It's my Do It Yourself Numbered Straight Pin Trick.
In the past, I have torn up little squares of paper, numbered them, and then pinned them to the top left side of each row in my quilts as I have laid the pieces out for stitching together. I don't have a design wall, so this entire Laying Out Process takes place in the middle of my living room, or as in this case, on my dining room table. (There's half a quilt laid out in the photo below.)
That method worked well, but takes time. Then one day I saw a product online that had the pinheads engraved with numbers, so you could just grab those to mark your rows. Marvelous idea! But they were $25 for the set. For that much, I could rip up a whole lot of scrap paper to make my own rows.
But then one day the light bulb went on. "Why not make my own?" So I did. I simply took plastic, flat-headed pins, a fine point permanent ink marker, and numbered a set up to 21.
I then placed them in even and odd numbered rows for easy access, and put then in this cutest little chicken pin cushion that a local quilting friend had made for me. Viola! A handy tool that looks fun sitting in my sewing room, too!
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| Bad lighting, I know, but I didn't want to move the entire quilt to demonstrate these pins! |
What handy, time-saving tips would you like to share today?
Quilting with a smile,
Barb
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What a great idea! I might have to make me a set of these-I can see where they would be quite handy. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh geeessss....this is one of those....why didn't I think of that!! Totally goint to do this...yeah...no more pieces of paper pinned to a block!!!
ReplyDeleteI did the same as you! they are very useful! I don't have a cute little chicken like you do though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a "duh" moment. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteSuper great idea! I'll have to use that in my quilting classes - cute pin cushion, too. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteThank for sharing this brilliant idea-I've wanted some of those pricey ones also! Here's a tip that everyone probably knows except me, 'til I read it recently-square up your HSTs before pressing open-only two sides to square up!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!! Thanks for sharing this with us. :)
ReplyDeleteGenius! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!! I have bits of scrap paper fallen off of my rows, all over my floor right now! XX!
ReplyDeleteI had trouble with the Sharpie pen ink rubbing off. Did you coat the numbers after it dried?
ReplyDeleteI have done the numbered pins that way too - worked out great!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I might just have to do this too. I've taken to numbering columns in the seam allowance of the top block pair. Used to use masking tape but this works just fine. I leave a tail of thread at that top block pair (I sew the column in pairs first) and then chain piece the rest of the column to keep them all in order. The tutorial is on my website, called Book It!
ReplyDeleteWhat a simple and GREAT idea! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!! Will be getting some of those pins!
ReplyDeleteI just did this a couple of weeks ago with my flower pins. After doing it, I thought 'Why didn't I think of this before?' Glad you thought of it too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea Barb, thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteI do this too.
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