A few of my favorite things Part 3

 Today I'll cover marking pens, thread conditioner and applique needles.  Why all together?  Because I bought them all from the same place, more on that later.

 Sewline fabric pencils.  I have been using the white one for a year, and love it. Love, love, love it. It never breaks, writes smoothly, and has always washed out.  So, I splurged and purchased the other three colors: Pink, green, and yellow.  So, while I haven't used them yet, I have high hopes!

 Thread Heaven Thread conditioner.  Run your thread through it a couple of times before hand sewing, whether its binding, applique, or piecing, and this stuff will help prevent tangles, twisting, and knots.  Now, it can't prevent them all, but I've certainly noticed a difference.  I don't do any hand sewing without it.  Another tip to prevent some of those problems: cut shorter lengths of thread.  I'm guilty of pulling ou a huge length and starting in on a binding, but the more you pull that thread through the fabric, the more its going to get roughed up and tangle-y.

Applique needles.  I first started out with the Tulip needles pictured below.  They sew like butter through anything.  Even tightly woven batiks!  When I was ordering another package (because I lost my first) I decided to also try some of the John James needles.  I've been just as happy with them.  So, two good finds for me this year.  I would recommend trying either one.

 So why all these items together?  Because I bought them all off of Karen Kay Buckley's Webstore.  I cannot find the Tulip needles anywhere else.  And they are all things that I had bought and used at her workshop that I took last year.  When I made my order they were packaged and shipped the next day! BTW, she doesn't know me from Adam, and you are welcome to buy what you want from wherever you want. I just had a good experience using her store.