Looking for curved safety pins for basting
 

I need to add to my jar of curved safety pins but after purchasing 2 packages from JoAnns and seeing how thin the metal was....they bent going through the 3 layers of a quilt and I returned them to the store. Has anyone found a good sturdy curved saftey pin that they could reccommend. I need the mediam to larger size, not the tiny little pins.....price is not object for GOOD quality. My pins are maybe 10 years old now and I am hoping that the metal quality has not changed over the years. I am not a fan of spray basting.....don't like all the fumes!!.

Thanks for any help....jodimarie

I think all things metal are thinner! I've noticed the straight pins are not as sturdy as they used to be. I have been using Sharon shamburgs? Method of board sandwiching. No puckers!!

I needed a couple of really big safety pins for a project and found some baby diaper pins that are made of a nice thick metal but the price for 3 pins was just a bit too high!!!! They were really really nice tho but the thought of buying 300 made me weak in the knees!!!!

I use to use saftey pins but what a pain to undo, then I found pinmores and use my straight pins and it is quicker and faster to do and undo them I love it go to the pinmore web sight they are great you wont use saftey pins again. and straight pins are cheaper, and you already have them.

I saw these Pinmores at my LQS and didn't know what they are, now I do. :thumbup:. I have ripped my hands on the straight pins so much on the quilt I am working on my hands hurt. I think I will go back and pick these up. But, Im wondering if there is a cheaper alternative?? Hmmm, Ill have to think about this.

Thanks again!!!

I use kid's little erasers (the kind you get in a bag at the dollar store) to stick on the ends of straight pins. The last ones I bought were on clearance from Valentine's Day last year (little hearts) and cost me 25 cents for a bag of 50. I spent $2.00 and got 400 pin stoppers. I know, I'm cheap:D

I was going to suggest these:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]305795[/ATTACH]
but for savings, I think Val in IN has me beat!

val thanks for this tip. i had some straight pins that were particularly thikc that i was thinking of getting rid of but now i will try them for pinning. i also bought some of those curved saftey pins and what a waste of money. the "metal" was so thin they just bent more.

i havent had any trouble yet with the saftey pins and i also have a basting gun i bought eons ago that i havent tried using yet. has anyone tried the basting guns? if so, what is your impression?

BRILLIANT!! Next time I'm in town I'm going to look. But the erasers looks like a good backup if I don't find any. Thsi board has the greatest minds.

This is exactly what I was looking for. A cheaper version of the Pinmoors. I called DH to see if he had any of those disposable ear plugs to see if those would work. He going going to look around for me and see what he can find. Ill have to stop by $ Store and see what I can find. I knew those miniature erasers were good for something, cause for the life of me I could never figure out how anyone could actually erase with those.:D

Thanks Bunches.

I have two packages of these if your interested.. I no longer use pins...

http://www.shopfonsandporter.com/pro...ic-and-notions

Looks like I'll be adding erasers to my list when I go to town again. :)

I've conducted a few "experiments" with these materials.
- Disposable ear plugs (from Harbour Freight Tools): work, but are a bit too "squishy" for my taste.
- "Marshmallow" shaped foam from Michaels: I cut them in thirds. Consistency was a bit too stiff, and I had
trouble putting the pins in the middle. Result: pricked fingers. :-(
So I broke down and bought the real Pinmoors. Should have done that to start with I guess. LOL.

My curved safety pins are several years old so this may no longer be true. I found that the pins in Joanne's quilting section to be of much better quality than the curved pins in the general notions section.

I bought mine at Walmart some time ago and have used them on several quilts with no problem.

I bought some at Walmart, also, and they are plenty sturdy.

The flower head pins with the eraser stoppers sure would beat stopping FMQ'ing to undo safety pins. Might be quicker.

I went to $ Store and wasn't able to find miniature erasers but did find an 8 pack of rectangles that I will have DH cut up. He didn't think the ear plugs would work like Groucho stated. Just saved my self a bunch of money, yeah me:thumbup:

I purchase my curved pins at Walmart. I haven't had any problems with them other than sometimes the hole left is more than what I want. But for most fabrics it hasn't been an issue.

thanks for the Walmart suggestion on curved pins.....will check them out later this week. don't want to try the pinmores as I have used the curved safety pins for years and years and have a system down to a science!! I just need to add to the stockpile of pins that I adready have. I did not know that JoAnns had different curved pins in different places.....I only go into the quilting section, so I will have to check out the entire store!!

thanks again....

I bought mine in the quilting section at Joanns and thought they were very sturdy.

I accidentally FMQed over two - thankfully, my machine did not hit them. Then I had to take them out without breaking the stitch. I had a heck of a time bending and twisting to get them to break. I finally spread the curlicue at the bottom of the pin the moved the stitch through it. They were like iron.

Mine are from Walmart as well. I bought them about a year agoand have no problem with them at all.

sounds like I may have just gotten a ''bad batch'' of curved pins!!!! will give JoAnn and Walmart another try. the ones I returned seemed like they were made of tin....they bent going through the 3 quilt layers so bad, there was no way to use them. my old curved pins are thick and sturdy and made like iron too....or at least stainless steel!!!!

jodimarie