Welcome to February 2026.  I don't know about you, but I am still having a tough time writing 2026, I am just not as trainable as I once was.  Groundhog Day comes on February 2nd.   If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, supposedly, there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  Let us hope that he does not see his shadow. The rest of the country has had an overabundance of winter already.  

Valentine’s Day is on Saturday this year,  followed by President’s Day, providing a Monday holiday and a 3-day weekend.  Since I retired, 3-day weekends don't have the sparkle they used to have for me, but for some folks it is a nice reprieve.  February ends on a Saturday, the 28th and then March First sneaks in on that Sunday.  

The Road to California Quilt Show in January was wonderful and had a bounty of beautiful quilts on display.  The talent on display was breathtaking.  I was blessed to have my two sisters come and join me to go see the show.  We rode a bus chartered by the Crazy Quilters Quilt Guild.  It was so fun visiting, chatting, looking at quilts, eating a delicious lunch, and perusing all the vendors booths looking at all the machines, fabrics, notions, and tools available.  The idea of quilting tools inspired me to write this tidbit about tools.  

This tidbit features a couple of tools that Mary B showed in a YouTube Video entitled:  "10 Weird Tools that Actually Work".  I personally found 2 of the 10 that work for me and I will talk about those here, but I encourage you to watch Mary B's video for yourself and perhaps you may want to use all 10 that she reviews.

To my surprise, one of the tools is a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  Come to find out, you can use this magic eraser to clean muck off your iron.  You can also use it to clean glue build up on your sewing needles, machine and hand sewing needles.  Also, if you use permanent markers known as Sharpies, you can use the magic eraser to get Sharpie marks off your acrylic templates and rulers. So, I bought some of these erasers and tried it, and wow, it works great.  I bought a pack of 4, but apparently you can buy them in higher volume if you so desire.  The following photo shows the eraser after it cleaned off one of my quilting rulers.  It was amazing how thoroughly it cleaned, and it was quick.
  The other tool Mary B Introduced that I gravitated toward was the Glue Stick Tip.  I use Elmer's Glue Sticks in my house for various things like glueing envelopes shut (I don't like that envelope taste on my tongue).  These glue sticks can be found in the back-to-school supplies at most stores, are reasonably priced, and the glue is water soluble.  

You can choose the purple glue that turns white upon drying or the basic white glue stick.  I prefer the purple one so I can see how much glue I am using, and it is fun to see the color change.  Because of the volume of glue the glue stick delivers, I have had limited success in using them in my sewing, unless it was just to tack down fabric on foundation paper. 

I use other glues with containers that feature small tips to deliver a controlled small amount of glue for each use.  This glue can hold backing pieces together when I am trying to match fabrics to create an invisible seam.  I also use glue to baste fabric pieces together when pins won't suffice.  However, these other glues can be pricey, especially when you buy them from quilting related sources.  The use of a simple and cheaper glue stick was intriguing to me.

I was unsuccessful in finding the glue stick tip at my local Michael's store, so I ordered the glue stick tip device from Amazon.  I received a package with three tips.  One with a very small hole, a medium, and a large.  Using the 3 bears method, I discovered that the medium one was best for me.  The small one was simply too small, and the large one was too large.  The medium one is just right.  You do have a bit of glue loss if you remove the device from the glue stick to replace the lid on the glue stick, but it is not a significant loss.
 

Small

Large

Medium

I want to find a glue stick tip that comes with a lid, so I can leave it installed on the glue stick.  I will continue to watch for that.  I decided to leave the tip in place, I popped the lid back on and put the glue stick with the tip in a small snack bag.  I will leave it all together until I need to use it next time.  We shall see if that works with time.  
I hope you will watch Mary B's video and see if some of these tools can help you with your sewing and quilting.  She also introduces baskets you can use for organizing your project that you can find at The Dollar Store.  It is nice to have cheaper alternatives to support our quilting hobby.  Have a great February.  Blessings to you and your family.  I am looking for an idea for March 2026 tidbit.  Please tell me if you have an idea.  Thank you!