I toss bent pins, dull needles, dull rotary blades if the can't be sharpened, small triangles. I donate any scraps I don't want to use and fabrics I won't use or my Daughter don't want. I always figure someone can use them.
Ideas that don't work for me.

Bent pins & dead needles. Im not much of a pinner but if they're bent or don't glide thru the fabric, they're trash. also I happily toss machine needles if my thread breaks more than twice. the eye gets eroded & they're no good. and rotary blades with nicks -- so aggravating!! throw them out

One thing I've found with pins. If they don't slide through easily, they may not be dull -- just dry. I will frequently take a pin that just doesn't want to go through and run it through my hair. It will then go through easily! This I learned when my son was an infant and we had to pin diapers! Diaper pins can be the worst! LOL

Jeanette Frantz

I remember that movement! Good thing there were rarely non-parents around when I did this, it does look rather strange!


Now, instead of the risk of stabbing myself - yet again - I use a lambswool pincushion that "lubricates" my pins and needles all the time.
http://www.ewesful.com/ewesful.html

Jan in VA

broken or bent needles
scraps less than 3 inches
a cruddy pattern
ugly fabric (like WTH was I thinking) - i usually give this away vs. throw it out
pieces I have tried to make work so many times they are out of shape
the idea that anyting is TOO HARD - you can do it!

Or keep a candle (unlit) near where you pin and stick the tip of the pin in it. Amazing how easily it slides through fabric with a bit of wax on it!

Time. Too many quilters think that if they don't have a big chunk of uninterrupted time for quilting they can't get anything accomplished, so they throw away all those 'free' quarter and half hour periods scattered throughout the day. It's amazing how much you can get done in 15 minutes at the sewing machine, cutting mat, or design wall. (The same thing is true for exercise. :o )

Good one, I know you are right!!! For years I wouldn't sit down and sew or cut unless I had a few hours available...just lately I will sit down sewing or cut fabric for 15 minutes and I have I am really much futher ahead with project then I have been over the years!

If you ever saw my sewing room, you would doubt the validity of that statement, lol.

I have a seam ripper that has a burr on it and catches on everything. It is a nice sturdy one so I am going to appeal to my resident fix-it man to see if he can file that off, otherwise it goes to the great trashcan in the sky! I do throw away used needles, whizzy whacker blades, teeny scraps, thread ends, etc. I do use everything I can.