Our last Christmas guild party we had a gift exchange. Everyone showed what they received and the person giving the figt could tell a little about it if it as unique. One long time quilter (wins awards and writes patterns) gave a big box of pins, and explained that we should throw out all our old pins every year! Not sure I can adhere to that, but it does make sense that they get dull and bent, etc. So I have started throwing out a pin if it doesn't perform on the first try! Not a lot of them, but it does cut down on frustration by not trying to use that same old, dull, bent pin over and over again! I use the long pins with the yellow heads, never invested in the silk ones, but have used a friends and they are great.

Thank you so much.

My very favorites are Clover "silk" pins!! And I've tried many others, but these win!

Clover or Fons and Porter glass head pins. If a pin is dull or bent I toss it. I know the hair trick but will do that only if I don't have the option of a new sharp pin or needle.

clover pins are nice, the glass head ones work very well, karen kay buckley pins are also super thin and nice

The key for me is to look for the ones that say thin! I found some thin ones with the white glass heads and now I don't know the brand. They glide through the fabric like butter and so no distortion when matching seams. Just ordered more from Amazon and hope I chose the right ones by looking for the thin description.

Here's the guide I have printed and saved. I look for sharp, rustproof pins. They last longer. I made it a habit to glide my thumb and index finger down the pin to the point to check for rust before I put it into the fabric. Those of course get tossed.

http://www.joann.com/on/demandware.s...tPinsGuide.pdf

Thank you NanaCsews2. Need all the help I can get.

I have some glass head pins that the pin heads are red or white. They are very sharp, last a long time, and stay sharp. They do bend if you stress them too much.
Unfortunately, there is nothing on the case to indicate the manufacturer - but I do know they weren't Clover. They may have been H. A. Kidd. I'm not sure if this link will work.....

http://www.hakidd.com/inprdet.asp?le...ductID=3063103

My favorites are the glass headed Fons & Porter pins I picked up at a Tues Morning--very sharp. But the heads are smaller than the yellow headed ones that have plastic heads.