A nifty piece of equipment I’ve been using since I did a paper piecing workshop, is a 1/4″ ruler. Known as “Add-a-quarter”, this ruler is 6″ long, about 1″ wide, and has a raised 1/4″ lip which hooks nicely over the paper piecing edge so you cut a perfect 1/4″ seam allowance every time! I’ve now added it to my Amazon store if you want to buy one.
See http://www.quilt-pictures.com/add-a-quarter.html for more information on how someone else uses this handy little tool.
The other day I heard a really good tip from Alex Anderson of “Simply Quilts” fame. She suggested using the cutting mechanism on a dental floss container to cut sewing/quilting/embroidery thread when you can’t take scissors on a plane or other public transportation and you want to continue working on a piece.
I’m not sure what you do about needles… I’d have thought that if scissors or thread snippers are banned, then sewing needles would also be banned. But maybe not.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 