Quilter's Ruby Lens

Way back in the 1970s and 1980s, when my mom was an eager, young quilter and I was a bored-at-the-fabric-store child there weren't very many fancy quilting gadgets.

But there was this ruby viewfinder thing. You could look through it and turn the world an eerie, creepy red. Endless entertainment. Or at least long enough to survive the selection of yardage and batting. 

The real purpose of the Ruby Lens is to reduce the colors of whatever you are looking at to their value only. So you can more easily determine your darks, mediums, and lights. If your quilting project blends together from a distance, you don't have enough differences in value. I have to admit I suffer from this myself! But the Ruby Lens is an easy solution.

There are a couple of other ruby gadgets out there. One even does double duty as a ruler, which is quite nice. Unfortunately, they seem to be orangey or pinkish. Not a true, deep ruby red which gives you the most clear results. 

It comes with a little felt slipcase so it's ready to toss in your bag, tote or sewing pouch.