Quilt Pins & Needles

If you have a hard time threading your quilting needle, hand sewing needle or sewing machine needle Just put some thing white behind your needle like paper and it is easier to see to thread the eye of the needle. Hope this helps some one,it sure helped me to thread my needles, it is hard for me to see the eyes of the needles when I am sewing and Quilting.

Carol from Maryland

It's pretty obvious the "Beanie" craze has passed, but no doubt everybody still has a few of their favorites around that they can't bear to part with (mine is Iggy the Iguana).  Give them a new lease on life as pincushions!  Stick a few pins in several of them and put one by your sewing machine, one by your cutting table, iron, etc.  They'll love being loved all over again!

Yet another handy idea for disposing of broken and used "sharps" is to keep an empty spice bottle with a shaker top next to your machine.  The pins and needles drop neatly through the holes in the top.

When pins get bent, or sewing machine needles get dull, put them in an old 35mm film or used presciption canister. When it is full, tape the top on to dispose. This keeps pins and needles from falling out of the trash and pricking an unsuspecting "garbage man"!

My daughter playes soccer and while helping her put on her shin gards it hit me... pin cushion.... she used the shin gards that look like socks without the foot part of the sock... I made a cut at one end to slide the gard out of the sock .... I turned it over and put it back into the sock.... now I can place the whole sock over my arm with all the pins I need to pin the quilt... the guard stops the pins from touching my arm.... I use a comercial quilting machine and this works great.... Belinda Anderson

Keep an empty pill bottle near your machine.  As  you break a needle, change a needle or bent pin place the item in the pill bottle.  Once the bottle is full dump in the trash.  This makes for a safe disposal not only for yourself but your local trash collector.

To make it safe, I took one of my husband's empty mint containers (Icebreakers) and turned it into a repository for used needles, pins and rotary blades.  Once it's full I'll tape it up and toss it in the trash.  No one can cut themselves on any of it!

I save my old pill bottles.  I remove the labels and keep them in my quilting basket.  Whenever I have a dull or bent needle to throw away, I put it in the old pill bottle.  Then when it is full I tape the lid on and put it in the trash.  This way no one gets stuck gathering trash.

I have trouble bending over to pick up dropped pins and needles.  One day while in the automotive store I saw a TELESCOPIC MAGNETIC TOOL used for picking up screws and bolts.  I bought this  (for less than .00) and it sure is wonderful........I Keep it beside my sewing machine all the time!! If you drop a pin or needle just slide it out and viola! pick it up without bending over..........Goes real nice with my magnetic tray I use for my pins instead of my pin cushion!!

You know the emery board you use for your nails, well it is not just for nails.  Use it to sharpen your marking pencils and to take the burrs off your templates