This bugs me...I press my seams thoroughly. When an intersecting seam is stitched, the underside of the seam gets pushed and it no longer lies flat. I cannot figure out what to do short of gluing. Is there a solution to this or am I just being to pickie? Would appreciate your thoughts.

Take the pin out just before the needle hits the fabric. If you have the folded piece of fabric on the underside be in the other direction, that will help also. Clear as mud? :lol:

I leave my pins in, sew right over them. The quilt police has never knocked on my door. I think in all my years sewing I've only had 2 pins get hit by the needle. And it caused no damage to my machine or project. But of course some will say never ever ever, but its like all rules, meant to be broken.

I also sew over pins and have only broken one or two pins over all the years I have been sewing. I'm not worried about the sewing police.

I have hit pins many times over the years. BUT, twice it was UGLY! The first time was not spendy, but my machine was gone for a month waiting for an obscure part that never breaks, but broke that time. This last time cost me over $200. I will be pulling out the pins from now on.

I am also guilty of sewing over pins. But not any more. This weekend I hit one and it caught up with the needle and yanked the needle right out. I was very fortunate that nothing was damaged and was able to get the needle out and replace it. I think maybe the thumb screw had loosened up a bit as well. I once took a class where the instructor told a story of sewing over a pin and hit it and it shattered the needle and shards of metal flew up into her face and hit her glasses. She said if she wasn't wearing glasses it would have been ugly as the shard of needle would have gone into her eye.

But I digress, I too have seam allowance fabric sometimes bunch up or go through and end up being sewn down in the opposite direction of what I pressed it. I don't worry about it. In the end all things line up and once quilted no one will know if your seam allowance is going the wrong way.

As far as sewing over the pins, do you know if they were regular sewing pins or quilting pins? Am more willing to take a chance if the pin is a small diameter.

I always wear glasses when sewing 'cuz you never know when the needle will break. I've had the same thing happen as feline fanatic. It scared the heck out of me, but was easily resolved.

Thanks every one for your thoughts! I appreciate it.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/...rsecting-seams
and
http://sewing.about.com/od/technique...chineseams.htm
and
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-48710-1.htm

I try to not sew over pins, but sometimes I just forget.

Once I sewed over a pin and my sewing machine needle broke and flew up right towards my eye. If I hadn't been wearing glasses, the needle would have gone right into my eye. I am much more careful about removing pins after that.

The pins I sew over are quilt pins and they are very small in diameter.

Although a bit awkward as I'm right-handed, sometimes I will pin seams together from left to right. That way I can leave the pin in and pull it out just far enough to clear the needle just before the stitch is made.

I usually stop before seam and lift the piece and push the seam down flat, I know it slows me down, but I'm ok with that
David

That is how I do it. I also never sew with pins. I just line everything up and go. I also am not a perfectionist. I sew only for fun

I never, ever sew over pins but I do have a wonderful stiletto called a "That Purple Thang" http://www.google.com/products/catal...ls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=ivns&resnum=1&biw=1016&bih=572&um =1&ie=UTF-8&cid=12693589998614833424&ei=jqIlTaz0OtSwhQfC_aWl Ag&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum =1&ved=0CFMQ8wIwAA# I couldn't do without it :thumbup:

the quilt police may never knock on your door about sewing over those pins ... BUT IT IS A VERY VERY DANGEROUS THING TO DO AND NOT RECOMMENDED!!! it only takes once to hit a pin, break a needle and put out an eye... and this is no joke. my mother hit a pin, broke a needle which part of flew up and went right into her eye... it didn't kill her, or blind her...but it was a very very bad thing and took a long time to recover from; and i still didn't learn...thought, well can't happen to me, i wear glasses...then i hit a pin...broken needle stuck right in my glasses...and threw the timing out on my machine which cost me over $200 to get fixed...not removing pins before sewing over them can be a VERY COSTLY EXPENSE ALONG WITH THE DANGER INVOLVED.

ckcowl, I couldn't agree with you more, never mind the quilt police or Health n Safety officers it is one of the most dangerous and potentially the most expensive thing you can do in Quilting. My friend sewed over a pin and it damaged her brand new Singer so badly it has never been the same since. She had to give it to her daughter and buy anther one for her quilting :shock:

I leave my pins in until I'm *almost* right beside them with the needle, then pull the pin before going on. It's sometimes slow going when there are a lot of seams, but the end result is worth it, to me. But if it's not a seam intersection I don't pin and don't care if my seam allowance flips over - the only reason I care when there is a seam intersection is because of the extra bulk a flipped allowance would give in that one spot. My machine does pretty good over bulky seams, but I like to help her out where I can, lol.

So glad to read all of this. I was lying in bed early this morning planning to start a thread on the same subject. (Do the rest of you find it hard to fall back to sleep when quilting creeps into your mind?)

