I have a small stone that is used for sharping needles, one day I used it to sharpen quilting pins, it took a while but I finally got a point on some of them [the ones without a point]. The rest of them I tossed in the trash.

Purl- today I was at a quilt shop that I don't get to often and decided to check out their pin selection and I do believe I found the good ones I like so much. The brand name is Collins. The package says "fine wire diameter" curved basting pins, size 2. They are a little pricey but worth it, 65 pins for 11.99. I bought another package today and plan to keep them separate from my other pins, another thing I'm sorry I didn't do with the first ones I bought. Your quilt sounds really awesome. I hope you will share a picture when it's done.

This is what I do....but I have to admit I don't really come across too many pins that aren't sharp....I usually use a fine grit nail file....works very good for me.

You might want to talk to Customer Service at Nancy's Notions and see what they recommend.

If you have a local dry cleaner you might ask about buying some from them. I did several years ago and am still using them.

I first used the curved ones, too, but found them to be thick and coarse, leaving big holes. Then I bought the "EZ basting brights," which were finer and very pretty. They bent easily, though, and were a bit pricey.

When I needed more, I ordered the Dritz ones fromJoAnn.com. They didn't seem the least bit sharp and were potentially damaging to fabric, so I returned them. Now I was getting mad. How hard could this be?

So, I took a chance and brazenly called Harriet Hargrave's shop in CO. It says on the website that if she doesn't use something, she doesn't sell it, and I was pretty sure she wouldn't put up with awful pins. I was connected with her daughter, Carrie, who said that they inspected them at the shop and returned bad lots of them. So, I bought about a thousand, and they've been just wonderful - smooth and sharp. I also bought their emery strawberry for the few that weren't. They are still available on the site, and I highly recommend them.

hugs,
charlotte

Fons and Porter are my favorite because they are easier to open and close. The others that I bought (I think they were Dritz) have a tighter spring so are not as easy to open and close. I have not had any problem with burrs or dull points on either one.

My pins are inexpensive 3/4 -1" long quilting pins from Walmart. Still great after ten years.

Hi

In regards to your question about safety pins. I work at Joann's Fabric and we sell a lot of those pins by Dritz and never had any complaints as I also use them. If you still have no luck, try Joann's you have nothing to lose after trying all else.