A pillow??? That's bizarre!! Guess when traveling it depends if the official is in a good mood or not. I know their jobs are extremely difficult and they have a huge responsibility - I would definitely rather have them overly conscientious but sometimes incidents happen that make you wonder if it isn't a 'power trip' on their part.
I used a clover thread cutter and needles in Nov going to and coming back from Hawaii with no problems. They didn't even open the bag to check it futher. I really liked using it because it was easy and efficient.