I sew ***slowly***over pins, only if I cannot keep the material together myself (like trying to sew satin and velvet right sides together...uhg not again).

so-sew....I too have trouble going to/back sleep whit all the ideas flying around in there. DH finds it agravating b/c I try to bounce ideas off him.

I never sew over pins. I pull the pin out just before I get to it. I have done major damage when I sewed over a pin.

Ya know, I took a bamboo skewer, shortened it to about 6 or 7", glued a cute bead on the non-pointed end and it works so well. Gotta think about using it more for these seams!

Am alittle apprehensive about purposely stitching over pins. Had a few "close calls" and those were my warnings!

Thanks every one for all your thoughts on this issue. I can always count on you for some wonderful ideas.

Ditto. Same thing happened to me. Costly error. I too have been sewing over pins for years. Not any more.

I recently purchased Pinmoors for my quilting pins. These are dandy little nubbies that are quick to remove. You can sew faster when you can pull those pins out faster. I can send the web site if I can find it, but I found them on this site. THanks to whoever originally posted it.

That's how I do it, too. I only have trouble when the bottom seam is facing away from me. When it is facing me, the machine sews right over it--and I can manage the top because I am looking at it. I know this isn't always possible.

My goodness, I might have to quit sewing all together. I'm not suppose to sew over pins especially with my brand new machine. Plus I shouldn't put pins in my mouth. I'm "an old dog"; can I learn these new should not things? :)

I, too, have that purple thang - worth its weight in gold!

SO are we all agreeing that this is a pin issue?

When i sew two pieces together that have nesting seams, I always stop just before I get the needle to the seams, and lift the whole piece just enough to make sure they don't get 'pushed' by the feed dogs, then sew slowly across the seam. Hope this helps. That kind of thing makes me crazy too!

I just work my fingers under the piece right before it goes under the needle, and free up any seams that have moved to the wrong side, or opened up. Saves time fixing it later...

Pin update: Got the "forked" pins today. Was very pleased with the diameter of the metal...very small. So, hope this will help, but will do my best not to stitch over them.

Will also try stopping my machine at an intersection and verify the seam placement. I really don't think we should have to do this...our machines should be sensitive enough to stitch what is there.

Additional note: My SIL was showing one of the ladies at the shop our latest block. It was placed on the counter face up, of course. First thing the sales lady did was flip it over. Go figure!!!

Again, thanks every one for your thoughts!

Ha! I'm a "new dog" and do all of that. :lol:

Actually, a little dot of Elmer's School Glue (washes out easily) when you are pressing your seams works wonders. There is a tool out there that fits over the top of the glue so you really can get a thin line of glue (I can't remember where I saw it but it was online). Just a wee dot and press it...works like magic!

http://sharonschamber.com/shopping%2...ewproducts.htm They are called glue tips...of course, they are out of stock right now, but for future reference!

Usually this happens if you have too many seams coming together. In that case it calls for pressing the seams open and flat on the underside. Also, are you lifting your iron up and down or pressing like you would a garment? Those intersecting seams need to have the iron brought down flat.

I've always been careful not to sew over pins. A couple of months ago I accidentally did for the FIRST time and wouldn't you know, the needle hit the pin, the pin was then shaped like an L and the needle must have dulled because I had problems after and had to change it. Just my luck. :mrgreen:

eta: I only use the fine clover brand quilt pins. I'm a snob that way. :thumbup:

I have found that the needle plate is a little higher than the bed of the machine and it pushes that bottom seam allowance back towards me. To help solve the problem, I have put a piece of tape (painter's tape) over the join. It lasts quite a while and is cheap to replace. (Pfaff 2056)

Same here...besides then I get to put the petal to the metal until the next "intersection" :mrgreen:

This is an interesting observation! Will check my machine tomorrow. It is a Brothers QC 1000. The painters tape is a fantastic solution.

I use a stiletto religiously. It seems to help. It's like a third hand. I butt my seams together and push with the stiletto as it comes to the seam.

I hope I can describe this in writing.
I put a pin perpindictular to the edge and under the seam allowance - either to one side or presed open - then back.
So the pin is holding the seam either open or to the correct side. I remove the pin when the needle catches the seam. Was that clear. No more catching the seam on the bottom.

EVERY time you hit a needle you can knock the timing out of your machine. This is particularly problematic for slant-shank machines. You can also bust the needle to the point where it flies off and hits someone or the needle bit can get caught in the bobbin area. Also, even if you only sew close to a pin, your needle can scratch the metal surface and ....metal to metal - not so good for sharpnees of the pointy thing. This one has nothing really to do with quilt police.

As for the bulk, I noticed that I spend much time planning my seams in the pressing process. If I can nest the seams, I get a better result. When many seams come together I use the ELeanor Burns method of splitting the seam allowance seams and pressing the bulk to where it looks like a windmill. (Kinda hard to explain.)