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I have had the best luck with the glass head pins. I have been using mine for years and they are still good as new,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Denno (Post 7968234)

I love the Clover pins, too. A few years ago I got some that were great, sharp and smooth, they came in a little box, glass tops blue on one side, yellow on the other. I few months ago I ordered what I thought were the same, well they LOOK the same, but they are much thinner and bend easily. Unfortunately I threw the package away, so I don't know if they were produced to be thinner, or they are just made cheaper now

It sounds to me like you bought the Clover very fine pins, which are 0.4 thick, not the usual 0.5 thick. You should rejoice! Those pins are the bomb! You can sew right over them and not worry about damaging your machine by hitting a pin. They do bend easily if you are aggressive when pinning, but they also don't distort the fabrics when you pin with them. Those are my absolute favorite pins, and not available at JoAnn's and my local quilt shops. I can only buy those when I go to a major quilt show.

Does the pin cushion make a difference? Maybe the emery is too rough for the pins? Should I stick with the wool pin cushion?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crispy_Frog (Post 7967308)

I've been playing with quilting for 13 years and over the years have discarded pins for feeling dull. I run them through the little strawberry emery pin cushion to "sharpen" them, but that doesn't seem to help. I'm getting frustrated by the amount of pins that suddenly seem dull. I primarily have the yellow-top pins. Should I invest more in pins? Is there a preferred brand that stays sharp?

Any suggestions?

I have a pincushion made of steel wool that really sharpens the pins nicely. Then I run them through a bar of Ivory Soap, makes them smooth as silk.