hoppa

I buy crushed walnut shells at Harbor Freight as it is cheaper. You get a 25 lb box for $24.

Hoppa

bobbie1

Ditto!!

plmaher

I attended a class and they gave us kitty litter to use for the pincushion. This was over a year ago and it seems to work

thepolyparrot

I hosted a swap once and I made a little take-along sewing kit for each participant. One of the items was a kit for making an emery strawberry. I bought the emery here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/220767963162

Costs $11 for only a cup of it, but you only need a teaspoon or two for each strawberry. I made a bunch of them and put one in each sewing machine and sewing basket in the house. I really don't use them very much, but they're so dang cute. :)

The kit included a circle of red dotted cotton about 2½ across, about a 2" square of green cotton, 4" of washable ¼" ribbon and a baggie with a tablespoon of emery sand.

EagarBeez

DH had a nice soft pair of old army socks that he has had for ages..never worn. He rolled them up together to form a nice soft ball, and put my pins stuck in them. He helps me sometimes

MamaYitu

When I was young and lived overseas, Mom used to make pin cushoins filled with sand or human HAIR--I guess to keep the pins sharp and easy to push in. Just like now, if I have trouble with a needle, I run it through my hair, and it will go right through the materail afterwards. So.....

Cookie64

I use sheep's wool and walnut shells. Both keep the pins sharp.

Cookie

olebat

My personal preference is a pin box, with a magnetic bottom on the inside. However, some of the girls at guild made pin cushions using parakeet gravel. They don't suck up the Southern humidity the way some of the organics do, and they do help sharpen the pins.

Tippy

Yep a very small emery filled pincushion is my favorite.

knlsmith

Funny. ;)

This ia a great question! I am inspired to try some out.