Rulers & Irons
Well, rulers, that’s another thing that it’s easy to collect!! I have a TON of rulers. Some for very specific uses, like my 60-degree angle rulers. Others, because I thought they would make something easier, or someone said I needed, or.. well, sometimes one just collects. 😊
When getting started there really are only a few you need, and ones you’ll use all the time –
The 6” x 24” is great for cutting strips, and the 6 ½” square good for cutting smaller pieces and used to help straighten up your fabrics before cutting strips. I recently added the 12 ½” square as a good starting ruler as it is good to have on hand to square up your blocks. A good starting size for blocks is 12 ½” square.
I’ve also added larger square rules as I’ve had projects where I’ve had larger blocks to square up, or working to cut t-shirts up for quilts.
I have several irons that I have some how accumulated over the years. One for upstairs, when I used to actually iron cloths, one that Kevin had before we were married, and so on! But the one I really like is a Rowenta Pro Master as it’s good and heavy, and has an auto-off! The Rowenta irons are definitely not cheap, but if you keep your eye out for coupons and sales you can get one at a good price.
As long as my iron stays nice and hot, I’m pretty happy with it. The other one I’m using is not expensive, stays hot, and doesn’t have an automatic shut off. I keep a light above my ironing board, and if the light is on, it means my iron is on. So when I leave the basement the light goes off and that’s a reminder to shut off the iron too!