Quilting Tip 1
Do you have bent stencils that you think are unusable?
Just take a hair dryer on hot heat over the stencil until it feels very warm, then lay on your counter with some heavy books on top for a while. Ta da... a usable stencil ready to go.
Quilting Tip 2
Are your marking pencils breaking when you go to sharpen them?
Try storing your marking pencils in the freezer. This will help keep the chalk one solid mass when sharpening with less breakage.
Also, use a sharpener for soft pencils, as seen in our notions category.
Quilting Tip 3
Are you having problems getting your needle thru all three layers when basting?
Just add a large shooter marble under all three layers before basting. The marble lifts the layers up just enough to get your needle thru.
Also try using a curved needle for basting.