My favorite pins are the Clover Silk pins, which do a terrific job of holding tiny pieces together. I usually use a pin before and after each seam join when I really want seams to match up and it works well for me.But I had seen the Clover fork pins on some quilting blogs (see Susan's blog here and Nicole's blog here ), had a little bit of "pin envy" and decided to try them out. Well...perhaps I am not using them right, but I had a terrible time with them.
These pins seem very dull to me...I had to really wiggle and push them, to the point of almost bending the pins to get them to go into the fabric. And then they made a little hump in the fabric, which you can maybe see in this photo. And the seams were not lining up as well as with my 2 silk pins method, which I think was caused by distortion when trying to force those pins into my fabric.
Plus I kept knocking over the little plastic container, spilling the pins out on the table and sometimes onto the floor!
Is it maybe because of how adorable my new pincushions look with the silk pins in them, that did not allow me to like another product?!?!
Anyway, in spite of the pin drama, I did manage to finish another block for my Saturday Sampler and it was a real easy one - no seams were removed in the making of this block...woohoo!
Block Name: 54-40 or Flight (which is the weirdest block name ever, referencing a boundary dispute from the 1800's - click here and scroll down to read about that)
Pattern Source: Amy's 2010 BOM - click here.
This was a fun block to sew and just look at this amazing quilt made by Lisa Boyer using only this block. What a great stashbuster quilt!
It's always interesting to me how a product will work for one person and not another, thanks for your imput, I saw the forked pin post somewhere and was intrigued, not so much now. Perhaps soon I will have the chance to test drive some before purchasing. 54-40 or flight is a great block.
ReplyDeleteI have had my eye on those pins. Let me know if you work out the kinks.
ReplyDeleteLovely block! Pins are such a personal thing! I found some Clover ones that I really like. I have some for piecing seams and other for when I do borders. Wish I could tell you the number but I have no clue. Just know what the packaging looks like! I don't think I would be comfortable with the fork pins myself! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
ReplyDeletemy sister bought me a packet of the glass head pins and I love them. They are now my favourites. I passed in those double ones and use the two pin method which works great for me.
ReplyDeleteThe red and white headed silk pins are the only ones I use for piecing. Discovered them a few years ago and have used them ever since.
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