What's a Thangle?

Thangles, dayglo tape, blocks, triangles on a roll. These are just some of the new terms I learned last night at my quilting class and yes dayglo tape is exactly what it sounds like. A roll of brightly colored tape used to mark our rulers (at least that’s what we did last night) in the various positions needed to keep track of where we will be measuring and cutting for different widths of cloth. I’m sure it has other uses but we haven’t learned them yet. And triangles on a roll are just that – a big roll of paper triangles to use as patterns to cut the fabric. How cool is that! We will be using Thangles instead of triangles on a roll which are basically the same thing except they come in strips instead of on a roll, but the lesson on how to actually use them will be next week.
Quilting, I (and my classmates) are learning is turning into an expensive little adventure, especially for those of us who also just purchased sewing machines. In addition to the above we needed thread, cutting mats, rotary cutters, pins, seam ripper and a quilt ruler. Having sewed off and on through the years I did have some of these supplies but not all. We also learned to never, ever leave our cutting mat in the car. A class mate left hers and by the time she got in the car to come to class it had bent out of shape from the heat (and it wasn’t even a very hot day). Now she has to purchase a new one and at $25 her cost in this venture has just gone up.
But all in all, we will take away a valuable skill and an item that will last for years to come –as will most of the supplies with proper care – and that is what we are anticipating. By the end of the class we should all be very familiar with quilt-speak.