Oh no!! Pins are rusting
 

I've been working on a Dear Jane quilt with over 200 blocks which I just finished. To keep it managed, I pinned the block number on each piece. This week when I started putting blocks together, I found that some of the pins had started to stick to the fabric and rust. Mind you, I haven't been working on this quilt a full year yet.

I normally use Clover Flower pins, but because I needed so many, I pulled out some pins I purchased for a class at my LQS when I left my pins at home. They are probably 4 years old and seldom used. I don't know the brand.

So far, the damage can be repaired. I've only gone through about thirty blocks. I ordered more Clover pins and will replace all of them this week. When I do, I'll find out the full damage (and throw every one of those pins away!!).

It's good to be able to share this with people that truly understand.

If/ when I use straight pins, I have learned to pin in the seam allowance

Rust has happened to me with pins and staples.

I don't leave pins in my projects for the same reason. I put them in baggies
and stick a note on the bag. Glad you could save your project.

Sorry to hear about that, but thanks for the reminder. When doing my DJ, I wrote the block # on the back on a seam allowance with a micron pen.

How maddening! I'm glad you were able to get back to your project on time. When I was collecting vintage fabrics I often found old rusted in pins or staples in the fabric, sometimes you lost more fabric than you would think...

For block labels I really do like brass safety pins. I've been making little paper A1, A2, etc. block numbers but I was inspired by something another person here did, I'm looking for sets of Alpha/Numeric beads at the Thrift store. I'll take little jewelry finding rings an put the A1, etc. and then loop them through the loops in the end of safety pins. I'll still have to sort them out by alpha groups but I bought a nice little craft box full of embroidery floss at the thrift store for super cheap to do that/store them in -- now I just need to find the beads! I gave the floss to one of my quilting friends who always complains about needing "just four inches for a project".

My MIL, Alice, was an artist and worked in many media. She made a 14 X 18 Art Deco of strangely shaped embroidered flowers and was filling in the background with an all-over pattern. When I inherited this 30 years ago, it was not quite finished. There are just a few stitchies missing in the background, but the needle is still in it. It has been stuck tight all these years. She died in 1986. I think it is charming with the needle and thread still in it. I will be giving it to her great-granddaughter, Alice, soon, with the needle in it.

I have been very fortunate when it comes to pins in projects. I started using plastic baggies when ever possible. It is easier to take a dollar store plastic baggie and put in a slip of paper than to take the risk on a straight pin. I have seen what was done on a few garage sale specials I picked up and that was enough to convince me years ago to avoid the problem. I am so sorry you have to go through this with your Dear Jane. Hopefully not to much damage is done over all.

I have used those little cloths pin type plastic clips to hold my block pieces together....I also have used various paper clips both the slide on type and the clip on type....they do wrinkle the fabric a bit but don't make any holes.....I don't know however which of the metal paperclips might rust.....you can also rip the sticky part of envelopes off and use those to hold the pieces together if they are small enough...or baggies too...

They have those beads at Hobby Lobby😁

Oh I know I can buy the beads, Sharon... but I see them so often in the thrift store that I have put them on my list of things to look for! The thrill of the hunt is part of the fun. Hubby and I have a cheap date day every Sunday. He works so much that Sunday morning was the only "safe" time for us to plan anything together. So we go bowling at cheap rates a town about 10 miles over and then to two-three thrift stores on the way home.

Humidity will affect some pins even after a short period of time. I lived in the Houston area for many years and even with efficient air conditioning was still aware of high humidity.

I had cheap pins originally, but fortunately learned my lesson with my glue bottle. I have a super-fine tip attached to my Elmer's glue bottle. Instead of removing and washing it out every time I use it, I simply stick a pin in the hole to keep it clear and stop it from drying out. It fits perfectly. One day when I pulled the pin out of the bottle, I noticed that it was a bit rusty. Promptly threw the entire box of pins out and bought nickel-plated pins. They also glide though fabric smoother. The cheapo pins feel like sandpaper when they go through fabric.

I do this too.
 

This is what I do also and I'm so glad because it's been forever since I looked at the DJ blocks and triangles. I have tried writing in the seam allowance for Farmer's Wife with micropens but it takes me a while (they don't write very smoothly) and everything will be lost when the quilt is put together, anyway. My husband found some thick plastic bags nicer than ziplocks at his work and purchased some in several sizes for me since my sewing room is also the laundry room and everything is exposed to more humidity than the rest of the house. So far, so good...and it's been a decade. One of these days I may even get it together----fingers crossed.

I however, had my iron ruin several blocks from internal rust. I was not able to remove the streaks and had to remake several challenging blocks. I do hope you're able to save all of them and am sorry to hear of the rust issues.

Use a spritz bottle instead of the steam function of your iron. I haven't used the steam function since I scalded my fingers with the steam.