The Importance of Quilting Pins

Having the right tool to do the job makes all the difference in the world and pins are no exception. In fact, they're a very overlooked little tool but a vital part of quilting. And today I'd like to take you through a few different pins, particularly ones that are my favorite that I use quite a bit and let you know what some of the differences are. The first pin here is what I would call your standard, ordinary, everyday pin. It is fairly thick and it has a plastic head. They're very inexpensive. You can buy them at any of the chain sewing stores for a very nominal amount. The disadvantage is that because they are very thick, they're going to leave a larger hole in your fabric. And they aren't always as sharp as what some of the higher quality pins are, so you may have to fight a little more poking it through the fabric. But the most glaring disadvantage is that because of the plastic head, when you iron and if the pin happens to be in your work, it will melt. So then you suddenly have a mess on your fabric and for that reason, I rarely use these. I use them if I'm doing typical sewing where, like garment making or home dec where I just need to pin a pattern on, and then they're quickly done because they won't, they do become more dull going through the paper of a pattern. So that's a good use for them. I also use them for holding together fabric strips that I've cut that I'm saving or scraps that I've bundled together or if I have a note that I need to pin onto a quilt. That's the kinda things I use those for. My everyday pin that I use for quilting are these. They're a little bit longer and they definitely are a thinner pin. They have a very, very nice fine point and most importantly, they have a glass head. So I can use these when I'm steaming with a professional steam iron that puts out an awful lot of heat, a lotta steam, and I never have had any of these melt. They usually come with colored heads and you can literally see the difference between the glass and the plastic. The glass is clear and a little shinier, where the plastic is rather matte. These are called clover head pins, mostly because they typically have looked like a clover, but sometimes you'll find them with a butterfly. They come in a variety of colors. They also are a long pin, but they are thicker. They have a thicker base than the glass head pins do. But the advantage is the head lies flat. So I find this to be a very nice pin for when I'm doing applique work. It's very easy to pick it up and pull it out from while I'm sewing on the machine. I also have found them to be invaluable when I'm doing a kaleidoscope quilt and I need to mark the direction of the patches that I've cut out, especially if they're diamonds or similar shapes where I need to make sure that everything is pointing in the same direction. That's something that I use them for quite a bit. So, these are some wonderful pins to have in your arsenal for quilting and for sewing. If you're a longarm quilter, I highly recommend the corsage pins. As you can tell, this is a very thick pin and quite long. And what we use this for is pinning the quilt to the leaders and pinning the backing onto the leaders. Because it's very strong, it will hold to the heavy fabric of the leader, which is typically made out of canvas, and I don't have to pin as often because I pin these head to tail, and because of the length, it's much easier. You would have a very difficult time pinning with any of these other choices. The other thing I like about the corsage pin and even the piecers will like this is they are great when you're working on the design wall. Especially, I use them to hang up the completed quilt for my clients to see when they come to pick up their quilted quilt. And so I can put these up and it will hold the weight of the quilt very, very nicely. Or a lotta times, if I have all of my binding strips cut out or strips of fabric, I can stick this through a stack of the strips and just pin it to the design wall so that I know where it is when I get ready for that particular element of my quilt. If you are going to be hand quilting your quilt or if you're going to be machine quilting it yourself on your domestic machine, you're going to need to pin the quilt, pin the three layers, the batting, the backing, and the top. And you will need a quilting pin to do that. And here I have two different pins. This is a regular safety pin that we've all used in emergencies, but this is a quilting pin. And as you can see, it is curved at the bottom. The reason for that is because as you go down into the table or onto the floor, it will help you come up and grab the three layers to pin it more easily. And it's also a little easier with the bulk of the fabric in here to close that pin by having that angle there. So you want to, if you're going to be pinning a quilt, you definitely want to get quilting safety pins and not a regular safety pin. So there are many, many other pins out on the market. I urge you to try them. They all have different uses. But again, these are the ones that I reach for the most in my toolbox and I think you'll find that they make your quilting a lot easier.