stopped purchasing anything there unless I use a coupon.
ReplyDeleteLove your goose strips. Very fun!
ReplyDelete