I find my seams match better and my trips to the repair man worth the trouble of basting. My favorite pins are really long and thin with flowers on the top. Sometimes I use beading needles to hold short seams or smaller pieces together. They also work great to hold the pieces together for hand quilting. I wish I could find more of these pins, any ideas?

Walmart sells pins like this. They are made by Prym.

Not normally. It's a bad idea, but once in a great while, if I have a problem area where I think I'd like to leave the pin(s) in until I've sewn the area, I "walk" my sewing machine needle one stitch at a time, using the up/down needle feature or the handwheel on the right hand side of the machine. I can see well up close, so I watch very carefully as I do it. I only use silk pins, too.

NEVER! I'd rather put a dot of glue or use a glue pin if the intersection is that problematic. Otherwise, I finger pin, unless I'm doing a border or will remove pins just as I come up on them. I too, learned the hard way about whacking out my timing, causing burrs on my hook race and breaking needles. It's just not worth it.

I use Clover Patchwork Pins, seen here:

http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-CL2507

CLOVER PATCHWORK PINS 100 PER PKG

Extra-fine type of pin, which smoothly passes through cloth. Useful when pinning down precisely for detailed piecework. The head is made of glass, which is a good heat insulator. 100 per package.

Happy sewing,

The only time I sew over my pins is when I am putting rows together and I want to make sure the seems are even. When I do this I go very slowly and carefully.

Quiltgranny: Thanks so much for the information. I ordered them already. Happy stitchin'