I love these needles. I have a puff pillow quilt that I've been hand sewing and these needles are a god send. You don't have to waste time trying to thread the needle and they go through fabric like a dream. In fact, I had sewn so much with the first one, had to order more. The price is well justified, even from the simple price of saving time. I haven't had any problems with the thread fraying, so it probably was an odd bad needle.